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Harley-Davidson suspends production for 2 weeks

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Uh-oh, pork prices are going to skyrocket now.

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My Pan America order is still coming next month according to the dealer, but 'apparently' this issue may be 'emission' related (hence why it's not affecting electric bikes) so I could either end up lucky or they may be ordered to hold the bike until a fix.

Another day another EU related scam surface, it started with VW, then the rest of the Germans, then Japanese trucks, now American motorcycle. All for what, no body drives in eco mode.

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@ Desert Tortoise: Good one.

Also, last two quarters? Maybe more truth than meets the eye.

Likely: Possibility of a recession may scare the beebub out of these people as the year grows older. Reservations keep coming in, and their customers love the brand, true. But manufacturing side in slow mode because of strained vendor chains (including chip supply) and higher commodity and growing labor costs, inventory way down, and little stomach for lots of new debt with higher rates, I wouldn't be too surprised to see layoffs coming soon.

Disclosure: I have no financial interest in this company or a competitor whatsoever, and have no intention to enter into one in the forseeable future.

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My Pan America order is still coming next month according to the dealer, 

Oh man! I had a chance to ride one without a dealer riding along to keep me in line. It was at a big road race and there was course marked out on nearby roads with big orange arrows for demo rides. Follow the arrows. Sure thing! We all made a big high speed detour. Yee-haw. That thing is fast. And if you didn't see the name on it, there is literally nothing about the bike that even ever so slightly hints it came from Harley Davidson. It is more like a KTM or Aprilia than anything HD ever made, and I have a high-ish mileage kind of sport touring modified VRSCR Street Rod I dearly love to ride for comparison (XR-1200 wheels on a Street Rod with longer rear shocks to recover the lost cornering clearance, finding a belt and pulleys was not simple). Like the Street Rod it has dead neutral steering and lots of feel, exactly what I like and very unlike a lot of other bikes that force you to keep pressure on the bars to keep it leaned into a corner. Goodness I wish I had the money and room in the garage for it, but I'm already up to four older BMWs and two Street Rods. The R80G/S will have to do for dual sport riding for now, but wow, that Pan America is an amazing motorcycle. Harley really hit a home run with it. I hope they do a more road oriented sport tourer with that engine. I'd find money and room for that!

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Maybe they should invest in some e-related R&D during their down time ?

When the bikes come off the assembly line they all meet the same 80dB noise limit that applies to every other motorcycle sold. As delivered a Harley is very quiet. However nearly all owners remove the original exhaust and install something much louder. The same is true of most other makes of motorcycle btw. You find very few motorcycles on the road in the US with their original quiet exhausts. Some EU countries are more restrictive. Mine are all still original but I'm an outlier in that regard.

As for tech, go look at a Harley Pan America. It has some truly advanced features like a suspension that automatically sets the correct static sag regardless of load, automatic electronically adjustable damping that changes with road conditions, and a really cool feature for a big dual sport is that when you come to a stop the suspension lowers the bike 50mm so the rider can put their feet on the ground more easily instead of trying to balance this big bike on tip toes. As soon as you are rolling the suspension rises again. With handlebar switches you can select different power settings and traction control settings (yes, the bike has traction control). The engine is a modern short stroke, twin cam four valves per cylinder design with 150 hp, but unlike every other high performance motorcycle on the market, Harley figured out how to do all this with hydraulic lifters. No all day long tear downs and lowering the motor to check and adjust valve clearances like every other bike. It is a huge advancement in reducing routine maintenance. My V-Rods have analogous DOHC designs but with solid lifters. The fastest I can remove body work, air box, throttle bodies, unbolt the exhaust, unscrew the forward motor mount and lower the motor, remove the dozen or so screws on each valve cover, remove the coils and spark plugs, squeeze the valve covers out from under the frame, check clearances and put is all back together is just under 6 hours. If I have to change shims extend that to 8 - 10 hours.

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