sitting , waiting on the ferry , I asked my riding companion Todd the question one last time , “ Which one would you pick ?” Todd , who owns a Tiger 800 , a DR650 , and a V-Strom 650 said , surprisingly , he would choose the Harley . He was a little embarrassed to say that , but herein lies the thing . The Pan America is a brilliant bike . No two ways about it . It is so far removed from your “ Grandad ’ s Harley ”, and if it had a Yamaha or a Suzuki logo up the side you wouldn ’ t think twice about it , but because Harley-Davidson has a certain leather-wearing , chrome-loving stigma , some people might be embarrassed to even try the Pan America . But they shouldn ’ t be , this is a bike that should be taken seriously . It ’ s that good . When asked which I would go for , I came
down on the side of the Suzuki . I preferred the ergonomics , the DR-Big styling grew on me over time and the colour scheme looks better in person than the pictures suggest . Sure the seat is hard , and the OEM tyres are a little road-focused for my liking . But at around $ 10,000 cheaper than the Pan Am , you could fix the seat , put some slightly more adventurefocused tyres on it , and still have money in your pocket to actually ride the bike for a couple of summers . After around 800 kilometres , three days of riding , I can say that Harley-Davidson ’ s Pan America is a beautiful bike , and you should not discount it because of its badge . And the Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT is simply a brilliant bike that offers a lot for the money .
108 KIWI RIDER