Photo: Gonzalo Arroyo
Harley-Davidson promised to build 100 new motorcycles over the next ten years hoping to attract about two million new riders to the brand, and it looks to be on high horses. Last week we were reporting on the company applying to trademark the Bronx name, and now it looks to be doing the same with two more.
According to Cycle World, Harley-Davidson applied for two more trademarks last year. The company did it through a UK-based firm called Mathys & Squire LLP, who have handled H-D Europe’s trademark fillings since 1996. And the names in question are the “48X” and “Pan America.”
As with the Bronx, Harley-Davidson refused to comment on any detail about the new bikes so we can only let our imagination run wild and guess what these two could end up to be. We “established” the Bronx should be some cool cafe or bobber model based on its rough name and the fact that every other major bike maker has such thing on the shelf nowadays.
OK, now let’s see what’s also popular these days. Well, the Pan America surely has to do something with cross-country touring as the word “Pan” is usually used to describe such models by other bike makers.
The bar and shield company surely has a handful of those already, but maybe the Pan America will stray a bit more from the traditional design and maybe it won’t make use of so much shiny chrome.
Finally, we move on to the 48X, which is a bit more tricky to guesstimate since it can be two things. The “48” part can only be describing a different kind of Forty-Eight model, while the “X” could mean it’s either a higher spec version or, and this should be even better, some sort of ADV model.
What? A Harley-Davidson off-road model, are you nuts? Well, before you pick the forks and torches, the plan isn’t that bad at all. People nowadays fancy the idea of being able to go anywhere using a do-it-all machine. Otherwise, why would the SUVs and crossovers thrive in the auto industry? Not to mention the fact that BMW Motorrad’s best selling model for quite some time now is the R 1200 GS.
So, yeah, an ADV or at least scrambler Forty-Eight could make sense for the 48X nameplate. And if you can’t wrap your mind around it, just think about the spectacular El Solitario Desert Wolves project from a couple of years ago (pictured above).
As with the Bronx, Harley-Davidson refused to comment on any detail about the new bikes so we can only let our imagination run wild and guess what these two could end up to be. We “established” the Bronx should be some cool cafe or bobber model based on its rough name and the fact that every other major bike maker has such thing on the shelf nowadays.
OK, now let’s see what’s also popular these days. Well, the Pan America surely has to do something with cross-country touring as the word “Pan” is usually used to describe such models by other bike makers.
The bar and shield company surely has a handful of those already, but maybe the Pan America will stray a bit more from the traditional design and maybe it won’t make use of so much shiny chrome.
Finally, we move on to the 48X, which is a bit more tricky to guesstimate since it can be two things. The “48” part can only be describing a different kind of Forty-Eight model, while the “X” could mean it’s either a higher spec version or, and this should be even better, some sort of ADV model.
What? A Harley-Davidson off-road model, are you nuts? Well, before you pick the forks and torches, the plan isn’t that bad at all. People nowadays fancy the idea of being able to go anywhere using a do-it-all machine. Otherwise, why would the SUVs and crossovers thrive in the auto industry? Not to mention the fact that BMW Motorrad’s best selling model for quite some time now is the R 1200 GS.
So, yeah, an ADV or at least scrambler Forty-Eight could make sense for the 48X nameplate. And if you can’t wrap your mind around it, just think about the spectacular El Solitario Desert Wolves project from a couple of years ago (pictured above).
Google News