When the Pan America came out, a countdown clock started ticking: How soon ’til Harley-Davidson started inserting this thing into TV and movies, broadcasting to the world that the Motor Company is now into the ADV scene? Looks like that time is now, with the Pan America spotted on the set of the next Fast & Furious film, with Jason Momoa behind the bars.
Does this make sense, or is the marketing department barking up the wrong tree here? How would you market the Pan America?
It’s no surprise to see this bike in this film; Momoa’s been a spokesperson for Harley-Davidson for a while now, and helped promote the new Revolution Max 1250 engine at its launch in early 2021 (see the video atthe end of this story).
The Hamburgler leaves the scene of his latest heist. Photo: YouTube
But does it make sense to use the company’s new ADV bike here?Will this movie convince people to go buy Pan Americas? Or will it turn off the adventure rider customer base?
Hard to say. Harley-Davidson has done this type of product placement for a long, long time; I remember a stretch in the 2000s/early 2010s where some shows always had a Buell or a Harley-Davidson show up for a dramatic chase at some point. You see them in several of the MCU films. I don’t know when the marketing deal with the Fast & Furious franchise started, but the last one of these movies I watched (about a decade ago) had a cringe-worthy chase scene involving a Sportster Iron. Maybe it convinced some Johnny Hondas watching the film to ditch their hot hatches and buy a cruiser, but I doubt it.
The machine that Momoa uses in the scene below is definitely a lot cooler than that Sportster (sadly, the YouTube uploader prevents us from getting a proper look at the bike).
Another look here:
Se conocieron las primeras imagenes de#FastXes la primera de las dos partes que conformarán la conclusión de la saga
SE CALMANNNNNNNNNNNNNN#JasonMamoapic.twitter.com/wCzVbAVKGe— La Godoy (@marcelapgodoy)May 12, 2022
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Despite the obvious lack of important parts (like, a headlight …), it’s a more functional bike than a lot of the customs you see in movies. But will it bring customers to the H-D fold? Or will it just annoy knowledgeable adventure riders? Should Harley-Davidson just find the next Charley-and-Ewan combo, give them a couple of Pan-Ams and tell them to go see the world and film it?How would you market this machine?Let us know what you think below …
