Improvements

As far as I'm concerned the Honda Pan European (ST1300) is the perfect bike for me, however it is not 'The perfect bike'. Here are a few of my observations and comparisons.

First and most obviously the Pan is a heavy bike.

Even before you fill the tank with fuel or load the panniers and fit a top box it's heavy, but the weight is low so not as bad as the Kawasaki 1400GTR which has it's weight much higher. I'm 5'10" and found the Kawasaki tricky to keep upright when stationary compared to my Pan.

I can lift a Pan off the floor. I forgot to remove the disk lock and over it went! Maybe it was adrenaline, but I did lift it up on my own. The bike wasn't loaded though, just my sandwich box in one of the panniers. I was leaving work after a long night shift. The way the Pan is designed really minimised the damage, just a little scuff on the fairing protection wing and the near side foot peg. I doubt I could lift it up if it was loaded with a weekend's touring stuff though.

On the subject of weight. Heavy bikes react more slowly when cornering, the Pan is no exception. Compared to the BMW R1200GS I had, I have to plan my cornering much more. The GS was much more forgiving if I needed to change my path mid-corner. The Pan handles really well, but it's no sports bike.

The panniers are a 'funny' shape. As a result if I want to take my lap-top with me I have to use my top box. The shape looks good on the outside but the lap-top issue can be a real nuisance. To help with packing I have the Honda pannier inner bags. These ensure that our stuff will fit in the panniers and make transporting luggage into a hotel etc. much easier.

The ignition key is very long and vunerable to getting bent. Maybe it makes the bike more secure, but I'm always aware of the risk of bending such a long key. Someone suggested getting a shorter key cut to use when opening the panniers, a good idea as replacement keys are expensive.

Finally, the rear indicators. They are rather close together which I think may cause confusion for following vehicles. I'm sure they are the legal distance apart and I've no idea how to improve this without a major change to the rear of the bike. I hope when Honda make the next version of the Pan they consider this along with the other things I've mentioned.

I've yet to find 'The perfect bike', let me know if you find it first!