Honda ST1300-Pan European Review

Overall Rating

Electric screen, heated grips, ride comforrt and the storage capacity.

Not good at high speeds; anything over 75mph. The Honda ST1300-Pan European weaves very badly; dangerously. The Police handed back nearly all their first batch of the ST1300 models soon after they were taken because of the weaving problem. They have taken some back since Honda made some alterations to the bikes although Honda has not made the information public. I'm short at 5foot and 3 inches so the seat height adjustment doesn't go far enough for me. So much so that I paid someone to resculpt the seat for me and it's now much better. Also, things like SATNAV and heated seats and removable inner luggage bags are all optional extras on this, and other similar bikes. WHY? it's sold as a half complete touring bike if you ask me. A touring bike should come complete with an electric height adjustable screen, heated seats and grips, bluetooth, Xenon headlights, LED other lights, more height adjustment in the seats to suit more riders, SATNAV, removable lockable luggage etc all as standard equipment. It should have the same comforts as my car but with two wheels. I hope the motorcycle manufacturers read this because I, and many others, feel they are still getting it wrong. Another thing, how can they still justify their prices when I can go and buy a very decent car for £8000 of my hard earned and only a reasonable sportsbike for teh same money. A car costs much more in terms of development and tooling. And there is a worldwide recession on too. I think a reasonable price for a Honda Goldwing, for example, would be £10k maximum; not £20k as is the case.

The Honda ST1300-Pan European is generally a good motorbike with lots of overtaking power and comfort. Good storage for real world touring like going to my home on the costa blanca in Spain from my home in Essex while my wife and kids take the plane from Stansted. It takes me a bit longer but it's the adventure and freedom of it all that makes it all worthwhile. So why have I scored it so low? Because it handles terribly in wet weather and, let's face it, we want to use our bikes year round don't we?

Members' Comments onGuest's Review

• bassplayer on 14th Jun 2009

  I disagree with this review because... His views are in conflict with my own experience of the bike and with those of the vast majority of Pan riders I have met. He criticises a bike that was designed in the early 1990s for not having the latest equipment as standard - when many riders may not want all that gear anyway. As with many writers, he makes assertions about the Pan's stability and rejection by police with no actual, checkable evidence, simply rumour and innuendo. He criticises prices but does not compare goods with equal market sizes - far fewer bikes are bought than cars (at £8,000) and such cars would not provide the same level of performance, luggage capacity and ability for their passenger load (4 or 5) as the Pan does for two.
  His criticisms are limited by his personal horizons and are mostly facile.