All Farkled Up / Wunderlich Accessories for the H

Photo: Kate Murphy

Since Harley-Davidson has gone all-in on their new adventure bike, the aftermarket has followed suit and come up with all kinds of accessories, armor, and upgrades for the bike. Wunderlich, specifically, has bet on the newish bike's success and we’re here to tell you about some of those pieces.

I’ll go nose to tail with all of the pieces I have bolted to a (borrowed) PanAm. The bike in question is a black 2021 Special model, with adaptive suspension. The owner is a lovely neighbor of mine here in New Hampshire named Megan.

Megan and her beloved PanAm, on a very cold day in New Hampshire, before we added all the Wunderlich parts. Photo: Kate Murphy

As a side note: I was a little hesitant about working on (a) someone else's (b) Harley because all my tools are metric. No worries, it turns out: the bike is metric, and where it isn't, it's Torx. Unlike my 310GS, the Harley seems built to be worked on. Every single fastener I touched was in a place that made sense, and didn't require any special tools or a double-jointed extension for access. It went back together the way it came apart, every time. Is it worth two of my Super Tenere? I still have my Yamaha, so… not yet. But everybody gets to do their own math, there.

Wunderlich makes a headlight guard for this bike that is more than just a flyscreen. This is a beefy light protector. Note that it is the "guard," not the grill. It's constructed with a heavy clear plastic panel through which the headlight shines unimpeded. It is also "foldable," which means that without tools you can pull the guard forward to clean out any mud, bug guts, snow, etc., that might get caught behind it.

Pull those two rubber nipples off the top corners and the guard folds forward for easy cleaning. Photo: Kate Murphy

Installation involves first popping the nose fairing off the bike. Like a GoldWing, the PanAm's nose fairing is all plastic-knob into rubber-grommet. Just yank it directly forward off the bike and off it pops. Beneath, the headlight guard's frame bolts to the Harley's subframe without getting in the way of anything. Bolt it all on, pop the nose fairing back on, and your guard is in place.

The guard ships with a film over the plastic so it's not scratched in shipping. Photo: Kate Murphy

The fantastic thing about all of the Wunderlich pieces is, if you know what you’re looking for you see them all, but if you don't, they all look like they simply belong on the bike.

The Marathon windscreen replaces the original windscreen with a broader, smoother surface. The company also sent along the left-side reinforcements to keep the larger screen steady at speed. The PanAm has a tool-less adjustable screen, and the reinforcement slides right up alongside that adjuster. What was originally plastic is now metal, with the same adjustability but now much stronger. This was a fiddly install, only because that adjuster has a lot of moving pieces. The instructions could have been clearer – because these pieces ship worldwide there is very little text; the instructions are all photos. Sometimes those photos are not the best, or the angle makes things confusing.

So many moving parts. Photo: Kate Murphy

After this installment, though, the rider also bought the right side windshield reinforcement along with the device carrier bar that links them, and reports that the entire assembly is more solid and quieter than the stock setup.

This broad, flat windscreen creates a very clean airflow. Photo: Kate Murphy

The TFT Display Visor installs with zero tools and in seconds. It literally just snaps over the bike's stock TFT screen.

This is literally the only instruction step included, and it's not even necessary. Photo: Kate Murphy

A small addition that makes a huge difference – that screen is much easier to read in bright light now.

A minor install that makes a big difference. Photo: Kate Murphy

These Handlebar Risers pick the bars up and back a little over an inch. Even if you’re relatively comfortable on a given motorcycle, bar risers can make a huge difference in long-ride comfort. Happily, Harley-Davidson saw fit to give all the cables plenty of slack, so we didn't need to mess with a thing on install.

Like everything else, these bar risers look like OEM. Photo: Kate Murphy

Four bolts that hold the bars down come out, the risers bolt into those holes, and then the bars bolt onto the risers. The only "gotcha," if you’ve never done this before: lay an old towel over your tank before you begin. The bars are heavy and they will move around and scratch your tank once they’re not bolted down anymore. An easy install (use a torque wrench) and our height-challenged rider finds new worlds of comfort and control, because she doesn't have to stretch at all to reach the bars.

You can see clearly how the risers pick the bars up and back from their original position. Tighten everything down a little at a time… Photo: Kate Murphy

This is the same Wunderlich tank bag system those fine folks sent along for the 310GS, only the bag for the Harley is quite a lot bigger and is expandable. The base for the tank bag bolts onto the tank shroud, with two bolts up front. The rear of the base loops through a frame attachment point under the seat. The bag clips onto the base, easily removed and reinstalled at fuel stops. The entire process, base and all, is about a ten-minute install.

Another super easy install. The bag is roomy. Banana for scale. Photo: Kate Murphy

The Wunderlich bag fits securely on the base without any flopping around. The base fits securely on the tank so there is no danger of paint or trim damage. The bag is waterproof and lined in blue, so it's quite a lot easier to find things in there than in an all-black bag, especially in low light.

You wouldn't think a side fairing (which Wunderlich calls a "sight cover") would make much of a difference beyond smoothing out an unsightly spot on the bike, which it does. But the design of the "scoops" built into this piece directs engine heat away from the rider. This is noticeable even in early spring New England weather. It will probably be a huge relief in late summer. Again, this one is a three-bolt install and very easy to do.

An easy install that helps keep the rider cool, and improves the look of the bike. Photo: Kate Murphy

This one is exactly what it says on the tin: it is a guard for the bike's ignition coil, which hangs off the side of the bike. Two bolts out, two new bolts in, and a tipover won't mangle your coil. Pretty slick.

Our PanAm rider loves her new "Aktivkomfort" seat. She’d prefer the low version, though, since the new Wunderlich seat is slightly wider at the front than the stocker. That always makes the reach to the ground just a little bit more of a stretch. The wider seat does provide greater comfort on a long trip, but makes moving the bike around at low or no speed more of a challenge.

Wunderlich's Aktivkomfort seats seem to offer more active comfort for the rider than the passenger. Photo: Kate Murphy

Her passenger found the new passenger seat a touch on the too-hard side, but they only have a few hundred miles on the seats, and she thinks they will break in a bit more. Also, materials seem to be stiffer in the cold, so perhaps once the weather warms up here in New Hampshire, they’ll find the seats a bit more compliant.

If you have ever stood a PanAm up off its side stand and then put it back down again, you might, as I did, note that it seems a bit… weeny for the beast of a bike it supports. The spring isn't particularly confident or strong. The tang is difficult to locate and get your boot on, both when the stand is stowed and when it's deployed. Some of these side stand related extras help fix that. If you have purchased them all, note there's a distinct installation order that will help you not to repeat anything in the process.

If you have both the sidestand support spring and the sidestand assist, install them together, with the spring first. First, bolt the extra spring's mount point to the bike, then to the side stand, along with the assist. Wunderlich helpfully sends along a spring puller, but since I already own one (which is arguably better) we used that instead.

It is good of them to send along a spring puller, but if you have a real one, use that instead. Photo: Kate Murphy

It's easier to pull the spring toward the rear of the bike onto the retracted stand, than it is to try to pull it down onto a deployed stand. All of this should, obviously, be accomplished while the bike is on a lift or its center stand.

Here's the sidestand assist in action. Without it, the sidestand tang (that small black bump) does its best to hide. Photo: Kate Murphy

The side stand switch guard bolts on after both of those are installed, and will help keep your stand safety switch from getting wrecked by rocks or road debris. As most of us already know, a pooched stand switch can leave you dead in the water, as it were.

The extra (front) side stand spring, assist, and guard all play together very nicely. Photo: Kate Murphy

The side stand enlarger fits over the foot of the stand. It could use some shaving down at the inside corner. Deploying the stand with it installed means having to tip the bike quite a lot to the opposite side. It wasn't a real problem for me, but the bike's owner, at 5’5" and with a 30" inseam, does not prefer that particular feature.

The rear corner closest to the bike can get in the way of a shorter rider deploying the jiffy stand. Photo: Kate Murphy

There's an empty spot on the bike over the rear tire, where, if you carry a passenger regularly like Megan does, allows all the rain splashed off the rear tire, onto said passenger. The passenger seat recess covers hang from the same two bolts that hold the passenger peg frame on the bike.

They blend right in, but they keep the rain off. Photo: Kate Murphy

They may not look like much, but they effectively keep rain and mud from flying out the sides of the bike. And when you’re riding in the rain, anything that helps you keep dry is a plus. Again, a two-bolt install per side, loosen the passenger peg frame bolts, slip these covers between that and the frame of the bike, and tighten them back up again. Super easy.

The Center Stand Handle is the only piece we couldn't use. It was redundant to the H-D branded luggage the bike already sported. The handle uses those same two passenger peg bolts that the Recess Cover does, but the hard luggage frame also shares that same mount point. There are only so many things you can string onto a given bolt, and none of the bolts supplied would allow the handle, the luggage rack, the peg frame, and the Recess Cover, all at once. We had to make a choice, and the rider (of course) chose to keep her luggage rack on the bike. Like everything else, the handle is a sturdy piece of equipment, but unfortunately redundant in our situation.

We’d need some loooooong bolts to fit that handle. Photo: Kate Murphy

As usual, the Wunderlich pieces were mostly a pleasure to install, and on the most part, quite straightforward. The only exception to that was the windscreen reinforcement. That could be solved with clearer instructions, though.

As an added bonus, Wunderlich sends all of their pieces in fabric bags, cardboard boxes and dividers, and waxed-paper envelopes. There is nearly no plastic packaging. Even the tank bag arrived in its own blue fabric water-resistant bag that can be reused as a stuff sack. This company is dedicated to reducing plastic waste, and they tackle that at the source.