Panzer Digger Hardtail

The hardtail Digger model is the most popular bike in the Panzer family. It is the lowest priced model and with its light weight and hardcore chopper looks, it has kept the panhead folks up in Colorado several months behind in production. People are buying them up left and right. One of the secrets to the Digger’s success is the well-designed and expertly assembled “real” panhead motor. As covered in our road test of the Panzer Premier last month, the 90” long-stroke engine is assembled by Accurate Engineering of Dothan, Alabama.

Great care is taken to carefully mate all the connecting surfaces, eliminating annoying leaks present in too many aftermarket bikes. High quality Jim’s components are used throughout and along with Panzer’s own rocker guides with replaceable bushings help make the Panzer’s motor a good investment for the long term. These bikes are built to be ridden and will show up in the classifieds with way more than average mileage for custom bikes. They should also hold their value much better than assembled bikes, a testimony to the good build quality and factory support the Panzer builders put into their product.

Looking for all the world like a bob job from the ‘60’s, the Digger hardtail greets its rider’s bum a lowly 24” from the ground. The bike feels small but not cramped. The drag bars are comfortably placed and the forward controls are of above average quality. The Le Pera seat is thin and gave me a little worry as I looked over the rigid rear end of the bike. Smooth roads only need apply.

The bike barks to life immediately when cold, the S&S carb doing its job well. With very little warm up the bike would run smoothly. A refreshing break from most EPA-legal bikes. Pulling out of our driveway, the first impression of the Digger is that it has a good power-to-weight ratio. The bike just sort of squirts forward, its 85-horsepower engine having to move only 550 pounds plus the rider. The long-stroke engine delivers tons of torque just off idle so stop and go riding is a breeze with little clutch slipping prowess needed. The biked tracked true and straight with the only small criticism being that the raked out front end flopped a little at stop lights - the price you pay for such a raked out front end.

The ride on the highway is fantastic as long as one runs at moderate speeds. Higher gearing would be needed to keep the pan motor in its sweet spot at 70 mph and above. But this is more an in town bike so the low gearing is appropriate. All you hear is wind on the highway, the neo-pan engine being unusally mechanically quiet.This in part is due to the Jim’s hydraulic lifters and the Panzer and Baisely rocker guides and arms, respectively. This engine has character by the bucket full and needs to be ridden to be appreciated. Even though its good looks would let it get away with a few flaws if necessary.

When looking over the Panzer model line up, the customer must decide what kind of riding will be primary and what secondary. I liked the Premier’s softail frame the best since I like riding a little on the fast side.The Captain America model had enough stretch, rake and fork tubing to give it a very comfortable ride for a rigid. Its long wheelbase forced a little “give” in the components, making eyeballing cracks in the road unnecessary. The Digger model is a true hardtail, with very little give in the frame or forks. Suspension comes solely from the rear tire which must be run at reduced pressure, otherwise the only “give” in the system is your cartilage. A sprung saddle would make the bike completely liveable in my opinion but I think many riders would not want to give up the great looks and low seat height. This is probably a matter best judged by each person’s butt, with there being no perfect compromise anywhere.

Panzer Motorcycle Works warranties all their models with a twelve month unlimited mileage warranty. The most work we’ve had to perform on any Panzer is adjusting and tightening items during the initial PDI. The factory is good about distributing technical bulletins to its dealers, sharing improvements and notifying owners about potential problems. We had a few a little overfilled with oil, this seems to be a problem with new bikes in general, as we have had other makes not get the dipsticks right first time out. I remember clearly the smell of oil burning in our first Excelsior-Hendersons.

The Digger comes in a basic black solo model for a base price of $18,999. Other colors cost a little extra as did the two-up seat and buddy pegs. We’ve had an all orange bike that was dynamite as well as the more traditional black-framed versions. For people who would like a panhead that will run for years without the added maintenance required of riding a thirty- to forty-year-old Harley, the Panzer’s can’t be beat. This is a hardcore bike without the hardcore bike’s usual problems.

- Mark Barnett