Harley-Davidson is creating waves to attract a wider audience and attract younger buyers. One of the most interesting efforts of the Motor Company is Pan America. Harley Davidson revealed Pan America today and exploded my expectations.
I already liked the machine for its futuristic look. It looks like something a space marine would use in a science fiction movie. But Pan America is more than just looking good – it’s full of goodies too.
The Pan America Special has what Harley League Semi-active suspension. It uses sensors to automatically control damping based on inputs such as speed, acceleration, vertical acceleration and more. It also has five pre-programmed profiles for a comfortable cruise, off-road and even a sport mode. The suspension travel is equal to the front and rear with 7.5 inches. At the front is a 47 mm inverted Showa balance fork with semi-active damping control. At the rear is a Showa Balance Free Rear Cushion-Lite coil-over damper with electronic preload and the aforementioned semi-active damping control. The ground clearance reaches 8.3 inches.
The suspension tricks do not stop there, as the Vehicle Load Control system detects all the weight stacked on the motorcycle and adjusts the curvature of the suspension automatically to compensate.
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My favorite technology in Pan America is the Adaptive Ride Height option. This sleek system lowers the seat by one to two inches to allow the rider to ride the motorcycle more easily and, hopefully, will be able to bring down Pan America easily in one stop.
The suspension did not reach all devices. There are five tour modes. They are all quite self-explanatory with Sport, Road, Rain, Off-Road and Off-Road Plus and work by adjusting the motorcycle’s power delivery, engine brake, ABS and traction control to suit your driving conditions. To top it off, there’s a 6.8-inch TFT touch screen with standard tilt that is your gateway to navigation, music, calls and the status of the bike.
If all this technology sounds like a future headache for you, the standard Pan America 1250 may be your ticket. He maintains good ride height and off-road sideburns, but without the tricks of the special. You get the same 8.3-inch ground clearance, the same 7.5-inch suspension stroke and even driving modes.
The engine is also not sloppy. The Revolution Max 1250 engine on board the Pan America produces 150 horsepower and 94 lb-ft of torque. The fuel economy is listed at 46 mpg. Harley says that the platform that supports Pan America paves the way for another motorcycle we’re waiting for, the Custom 1250.
Like many virtual vehicle launch events, it had its fair share of trembling, but ended up on a high. At the beginning of the revelation, Harley-Davidson built a counterpoint against those who can say that Pan America arrives late in the adventure motorcycle game. Harley says it invented the adventure segment about a century ago. Harley-Davidson has spent a lot of time telling stories from its off-road past. The company also mentioned its enduro from the 1960s and 1970s, not to mention that they were actually Italian Aermacchis. It was a little strange and I didn’t understand that the closest the Motor Company got to the ADV segment in the last decades was the Buell Ulysses.
Still, I love Pan America and I think it can be a success if the Motor Company sells it right. Harley is even jumping out of the gate with tons of accessories.
The standard Pan America reaches $ 17,319, while the special is $ 19,999 and will be available in May. Harley-Davidson seems to come after the BMW R 1250 GS with this one, so it makes sense to compare the two. The pair has very similar specifications and features, but the standard R 1250 GS is $ 17,995 and the highest Adventure specification is $ 20,345. How often can Harley-Davidson say it is cheaper than the competition?