Harley-Davidson shock the world with new Pan America
Harley-Davidson’s Pan America promises to turn the adventure bike market on its head
‘On paper it has the measure of all its rivals’
Harley-Davidson have revealed the full details of their Pan America adventure bike – and it has the potential to knock the crown off the GS’s head. The Pan America isn’t just one of the most advanced Harleys ever, it’s arguably one of the most advanced adventure bikes ever. On paper it has the measure of every competitor out there and, let’s be honest, none of us saw it coming. Of course Harley haven’t just released one model: there’s the Pan America and the Pan America Special, which is the really exciting version. Take it to the Max Sitting at the very heart of this new machine is the 1252cc Revolution Max engine, which produces 150bhp @ 8750rpm and 94lb.ft @ 6750rpm. How have Harley done it? They’ve built a whole new liquid-cooled VVT V-twin from the ground up. The engine architecture has changed considerably compared to previous gens, with Harley’s propensity for long-stroke (undersquare) design abandoned in favour of a short-stroke (oversquare) design. This means they can rev the engine much harder to chase power – the rev limit of the Revolution Max is twice that of a stock MilwaukeeEight. It’s also got a nifty variable valve system (more on that overleaf) to help chase both power and torque, while in the interest of weight saving it acts as a stressed member, which helps to bring the overall weight of the standard model down to 245kg and the ‘Special’ model to 258kg. Everything in frame The frame is your standard steel tubed affair, with the front frame, mid-frame and subframe bolting directly to the engine. The advantage to this is that if you take the thing off-road, which they’re really hoping you will, and you totally muck things up it’s not the end of the world. Bend the subframe and it’s just a case of unbolting it and sticking on a new one. No costly write-offs for a 5mph drop here. That’s not the only thought Harley have given to off-roading because they’ve really designed it to zoom around in the rough stuff. All the drain bolts have been recessed, so nothing gets wrecked by a mean looking rock, while that ‘letterbox’ headlight has been designed to cast a wide beam across the trail. Even the brake pedal can be adjusted without tools to swap between seated and standing riding positions, while the petrol filler cap has been placed right at the front, so you don’t need to remove your tank bag to fill ’er up. Smart stuff But where things get seriously exciting is in the electronics department. Not only does it have all the usual suspects including hill-hold control, cruise control, cornering ABS, leansensitive traction control, tyre pressure monitoring, semi-active suspension, riding modes and a 6.8in touch-sensitive full colour TFT screen but to make dismounts easier there’s also a £600 option for adaptive ride height (ARH) adjustment that automatically lowers the suspension by up to 5cm when you stop.
The Pan America will start from £14,000 when it arrives in dealers in the spring but for all the fancy gear (semi-active suspension, tyre pressure monitoring and adaptive headlights etc.) you’ll need to opt for the Special model at £15,500. And one last thought for those us who made our minds up when we first saw the pictures of it over two years ago?
“People are not expecting this from Harley-Davidson,” says Paul James, International PR Manager. “And when they ride one, they’re going to be blown away.”