Harley-davidson Pan America

Even the most optimistic Harley fan didn’t expect this. On paper, the new Pan America looks like a potential GS beater

In many ways, the Pan America is more radical than the electric Livewire. Just consider the facts (after each sentence you might like to mutter, ‘this is a Harley?’): the Pan America has a liquid-cooled, DOHC, 60-degree V-twin with variable valve timing that makes 150bhp at 9000rpm. The engine is a stressed member bolted to a Mig-welded steel-trellis front frame, a forged aluminium mid-frame, and a cast aluminium swingarm. The clutch, alternator, and cam covers are magnesium and the fuel tank is aluminium. It has semi active suspension, swathes of electronics and automatically lowers itself as you roll to a stop to help you get your feet down. The base model costs £14,000 and it is lighter than a GS. For a company famous for – and addicted to – charming old clonkers, that’s some going. So is it too good to be true? We dive beneath the tsunami of marketing guff and assess the engineering and commercial impact this bike could have.

PRICE

More good news here. The base model will be £14,000, while the Special with the semi-active suspension is £15,500. The price for the adaptive ride height option has not been announced.

‘In many ways, the Pan America is more radical than the electric Livewire…’

CHASSIS

The engine is a stressed member, so there’s no frame as such – just a small front frame connecting engine to headstock and a rear one doing the same job with the cast aluminium swingarm. Geometry-wise, the only question mark is over the trail which is a whopping 157mm – the Multistrada’s, by comparison, is 109mm. Slow steering? Possibly.

ELECTRONICS

As standard, the Pan America has an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) which means it gets all the cornering ABS, cornering traction control, and hill hold control gubbins. The base model has five rider modes – road, sport, rain, off-road and customisable. The Special has semi-active suspension and the option of adaptive ride height (ARH), which lowers the bike as you come to a stop. Aside from radar-controlled cruise control, it’s right up there.

ENGINE

It’s a V-twin, naturally, but not like any other Harley. The V angle is 60-degrees rather than the more usual 45, and Harley claim 150bhp. There’s also variable valve timing – solenoids vary the intake and exhaust valve timing by up to 40-degrees to give a wider spread of torque.

SERVICE INTERVALS

Ducati’s 37,500-mile valve check service intervals are good, but the Pan America has that comprehensively beaten – you never need to adjust them because it’s done automatically by hydraulics. Mind you, the standard service interval for oil changes is only 5000 miles (the Ducati’s is 7500).