Harley 's first adventure bike is a water-cooled version, loaded with technology and very American in the crowded segment.
Harley -Davidson Harley-Davidson announced on Monday details of its long-awaited and frankly 1250 Pan America adventure motorcycle , they're pretty darn awesome. That's also a good thing, because the adventure bike segment is hot and the competition is fierce.
The heart of the Pan America is the new 1250cc, liquid-cooled Revolution Max 60 degree V-twin engine. While a big V-twin is something we'd expect from the folks in Milwaukee, this engine is a radical departure from the lopey, air-cooled, tractor-type engines that typically live in the the great brand of touring bikes .
Get in the driver's seat
Subscribe to the Roadshow newsletter for the latest car news and reviews, delivered to your inbox. reception twice a week. The Revolution Max makes a whopping 150 horsepower - a highlight for Harley road bikes - and 94 lb-ft of torque at 9,500 rpm. That peak torque of 9,500 rpm is stratospheric for a Harley engine and should meaner that the Pan America is not only more exciting to drive, but it will sound awesome screaming on a full cat freeway. Part of the reason for the 1250's release is its use of variable valve timing, which is something of a rarity among motorcycles. An added bonus to the Revolution Max's high-tech valve group comes in the form of maintenance-free valves, thanks to hydraulic valve lifters (another motorcycle rarity).
Harley's all-new Revolution Max engine features some seriously cool stuffstucco like variable valve timing and maintenance-free valves.
Harley-Davidson The Pan America engine is unique compared to other Harleys cars he is a stressed member. By that we mean that the engine is part of the chassis. This has the double advantage of reducing weight by not having a separate frame to support the motor. Additionally, it increases the overall stiffness of the chassis as a large chunk of aluminum and magnesium will be much stiffer than a chassis typically would be.
Harley has also chosen to step out of its comfort zone with the suspension. The base Pan America uses a nice but relatively conventional Showa suspension, while the high-end Special trim gets an electronically adjustable semi-active system with a nifty trick up its sleeve: it can lower the bike a bit more. 'an inch when it isstopped. . This is important, as adventure bikes are typically tall, giving them cornering clearance and suspension travel. This makes it harder for the little ones to ride as it's harder to put their feet flat on the ground at a stop, but Harley's technology solves that problem.
In turn, this technology should make the Pan America much more accessible to riders of a fuller size range than bikes like the BMW GS or the Ducati Multistrada . Once you start moving again, the bike will return to its optimal ride height, without the rider having to do anything. Harley claims to be the first motorcycle company to offer such functionality.
In addition to having a smart suspension, the Pan America also features intelligent driver aids. These are all based on an inertial measurement unit that makes the anti-lock brakes, traction control and other safety features sensitive to tilt. This is becoming a lot more common on bikes in general, but it's relatively new for Harley and it's great to see it here. In addition to TC and ABS , the Pan America offers electronically controlled linked braking, Harley's drag and slip torque control (this automatically modulates engine torque to reduce wheel slip), a tire pressure monitoring system, and a hill-hold control.
The Pan America uses an electronically controlled throttle, which means it has a plethora of riding modes among whichls choose. Along with the usual Rain, Road and Sport modes you'd expect to see, there are also Off-Road and Off-Road Plus modes, as well as several user-configurable settings for on-road and off-road driving. Also, the Pan America dashboard is a very nice tilt adjustable TFT unit. This, combined with an anti-reflective glass for the screen, means it should be easily read in any lighting.
Being an adventure motorcycle, Harley planned for her riders to load the Pan America with all kinds of stuff - and the Special's electronic suspension will automatically adjust.
Harley-Davidson Other electronic niceties include heated grips on the special model, a Standard cruise control and LED lighting with an adaptive headlight available. One thing you unfortunately won't see is Apple CarPlay or Android Auto integration . Harley engineers did not want to share screen real estate with this kind of setup mirroring, so instead they chose to handle all media and navigation integration with bluetooth and an app. We're very curious to see how this will work compared to the Honda CarPlay integrations and Indian.
Being a Harley you know that there will be a wide variety of factory approved accessories available for the Pan America at launch. These will include several different sets of luggage, performance exhausts, high-speed intakes and more.
As for how the Pan America stacks up against the competition (on paper, anyway), things look good for Harley. Relative to target BMW R1250 GS , Ducati Multistrada V4, Triumph Tiger 1200 and KTM 1290 Super Adventure, Pan America sits right in the middle of the pack in terms of power. The Harley also has 'a comparable suite of driving aids, with the exception of the adaptive cruise and blind spot alert . The Pan America is also in the middle when it comes to price.
Harley is asking $ 17,319 for the base Pan America and $ 19,999 for the special. For comparison, BMW's base R1250 GS starts at $ 17,995 and has a relatively extensive list of available options. The more expensive GS Adventure costs $ 20,345. The KTM 1290 Adventure S costs $ 18,599 and the Triumph Tiger 1200 starts at $ 16,500. The Multistrada tops them all, with the base model asking for $ 19,995 and the Model S commanding a price tag of $ 24,095.
The 2021 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 is slated to hit dealerships this spring. If it can deliver on its promises while still bringing Harley's exceptional build quality to the table, then bike enthusiasts from aventure should be really excited d.
