For reasons I won’t get into, some of which involve speculation, the last time MD was involved in a Harley-Davidson press launch was nearly 12 years ago. After the announcement that Harley-Davidson would produce an adventure motorcycle, the Pan America 1250, MD contacted Harley’s press office about getting a test bike. Somewhat to our surprise, we were invited to attend a press launch here in Southern California (in the Mojave Desert). This is our report, with our first riding impression.
On paper the Pan America 1250 and Pan America 1250 Special models are impressive. With the exception of adaptive cruise-control and a quick shifter, which are found on some competitive models, the Pan America 1250 is state-of-the-art for the adventure category. In some respects, it pushes the state-of-the-art to a new level.
The standard Pan America 1250 is competitively light at a claimed 534 pounds wet. We tested the Pan America 1250 Special which weighs 559 pounds stock, although our test bikes had added accessories that pushed the weight into the 585 pound range. 14 pounds of that additional weight came from the more dirt worthy cross-spoked wheels (a $500 option) that replaced the cast aluminum wheels found stock on both models.
The features common to both Pan America 1250 models include, of course, the new Revolution Max 1250cc liquid-cooled v-twin engine making a claimed 150 crank horsepower. This engine is a stressed member of the chassis and was designed as a compact unit with the cylinders offset by a narrow 60˚. It is a thoroughly modern DOHC design with four-valve heads and variable valve timing.
The engine is impressively compact and short from front-to-rear, which is a big advantage when it comes to weight distribution and centralization of mass. That same narrow angle, however, creates some challenges, including the need for a more complicated balancing system to achieve smoothness, and relatively little room between the cylinders for the intake system. We don’t have much to say about how Harley tackled the second issue, other than they managed to make the intake system fit in the narrow valley, but I did discuss with one of the Harley engineers the system utilized by the Revolution Max to smooth-out the engine pulses.
That system includes both a primary balancer located in the crank case and a secondary balancer located in the front cylinder head between the cam shafts. Additionally, Harley achieved a smoother 90˚ firing order by offsetting the two crank shaft connecting-rod journals by 30˚. As we discovered on our test ride, the engine is, in fact, quite smooth, while retaining some of the character of a big twin.
The stock wheels are cast aluminum, including a 19″ front and 17″ rear. Harley worked with Michelin to design the OEM Scorcher Adventure tires, which have a street bias, with optional Michelin Anakee Wild tires, which are more dirt focused. Brembo brakes are featured with dual 320 mm front discs squeezed by radial-mount four-piston calipers, and a single 280 mm rear disc.
The standard Pan America 1250 has fully-adjustable front and rear Showa suspension with 7.5″ of travel. The 1250 Special, on the other hand, comes stock with semi-active front and rear suspension, which is also provided by Showa. The software controlling this suspension was developed in-house by Harley-Davidson. The system automatically adjusts rear sag to 30 mm based on the weight of the rider, passenger and luggage.
Both models feature several electronic rider aides assisted by a Bosch IMU. Linked braking, ABS, traction control, “drag/torque slip control” and a hill-holding function are all part of this system. Five selectable ride modes are available on the base model (Road, Sport, Rain, Off-Road and Off-Road Plus), while the 1250 Special has two additional modes that can be customized. Each mode combines specific power delivery, engine braking, cornering ABS and cornering traction control settings. Cruise control is standard on both models.
A modern 6.8″ TFT touch screen provides the rider with a customizable view of the status of the ride, including all the details related to the rider’s settings. This display will connect via Bluetooth with your phone, allowing music selection, calls and navigation fed through an Harley-Davidson app available for both iOS and Android.
Fuel capacity is 5.6 gallons. Harley has three seats available, including the standard, high and low. Each of these seats can be slotted into a high or low position on the chassis. With my 31″ inseam, it was suggested I use the low seat in the higher of its two positions. Both bikes have full LED lighting. The 1250 Special also includes a “Daymaker Adaptive Headlamp” which progressively lights through a corner dependent on the lean angle of the motorcycle.
Features found exclusively on the Pan America 1250 Special, in addition to the semi-active suspension, and the Daymaker headlight, include tire pressure monitoring, center stand, height adjustable rear brake pedal, brush guard, aluminum skid plate, heated grips and a steering damper. Our test bike also had a factory option called “Adaptive Ride Height”. This feature lowers the seat height of the bike (1-2″ depending on the current preload of the rear shock) when it stops moving – allowing shorter riders to easily get their feet planted. Once you are moving, the normal suspension sag resumes. There are options to delay the height drop, or to lock it out altogether if the rider wants the bike to remain at full height while at a stop. Our bike had this option in addition to the tubeless laced wheels mentioned earlier.
To give our readers the context relevant to our evaluation of the bike, I need to point out that this press launch was unusual for MD in a few ways. It was a two-day affair, and Day 1 was spent primarily in first gear learning how to ride the nearly 600 pound motorcycle in the desert (including a brief stint in deep sand). The bikes were stripped of their mirrors and windscreen (see photo) in recognition of the fact, apparently, that several of the bikes had been tipped over/crashed in earlier waves of the press launch. Before swinging a leg over the bikes, the journalists were shown how to pick up a downed Pan America through coordinated two-person effort. The rest of the day was spent, variously, learning how to operate the clutch at slow speeds and even ride the big machine through a “trials course”. For these reasons, in addition to some dehydration and back spasming experienced by your faithful editor, we don’t have a whole lot to report from FGF (First Gear Friday).
Day 2 was indeed better than FGF, but was muted, somewhat, by the fact that the leader of our street ride was on knobby tires (Michelin Anakee Wilds), rather than the more street-oriented stock tires on the journalists’ bikes. The street pace was decent (particularly for knobby tires), but didn’t allow MD to push the bike as hard as we would have liked. A 10 mile off-road excursion on Day 2 was limited to a moderate pace in recognition that less experience riders would have to regroup with the leaders every couple of miles. No photographer was provided by Harley during the off-road segment.
During the street ride, we were immediately impressed by the seat comfort (which remained comfortable throughout the day), but bothered, somewhat, by the high placement of the handlebar. The handlebar placement felt good while standing on the pegs off-road, but it put the grips in an uncomfortably high position on the street. We understand that Harley offers different bar riser options, so this should be adjustable to the rider’s preference.
Putting FGF behind us, we were able to stretch the engine, and it is impressive. Although some vibration is felt through both the pegs and the grips, this did not prove bothersome after several hours in the saddle. The engine pulls well from low rpms (thanks, in part, to the variable valve timing) and builds power in a relatively linear manner to a strong top end. The power didn’t feel class-leading (KTM and Ducati will likely fight over that), but this is a fast motorcycle with plenty of thrust to satisfy just about any rider shopping for an adventure machine of this displacement.
The Pan America 1250 Special handles extremely well on the street. It feels very balanced, and combines excellent straight-line stability at highway speeds with a nimble (even playful) feeling through the twisties. Credit must go to good mass centralization, smart geometry and the performance of the semi-active suspension and its automatic rear sag (30 mm).
Selecting “Road” as the ride mode for the street portion of our test, we were impressed with the damping characteristics of both the fork and the shock. The bike seemed to absorb sharp edged, chatter bumps well, while still being firm enough for performance riding on twisty roads. The fork resisted excessive dive when braking for corners, and corner exits were finished without any evidence of understeer. Speaking of braking, the Brembos offered plenty of power and good feel.
The six-speed transmission offers a good spread of ratios, particularly given the broad powerband. Clutch action and shifting were seemless.
During the 10 miles on the dirt during Day 2, the big bike was able to track well through conditions that varied from hard-pack to semi-deep sand. For this section, we had selected the Off-Road setting, and suspension compliance was good. Once again, the pace of our group leader was not particularly quick (limited to 40 mph) on some fairly fast fire roads, but the suspension felt firm enough to keep the bike under control (we understand that some of the journalists who were allowed to go faster earlier in the week preferred the Off-Road Plus setting).
Once again on the road heading back to our compound at the end of the day, the capability of the Pan America 1250 Special as a street tourer was driven home. I was comfortable and relaxed purring along at highway speeds. Wind protection is pretty good. I placed the four-position height adjustable windscreen in the next-to-highest setting and enjoyed protection all the way up to the helmet level that was relatively free of buffeting.
The bike is not without its quirks, certainly. At a stop when the rear end would squat, courtesy of the Adaptive Ride Height, it was difficult to get the kickstand down. At one of the photo stops, I pulled up with five other journalists and each of us took several minutes to get the kickstand to “work”. It was both funny and frustrating at the same time. Of course, turning Adaptive Ride Height off would leave the bike at full height so that the kickstand could be more easily extended. We have already mentioned the ergonomic issue we had with the height of the hand grips.
So what’s the bottom line? This is not just a good “first effort” by Harley-Davidson. This is an excellent motorcycle. It exists in a tough category where the big KTM has just been redesigned, Ducati has entered with an all-new model, and BMW is the perennial champ among many buyers looking for a “premium” ride. Nevertheless, combining Harley’s brand loyalty with the quality of this effort almost certainly means good sales for both the standard model (MSRP of $17,300) and the Pan America 1250 Special (starting at around $20,000, our test unit was roughly $21,500 with options and accessories).
