Pan-America Test Ride

[Nice Goat]

Waiting for the demo bike to get back... I'm looking forward to this.

[Nice Goat]

[Chitza]

That bike looks good on you  ;)

[Nice Goat]

Harley has done a very respectable job on this bike.  The adaptive ride height feature is completely seamless.  You literally cannot even feel it.  I also sat on the other PanAm, just because it did not have the adaptive height feature.  It is a tall bike... I was not tippy toe on it, but I wasn't flat-footed either.  The demo bike was perfect.  Flat-foot it when stopped, and it lifts up slightly after you get moving.

The bike is heavy, like all big ADV bikes.  It was not noticeably different in that regard from my Super Tenere that I used to have, or the Tiger Explorer.  The Africa Twin and the Versys 1000 feel a bit lighter than this bike.

But it handles very well.  It's nicely balanced, and I was surprised to see that it has a steering stabilizer.  I was able to do Gymkhana circles in the parking lot with little difficulty.

The engine has a guttural, raw character to it, almost like a KTM.  I'm not sure what I was expecting from the motor, but it wasn't that.  It certainly is not the typical "potato potato" sound for which Harley is known.  The sound reminded me of my 2012 Super Tenere.

The only things that I did not like:

- The kickstand looks very thin and fragile.  I'm sure that it's a hardened steel, and it had kind of an I-beam design, but it's not confidence inspiring.

- It was easy putting the bike on the center stand, but you can't put the kickstand up while the centerstand is down.  That's because the kickstand is forward of the centerstand, and they interfere with each other easily.  That might make it hard to do some maintenance procedures.  I should have tried putting the sidestand up first then putting the centerstand down, but I didn't think of it.

- Lastly, this bike has a strong motor, but it didn't seem to have much torque at low RPMs.  It doesn't really like being lugged.  This motor wants to be run hard.  It starts to really wake up around 3,500 RPM.  I didn't push the bike hard on the test ride, just enough to see where the power kicks in.  After the ride, the GM of the dealership was talking with me, and he said the motor screams above 7,000 RPM.  He said it will definitely put a smile on your face.

Summary: I like the Pan-American, a.k.a. "the Dirt Glide".  It is completely apparent that Harley did their homework and made a serious effort.  I'm not sure that I would want to buy one, just because my riding tastes are changing.  But if I was in the market for another big ADV bike, I would certainly have this bike on a short list of contenders.

[Merkur Man]

I also test rode the Pan-American, at the IMS show south of Atlanta.

The side stand and center stand interfere with each other. I noticed the same issue as you did. If the side stand is up (retracted) it will be pushed down by the center stand when its used. I was thinking "which crazy engineer designed that"! There must be some reason for it to be that way.
It was fun to ride it and I was mildly impressed by their first effort.

[jrobinson]

Give em a break. Harley isn't use to having that many moving parts hanging from the frame. lol

[KevinB]

I thought most Harley kick stands...excuse me, "Jiffy Stands"...were self-deploying. I had the spring go AWOL more than once while riding either a work or personal Road King. It happened enough times that I carried a spare spring in the saddlebag.

[TN_twowheeladdict]

I did a test ride back in May.  Here is my write-up posted on ADVrider.

https://advrider.com/f/threads/raucous-rowdy-spirited-ride-on-the-2021-harley-davidson-pan-america.1504701/