P76
RIDE REVIEW I 2 0 2 1 H A R L E Y - D A V I D S O N P A N A M E R I C A 1 2 5 0 S P E C I A L RIDE REVIEW RIDE REVIEW RIDE REVIEW I 2 0 2 1 H A R L E Y - D A V I D S O N P A N A M E R I C A 1 2 5 0 S P E C I A L
the H-D Pan America checks so many
high-tech boxes. It's not going to
win over the analog off-road warriors
looking for maximum simplicity, but if
comfort, tunability and control are what
you're after in a cross-country ride,
and you feel like geeking out a bit, you
will be happy here.
I'm going to break down the bike
into component groups to better give
you a grasp of what America has to
offer the ADV world. But first, a word
on off-road.
This bike works fine off-road. De-
spite it looking a bit unruly, it actually
has decent off-road manners for a
19/17-inch front/rear-wheeled bike.
The 19-inch front with a fatty tire does
the float thing a bit in the soft stuff, but
only surprises you with a tuck if you
turn aggressively. Otherwise, it main-
tains composure across all sorts of
terrain, preferring harder pack routes
than full sand sections but dealing
with rocky gravel and dirt just fine. As
you'll read below, the suspension and
engine performance have a lot to do
with this performance.
It also works very fine on the road. It
punches a big hole in the wind with its
blunt chin and screen, providing good
comfort even when wearing a moto
helmet.
Now let's get into how it actually
works!
Weight
Harley-Davidsons are heavy, right? Well,
for a 1250cc adventure machine, H-D
is bringing these bikes to us at claimed
weights that might surprise you. Our
bike, as tested, has a claimed fully fu-
eled weight of right around 560 pounds.
It's not a middleweight ADV weapon, but
it's fighting in the big-dog class.
