Harley-Davidson unveils the 2021 Pan America

H-D's rugged American ADV

In a bid to penetrate more market segments to battle declining sales, Harley-Davidson introduced the world last year to non-cruiser prototypes. The patents were tracked down and new interest has indeed been awakened. Those who attended EICMA 2019 saw the almost-production-ready versions of H-D’s streetfighter and adventure bike in the flesh. The American brand also divulged more information on its new Revolution Max engines and released a video of the dual-sport Pan America doing its thing off-road.

The 2021 Pan America and Bronx are expected to hit showrooms in late 2020 — both powered by different sizes of the new liquid-cooled DOHC Revolution Max 60° V-twin. The engine has the DNA of the original Revolution engine with downdraft throttle bodies — derived from H-D’s VR1000 superbike and co-developed by Porsche to fit onto the V-Rod. The Revolution's previous descendant was the smaller Revolution X which made its way into the Street line.

The 2021 Harley-Davidson Pan America is powered by the 1,250 cc version of the Revolution Max while the naked Bronx receives its 975 cc sibling. While the Bronx is belt-driven, the Pan America is chain-driven… And H-D is working to push at least 147 PS and 122 Nm of torque out of the Pan America’s larger stressed-member V-twin.

Harley-Davidson displayed the Pan America at EICMA 2019 wearing cargo boxes, wire-spoked wheels, and chunky knobbies to look the part. Design-wise, the adventure bike hasn’t strayed much from the prototype. Meanwhile, the sizable TFT dash and switches hint at riding modes, electronic aids, connectivity, and other touring-friendly tech.

The American dual sport (which H-D markets as its "multi-tool") also gets LED lighting and an adjustable windscreen while the headlamp housing retains and continues the tank’s silhouette. Like the upcoming Bronx 975, the Pan America receives inverted forks and a rear mono shock as well as Brembo brakes.

Harley-Davidson will need to price the Pan America wisely to compete against trusted ADV-touring and dual-sport twins such as the Yamaha XT1200Z Super Ténéré, Suzuki V-Strom 1050, Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin, BMW R 1250 GS, Ducati Multistrada 1260, KTM 1090 and 1290 Adventure, etc. For Asian markets, H-D’s manufacturing close-by in Thailand will hopefully help keep the new non-cruiser Harleys affordable.

Because of H-D’s iconic and ubiquitous status, along with its commitment to throw support behind this new direction, the Pan America has a chance to avoid the same fate of discontinued ADV twins of the past — including Buell’s sporty, road-biased XB12X Ulysses (which has earned cult status since H-D shut the subsidiary down) and Moto Guzzi’s Stelvio 1200 (sales were limited but the smaller V85TT has become popular). Pricing, specifications, and other details of the 2021 Harley-Davidson Pan America have yet to be announced.