Imagine it’s early spring 2021. Everything unprecedented about 2020 is behind us. Blissfully, your most pressing question today is which adventure bike to ride and to where.

Well, there might be one unprecedented matter left in the cards that plays out next year, and that’s Harley-Davidson’s odd-ball Pan America, a long travel adventure touring mount powered by an all-new liquid-cooled 60-degree 1250cc “Revolution Max” V-twin said to produce 145 hp and 90 ft-lbs of torque, due to hit dealerships around the world early next spring. The 2021 timing, an adjustment after management changes at Harley, combined with Covid-related supply chain and production delays, preempted its original Fall 2020 release. 

The Pan America will be a Harley the likes of which the world has never seen before, and some around the world are getting a sneak peek this fall as at least one near-production ready model circulates through dealerships in Europe. Why Europe? It might have something to do with Harley’s encouraging Q3 report, which shows sales in Europe on the rise, offsetting the bad news that sales in the U.S. are down eight percent. 

The prototype we see making the rounds in France, Spain, Italy and Holland looks identical to the bike revealed at the EICMA show in Milan last year, suggesting a robust build with off-road intentions as illustrated by its spoked wheels, Michelin/H-D co-branded knobbies, burly skid plate, crash bars, bolt-on rear sub-frame and brush guards.

The Pan America’s suspension appears to be semi-active and we expect the bike to offer a suite of rider aids and switchable modes navigated via the big TFT screen evident in the photos. We also see a manually-adjusted windscreen and switchgear that promises cruise control and an infotainment platform. Brakes are Brembo with four-piston calipers up front and a single disc out back.

That massive 60-degree V-twin, a configuration intended to rumble, will act as a stressed frame member, though Harley has said an “internal counter balancer” will help dampen uncomfortable vibration. Final drive is a chain.  

Some dealers in Italy have recently started taking pre-orders of the Pan America and we hear several customers have already signed the dotted line, though it’s not clear when the option to order will be available to shoppers in America.

A video released last November featuring a skilled rider tearing up some optimal off-road landscapes proves Harley’s prototypes are ride ready, and though the look is pure Mad Max movie prop, the bike appears to be very capable. It also appears to offer a lowish seat height that will appeal to some. 

Though technically still in prototype form, we assume little will change about the model at this late stage. The official price of the Pan America has not been announced yet. Best guess is it will be close in cost to BMW’s $17,995 (base) 2021 R1250GS, the model this Harley seems most aligned with in features, performance and brand sway. Weight may likewise be in the big GS’s range. 

With some luck, the most “unprecedented” thing about 2021 might be Harley-Davidson’s Pan America. Even more of a shocker if Harley’s entry turns out to be a viable adventure bike. Now that would be novel! 

Author: Jamie Elvidge

Jamie has been a motorcycle journalist for more than 30 years, testing the entire range of bikes for the major print magazines and specializing in adventure-travel related stories. To date she’s written and supplied photography for articles describing what it’s like to ride in all 50 states and 43 foreign countries, receiving two Lowell Thomas Society of American Travel Writer’s Awards along the way. Her most-challenging adventure yet has been riding in the 2018 GS Trophy in Mongolia as Team AusAmerica’s embedded journalist.