ROAD NEWS
HARLEY-DAVIDSON GOES ADVENTURING
F irst Harley-Davidson turned the world on its head by unveiling the first mass-market electric motorcycle , and now they ’ ve done it again after the reveal all of their first crack at an adventure bike , the Pan America . Making its debut as two models , the base Pan America and the Pan America Special , the new Pan America has been developed from the ground up to take Harley-Davidson to the Adventure Touring segment , with the American brand clearly putting serious thought into the project in terms of what an Adventure Tourer needs .
MARKET Set to go toe-to-toe with the heavyweights of the adventure class such as BMW ’ s R1250GS with its new 1250cc Revolution Max V-Twin and long-travel suspension , the Pan America will be a premium offering like the European competition , with NZ pricing set to start from $ 33,995 and a mid-year arrival expected by Harley-Davidson Australia .
ENGINE While styling is clearly inspired by Harley- Davidson ’ s Road Glide , Harley hasn ’ t rushed the Pan America into production with shortcuts , with the new bike featuring decent tech and a thoroughly modern water-cooled engine with variable valve timing and rider modes . Powering the Pan America is Harley- Davidson ’ s brand-new Revolution Max 1250 V-twin , the firms first water-cooled engine since the Porsche co-developed V-Rod motor . Harley states that the new 1250cc V-twin produces 150hp at 9000rpm and 127Nm of torque at 6750rpm . There ’ s a six-speed gearbox and chain drive , rather than Harley ’ s traditional belt drive . While service intervals aren ’ t as stretched out as we see from bikes coming out of Europe , with an initial 1600km service followed by intervals of 8000km , Harley-Davidson has done away with the need for valve servicing by using roller-finger valve actuation with hydraulic lash adjusters .
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