Harley Davidson Pan America 1250.

[Mick_J]

My Ducati Monster was in for some work so I got a curtsy bike, first choice was the Ducati Streetfighter but it was at their other branch so I opted to try the Harley Davidson Pan America 1250 (or the "Mud Glide" as the yanks have now christened it).

First off it's nothing like any other Harley, it's almost normal (for an adventure style bike) with a high seat, twin disks, chain drive and a dash in the line of sight.  The Colour TFT has a lot of information on it (A bit cluttered in my view) and there are several menus to scroll through but not all can be accessed while on the move.  The speed readout is large and central with the tacho circling it.  There is a selectable miles/trip1/trip2 range readout below the speed and a very small gear position window.  There are engine oil and water temps readouts and the and all miles and trips are repeated in another area of the dash but there is no fuel consumption meter.  It is keyless but weirdly the fuel tank needs a key, which is a pain if you have already put the fob in an inside pocked (how do I know that?).  The switch gear is odd as well, the left side has the cruise control on it along with the menu navigation and selection switches and normal indicator switch but the headlight control although similar to many bikes now with push forward for main beam, middle for low beam and pull for flash it's not fitted to the front of the switch cluster but on top, so I's flick up for main, mid for low and press down for flash making it awkward to operate as you have to rotate your hand around to reach it.  The right cluster is dominated with a five button switch to control the audio (which is provided by your own phone), my car has a switch cluster just like it with vol up/down track next /previous with a central mute button but at least they gave me a bloody radio.  So most of the right cluster is of no use to anyone who does not listen to music on the move.  On top is the mode switch (4 modes) and the power/start switch.  The start button is a smart starter, just press it briefly and the bike starts itself.   Neat feature is the self levelling suspension, which is fully electronic, it even has a feature that lowers the ride height when you come to a stop, and it is subtle as I didn't notice the bike rise or lower itself.
So the ride, well the engine is quite smooth and tractable, the bike can pull smoothly from 2000 rpm in any gear (my Ducati can't do that) but I think there is still some work required with the injection system, it's a bit rough and tends to lurch/hunt on a fixed throttle at lower speeds but it goes well and has plenty of grunt for quick overtakes, there is a high pitched whine/whistle at low speed but that disappears as the speed increases (or wind noise overtakes it).  Handling is good, at all speeds, it can be slowly ridden around in a car park with both feet on the pegs and next it can be ridden at high speed with confidence holding it's line well in corners and sticking to your chosen line.  The brakes are Brembo radials but felt a bit weak to me (remember I have just jumped off a Ducati with M50 brakes), but I think with the knobby(ish) tyres and long suspension travel they are well suited to the bike well and pulling up was no problem.  Seating position felt quite natural with everything falling to hand (left switch gear excluded) and the mirrors could be a bit bigger but did provide a good view of what was behind although they do look very cheap and nasty.
Downsides, (there's always downsides) and for me it was the usual suspects.  The bloody screen, a cheap nasty affair that wobbled about like a flag in the wind and did nothing but create a lot of buffeting and noise, if I had a radio on the bike I would not have been able to hear it.  The seat didn't fit my arse very well so it didn't take long for me to start suffering, it forces you forward as it's sloped down at the front too much for me so I found the bike very uncomfortable after an hour and a half in the saddle.
For those in the market for an adventure style bike it is worth a look, for those who like traditional Harleys it's probably not for you but I was glad to be given the chance of riding one, the good bits are good but for me the bad bits outweigh them.  I don't think BMW, KTM or Honda will have anything to worry about unless they drop the price a bit.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Nice write up, but definitely not the bike for me.

[Hooli]

These do interest me, but that bloody headlight!

Plus I refuse to buy anything with a TRFT screen rather than proper clocks. I like clocks, they do the job a lot better & belong on a bike. TRFT crap belongs on an arcade machine.

[DP1400]

Sorry chaps - nothing with a Harley badge interests me!

[Blubber]

Read about it last week. It is starting to grow on me... and i ride a bmw r1150gs as a winter hack.. so i know an ugly bike when i see one 

Pricewise it is out of my leage for the next 15 years... so maybe ..when i am 60 i will get myself onen of those mudglides 

[AndyB]

Had a really good look at one yesterday down at gateshead harley Davidson,
And was offerd a test ride.....
Absolutely not....I've never seen such a pig ugly bike in my life..and if one of my mates seen me on one of those...I'd pay dearly
On the flip side of that...I traded my evo softail in last week for this little beauty....and what ever little street cred I have...is still intact

[grog]

Mud Glide sure is ugly. Yours much better Andy. I actually had a ride on 2012 Sportster last week. Not much i can say, sure different.

[AndyB]

Mud glide ....
Oh I'm gonna use that...the new one is a country mile better/ different than my old evo...I can happily sit at 90mph....instead of rattling my fillings out at 70mph.....I love it..not as much as the turbo though mate

[VladTepes]

The only Harley I would own given the spare cash is a V-Rod.

But there's a LOT of bikes I'd buy before a Harley....

[GSXKING]

They're quite expensive for a bike assembled in Malaysia 

[VladTepes]

Mud Glide sure is ugly. Yours much better Andy. I actually had a ride on 2012 Sportster last week. Not much i can say, sure different.

I wonder how much it weighs compared with competitors.