According to the headlines in late 2021, Harley’s first foray into the adventure market was the “Best-selling ADV motorcycle in America”. Two years later, I believe we’re on the cusp of a very different story. In 2021 the two-tone Pan America Special carried a suggested retail price of $20,249. Today, low-mileage Pan Am Specials can be found for 14-grand or less on Facebook marketplace. In the time that I’ve been watching used motorcycle values, I’ve never seen the value of a new motorcycle take a nosedive this steep. Motorcycle dogma clearly states: “Harley’s hold their resale value”, so why is the Pan Am tanking?
Everyone that wanted a Pan America has bought one
When I saw the “Bestselling” headline back in 2021, I instantly recalled a similar headline regarding Triumph’s new Bonneville Bobber. Back in 2017, Triumph set a company sales record for the new Bobber, a bike undoubtedly with a somewhat niche customer. Two years after seeing said headlines, garage queen Bonnie Bobbers were listed for sale all over; at the time of this writing, there are three leftover 2022 models sitting on the floor at my local dealer. When the bike was launched, those most excited to have one ran to their dealer and pre-ordered one. When the dust settled, the most anxious customers had already made a purchase, and it evolved into a bike chasing a rare customer. Sadly, I fear the Pan America may have suffered a similar fate, but that’s not all.
New buyers speed-date motorcycles
Despite performance statistics, interest rates, or utility, at the end of the day, motorcycles are primarily sold on sex appeal. People fall in love with a motorcycle for emotional reasons and simply have to have it. Let me recant that statement, they fall in “lust” with a motorcycle. At some point, the honeymoon wears off, and folks begin searching for that “new bike” feeling somewhere else. To finance the hobby, the old battle-axe gets traded in for a “younger”, “hotter” model. I have strong suspicions, that existing Harley owners, sufficiently curious enough to dip their toe into the adventure segment, ran out and put their money down on a new Pan Am. Just like their previous bikes, after two years of “fun”, they got their fix and were ready to bring home a different Harley. It likely didn’t stop with brand loyal customers; considering dealer network, “the new thing” and other tempting qualities, existing adventure touring folks tried on the Bar-and-Shield for size, but that irresistibility had a shelf life. While “lust” sells motorcycles, there’s no doubt some particular turn-offs may have ended some of these relationships prematurely.
First model-year gremlins
Ironically, I think Harley-Davidson has an unfair reputation of unreliability. While there are plenty of interesting statistics to fuel that debate, word on the street is that some Pan America models had various electronic issues. Officially, a limited number were actually recalled for display issues below a certain temperature. Anecdotally, I spoke with several friends who have ridden the Pan America, or even own them, mentioning various electrical gremlins that seemed to plague the bike, or at a minimum, annoy the owners with frequency (i.e. throttle-by-wire issues, going into limp mode, adaptive ride height malfunctioning). Obviously, this isn’t a new phenomenon, numerous manufacturers have issues with first-model-year vehicles. In this case, the damage to Harley’s reputation is worse because it’s their first and only entry to the adventure segment. When a more (presumably) reliable motorcycle can be had for the same money, or even less, it’s a taller hurdle for the Motor Company.
Swimming up stream
Reliability aside, there’s no understating the challenge of dropping a flagship adventure bike into a market that was already well saturated with liter-plus displacement offerings from well-established brands. Undoubtedly, significant American consumers have powerful FOMO, so it’s not difficult to convince a fresh crop of buyers to come try on the newest thing. However, trying to hold onto a slice of the heavyweight ADV market share against the backdrop of established Austrian, British, and Bavarian offerings several years post-launch is a bolder ambition. A bike that has perennial gravity to attract new buyers has to “do the thing” and won’t survive on hype and marketing alone. To make matters worse, the adventure market is clearly making greater moves toward smaller, lighter adventure motorcycles. Rather than drop an offering into a less established, growing segment, Harley chose to launch an aspirational model in a much more competitive class where it’s much harder to stand apart. In a world where you can get all the creature comforts and electronic rider aids on a 700 cc bike, what induces a buyer to pay more and consider a heavier, 1250 Harley against the backdrop of comfortable, capable middleweight machines let alone the established big-bore ADV machines that have a track record of reliable accoutrements?
The straw that broke the camel’s back
The truth is that I don’t believe that any one of these issues is the sole reason the Pan America as the fastest-depreciating motorcycle I’ve ever seen. I actually believe it’s the convergence of each of these issues, and more importantly, our current economic climate. Inflation is still running high, interest rates are at the highest levels we’ve seen in decades, and in a consumer economy, where lots of spending is fueled by debt, new motorcycles are a luxury. A Luxury that pandemic accounting and living habits supported, but in a more “normal” world, Pan Am owners are realizing they don’t ride as much as they thought they would. Worse, lots of folks are looking at their grocery receipts and realizing there are more important things that payment could pay for every month. As new bikes are sitting on dealer floors unsold, used bikes with “for-sale” signs are multiplying and the resale values are sinking.
This isn’t what I want
Selfishly, a cheap Pan America is a good thing for me. I’d like to find a smoking deal on a used one and have a great adventure touring machine. Inversely, this is bad for the Milwaukee mothership, and if I’m correct, it threatens the possibility of getting a middle-weight entry to the segment. This sword also cuts both ways; while I believe that Harley’s dealer network is not staffed or culturally equipped (in most places) to properly support the customer base for adventure bikes, the lackluster sales performance of the bike will likely cause dealers to turn their back on the Pan America as well. I stand firm that I believe that Harley would have been wise to play on their strengths and produce a capable V-twin scrambler in tandem with the Pan America and attack this segment in both directions. It’s not too late, but the sun is setting on this opportunity. If market forces continue on this path, I fear we’re looking at the end of the Pan America as we know it in less than 4 years. There’s tremendous value in having a successful brand making the bikes we want to ride here in America, so I hope I’m woefully wrong. Time will Tell.
Moto Adventurer 
Good article, and good question. I quite liked the bike when I first started seeing pictures of it and reading the reviews. But things have gotten very quiet around the bike, and there seems to be little interest in advertising or promoting it, meaning that other bikes are in the limelight a lot more often. Maybe Harley forgot that they make an adventure bike. The other day I saw one as well, and I thought it came across as big and overdesigned. Just a strange looking beast with strange colors and proportions. Here in Europe it seems to be BMW’s GS, Honda’s Africa twin and various models from KTM that most ADV riders go for, at least in the big bike segment. The Pan Am is still very rare in these parts.
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Dead on sir!
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As a budget buyer I may temporarily benefit from this, but I don’t think it will turn out how I want it to.
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This year at the Indian Larry block party, I saw quite a few Pan America’s and every one had street tires and sport touring or custom mods. None of them were trying to pretend, like the BMW GS that it was anymore an off road bike than a Gold Wing, (I owned a Triumph Tiger, sure if I lived out west where there were miles of off road trails, it’d been a great off road bike, but when I took it on my dirt bike trails on my farm, I realized it was a fat hog,) and I think there’s a segment of HD riders that are getting it. I did a Google search and found a lot of interesting aftermarket parts for them and every part treated them as road bikes.
I think there’s also the ugly soft bigotry when PA riders show up to non-harley bike nights on them and the potato potato jokes start and anyone interested in them hears. Add that to the way Harley saleskids have no clue that there are different riding cultures and try to sell every one who walks thru the door a new CVO and the PA doesn’t stand a chance.
This week I was at Central Kentucky powersports and they had a decked out African Twin with guards, aftermarket soft bags that were mud stained and Roxx risers and it caught my eye, I could visualize myself on it ….out west on a dirt trail…and I can’t remember seeing a Pan America except for off road tires, decked out the same way.
I think the PA future is as a sport touring machine and I think the Tracer GT 9 is its competition, and it’s been out a few years now and updates should be made by the Factory aside from Matt Laidlaw making videos about it.
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I think that’s a fair assessment. I agree touring is HD’s strength and the PA’s strength. Unfortunately that’s still not translating to sustained demand.
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Unfortunately dealers have all the power to make a bike successful or go away quietly. Dealers turned their back on Buell before the showrooms even saw them. If you went into a dealership to look at a Buell the salesmen would stand around joking about what a clown you were looking at a sport bike in their beloved HD dealership. Nobody would offer to help you or even speak to you for that matter. Once the dealers decide against a bike in the line , it’s DOA! Unfortunately this time around it’s the new ADV boy on the chopping block. They will end up killing the brand if they don’t learn to change with the times.
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Thanks for reading and commenting Mathew. Agreed, the dealer network is a major hurdle. I know a few good HD dealers that are ALL-IN on the PA… but unfortunately I’ve also stood in many that give it the Buell treatment. I wrote a different article about how I think current HD leadership is steering the ship
Toward oblivion… and completely abandoning the PA in favor of higher margin bikes. Time will tell I guess.
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Brings back memories of Buell, decent bikes that the dealerships did not know what to do with.
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I’m extremely concerned about that phenomenon.
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Well what a a huge flop. In Europe I have never seen this bike. Africa Twin, Xt1200 Superten, KTM or overpriced BMW but never seen this HD.
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It’s disappointing. I got it doesn’t “buell” this whole idea…
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Hajaja indeed! But has HD truly lost its way, I think so.
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I did the Lake Michigan Circle tour in August riding 1192 miles around Lake Michigan on my Triumph Tiger 800. Perfect for camping and riding forest roads. When I got to Milwaukee, I spent the night at the Iron Horse hotel next to Harley HQ. Went to the museum and there’s a huge exhibit dedicated to Harley’s adventurous heritage. They had the Pan Am on prominent display and even older models w camping gear from the Sears catalog. I was impressed by the display but it’s a huge disconnect from Harley’s support for the bike every where else. Also after riding around the lake I saw BMWs, KTMs, Africa Twins, and. Tender but no Pan Am riders on an adventure.
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Payback never
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I don’t understand?
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If sales and profit don’t cut it, then they will never see pay back on their new product investments. Aka ROI
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You should have led with that
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Agree with why the resale values are not holding. Out west with some aggressive tires, the OA would do ok on beat up pavement and dirt roads. East of the Mississippi River, things are different. I have two wheel sets for my ’17 Africa Twin. One set has smooth tires and one set with bumpy tires that get fit when I go out west. So, if PA owners are only riding east of the Mississippi, and want a Harley, there are better bikes available.
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Good point Marc. I almost suggested that at one point, but I think it has more to do with the bike and the brand than it does with offroad ability.
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The product was a great idea but the crowd for HD would never accept a water cooled sewing machine. I have a PA and absolutely love it that being said I’ve never been on a different bike other than HD.
Great page
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I think the demographics of HD customers is beginning to shift, and the culture with it, but I also agree with your point, that perspective is still alive and well. Harleys historically have been about image and “blank canavas” and not performance or utility historically. It’s a culture shift for sure. Glad you’re enjoying it 🙌
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i also have a 2022 pan american special enthusiast collection. i’ve been riding bikes all my life but never owned a harley before. i was familiar with the others like the KTM, Honda, GS and i knew that they were all pretty good bikes. i new a guy that used to ride for KTM and he loved them but told me that servicing them was not only expensive but finding a place to service them was long and hard and expensive, so he would do all of his own work. harley davidson has one big thing over all of those other bikes and that’s availability! you could break down a 100 miles away somewhere and be able to find a harley davidson store, close and ready to help you. Domestic prices compared to import prices. The pan american had its problems including my 22 but they are all good now and i have a lot of confidence with mine. it’s a wonderful bike and for the young brand new adventure bike in competition with BMW i’ll take my american over any german, japan, austrian, bike any day. i am now Pro harley davidson and i can’t believe it took me this long to want a harley. The pan american is a sweet cross country motorcycle no matter if your on the street or on the back roads. its a tuff bike that is very comfortable and gives you multiple options on different routes, your not stuck on just a road.
if your not sure about the bike just go on a test run!
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Hey Andrew, thanks for commenting. I echo your sentiment. I think the Pan America is a good bike, all brands have recalls. Also, there’s much to be said about dealer network, it’s less important to me, but I recognize I’m weird. Unfortunately, while everything you said it true, I’m very concerned about the fate of the PA and future HD ADV bike’s considering the value struggle they’re currently battling.
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I had great hopes for the pan America. I’ve owned triumph tigers for 10 years now, and the only complaint is the dealer network pr lack there-of.
I asked harley why they have no adventure gear with their brand logos on it.
Why don’t they have an adventure HOG club. Thr movie with the two actors doing south America should have impressed me. But did not.
Lastly, the best thing the pan America produced is thr fire under BMWs are to reinvent the R1200 series to the R1300. A world above what it was, and what it was is the all time king of adventure bikes for decades.
If you don’t train your dealers and hire adv people and market to them you can’t win in today’s landscape.
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Agreed. I’ve been very concerned about dealer’s adoption of this completely new segment. I hope I’m wrong, unfortunately it appears to not be adopted much if at all by most as best Ican tell.
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They have a line of gear with the harley logo on it. It’s made by rev’It! though.
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That’s new. I’m a marketing person and have been suggesting products like that for years even before the PanAm. I did recently see an airbag jacket – so yes, they’re slowly catching up.
The larger HD Dealerships have outdoor items, folding chairs, coolers etc… but none of them fit into or onto a bike.
I have read many negative blogs about the newer PanAm from a mechanical side, however my HD mechanic whom I trust unequivocally, said they are OK,,,, so there may be one in my future.
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Here’s the thing, if the dealers treat it like a red headed step child it’ll never work. They did this to the Buell and Vrod. I like the bike and would like to see it succeed but it’s all up to the dealers.
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Agreed. I do think HD has learned a little since Buell, but not a lot. There are several dealers that are all in and all about the PA, but to your point, it’s the vast minority.
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It has a horrible reputation for failure. Dealer network bla bla….
NOBODY wants a bike that is very possably going to leave you stranded.
Or spend more time in the shop vs riding. And these bikes have that rap.
BAD!!! I road one. Liked it, started investigating. It’s issues were rampant and glaring.
Screw that. Made that mistake with an aweful Moto Guzzi Stelvio disaster once.
Went back to my decade long, THRASHING my V-strom for a second gen in 2015.
Been wailing on it ever since. Sure, look up BMW recall rate. But at least they stand behind them. Austrian KTM? No thanks. Don’t need those expensive headaches either. I ride, hard. Everywhere. Don’t have time or money for Hyped up Euro this or failing Domestic attempts. You want the best.. Ride Japanese. An African Twin,
New T7, a V-Strom ECT. You not only can ride them, depend on them to the point of ABUSING them. And to me that is big fun…..
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The local HD only has one PA on the fsales foor and there is no salesman that will even talk to a curios perspective buyer. I’ve even been told to go to a go to a “Jap Crap” dealer if I wanted a “dirt bike”.
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Wow… no words…
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Plenty of them in the UK and it looks like more and more people are buying them, I have had one since 2021, yes it has had some of the gremlins but they seem to be sorted now.
UK Hog have embraced it and have done a couple of adventure weekends for owners to attend. Negative talk can become a self fulfilling prophecy if you are not careful. I think HD has lost its way a bit and their pricing point has increased exponentially, which has affected secondhand values, some older bikes have increased as a result. I think over here in the UK, the price of the bike makes it one of the cheapest Harley’s available and people forget the Pan was on an intro deal when it first came out, so 2021 bikes will be a bit cheaper and may have an effect on secondhand values, maybe time will tell if the powers at HD put that engine in another bike.
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I just purchased a leftover 2022 Pan America Special. I bought it to add to my other two Harleys. Main reason being, I can ride it in the rain, take those dirt roads I’ve been checking out and not worry about it. I’ve only put 500 miles on it so far. I see it needing the usual Harley upgrades. Ex. Bar risers, better seat, highway pegs for longer rides. I only hope I got a “good one”. Time will tell.
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I’ve said elsewhere, I hope they’re successful. Unfortunately the current climate is concerning. I have a few friends that appear to good ones but have had a couple of the known bugs.
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I read this while sitting in my tent at March Moto Madness ADV Rally in Tellico Plains TN. I have >15k on my 22 Pan America in my 12 months of owning it. I agree with many of the Authors assertions, but all are anecdotal. Is the PA really worse in resale to other brands? Compared to the cruisers HD produces its lower but I argue its on par to other brands. As far as reliability yes I’ve had gremlins but my buddies with other brands have them too! Ask my Triumph Tiger pal we had to bump start today on the Cherhola Skyway with an overloaded electrical system and dead battery (27°F grip and seat heaters, cell phone and GPS = dead battery no start) I also think that PA riders are trying this ADV riding thing out and expect more from the machine than the other owners, in other words PA owners that take them in the dirt BEAT THEM mercilessly! They are tough and capable machines and that skews the perception of issues with the reliability. I agree the dealer network support is varied but it’s never more than a tank of gas away! Scott Mattox and his crew at Smoky Mountain Harley Davidson are probably the best I’ve worked with and others are missing the boat by not embracing this machine. Find a rally take a offroad riding class and stop letting non PA owners tell you “How it is” The “GS club” that started this rally are now in the minority here. My guess is that will just continue over time. It’s kind of interesting how the anti HD haters keep berating the PA now that thier segment is being invaded.
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Hey Daniel, thanks for reading and commenting. I’m really glad the smoky mountain is still promoting the ADV movement. I met some of those guys down at MMM in 2018 when my buddy Jeff brought his scrambled sporty down there. I’m really glad that them, and white lightning HD are standing behind the PA, it’s what HD needs. I’m even more excited to see and hear PA owners using those machines as they are intended. I’ve reached out to various people, because I want to see more of them in the wild at Red River Scramble.
Unfortunately I believe both conditions are true, the PA is not holding its value compared to other heavy weight ADV bikes. Meanwhile, there is a growing segment of dedicated off-road riders using their Pan Ams to their limits.
I also agree, many people want the PA to fail. They don’t like and don’t understand Harley Davidson and wish for them to fail because it’s trendy if nothing else. I myself am a Harley Owner. I want HD to be successful. I believe they need to make a pivot to welcome a new generation of riders and they are wise to include ADV in the mission. With that, I believe they need to do a better job. Per a previous article I wrote about the CEO change. I believe Levatich built the PA and that’s why we have it. With him gone, I fear we won’t see the pivot we desperately need.
I want to reiterate, nothing makes me happier than spotting muddy Pan Ams in the wild. I can’t wait to see the MMM photos this year. Hopefully more promotion of that will swing the tide if it’s not too late.
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coming from a Certified Harley Technician. When these bikes come into the shop, we hide from the dispatcher. We avoid them like the plague. There’s so much more wrong with these bikes than what’s explained in this article. Electrical comes second to the huge engine issues. I can’t even think of the long list of issues that plague this bike. A big one is that these bikes were released without having any technicians updated with the new model, no training at all…. Zero. I wish I could say more, you can look up plenty of examples on YouTube and blogs. Wonder why they call them Pain America??
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Wow… that’s awful. Can you elude to anything regarding the engine issues?
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wish I could. Best advice I could give is to just do the homework even more so on this model. The new sportster is not far behind this bike too.
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