Had an opportunity to finally test ride one today at a demo days. I can't say for sure that I was wowed by the bike. Some good things some bad things some things I'm not sure I understand. What I did not understand what seemed to be a limited rev range within each gear. It seems like at certain speeds you had to be in a certain gear or else the bike was just revving too much or not getting full power? I'll try to explain on my super tenere I can be in 4th gear anywhere from 30 mph to 70 mph and not feel like my bike is revving too much. There is a wider range within each gear on the super tenere. I know someone here will have an answer.... is that gearing or is it programming? Another thing I don't understand is... I swear my tenere just feels more powerful more acceleration more pull and responsiveness almost seemed like there was a slight hesitation in acceleration on the Pan America. Someone mentioned on their test ride they felt more torque on the low end on their tenere and I'm telling you I feel more torque on the Tenere throughout the entire range.
One thing I did enjoy is the bike was definitely very flickable. I mean this in a good way. I do feel the steering damper kind of takes a little bit of that flick ability away for me. When I was parking the bike... It backed up so easy to it wasn't even funny that's where a weight difference was definitely felt. On my tenere when backing up I have to push with more effort on my legs . On the Pan America it was almost just like walking backwards. As far as comfort... was okay the seat is the most comfortable stock motorcycle seat I have personally ever sat on in my opinion. the ergonomics of the bike when sitting seemed fine except for the pegs seem higher up off the ground and my legs were bent more than when I'm sitting on my tenere. It's kind of gave me a tad bit of a cramped feeling. When it came to standing I could not get as vertical standing up on the tenere. Rode the bike on the highway and wind management felt fine no buffeting at all I did not mess with any of the adjustments on the windshield. As far as the adaptable ride height I don't know or wonder if it was turned on, on the bike? I just didn't feel or notice anything with it. I'm assuming it was turned on because when the guy before me got off the bike I heard like a small motor noise. I am just under 5'10" and I'm able to stand on the bike with both my heels touching the ground as I can on my Tenere with seat in the low position so it's about the same height maybe a little bit shorter than the tenere in the low seat position. I took a look at the problem area where the radiator hose melted and bursts on the exhaust headers. Yes the hose is awful close and I'm sure the heat from the exhaust headers heat the hose some when the bike is still. if the bike is moving the wind of course will blow the opposite way from the radiator hose and I can see some different exhaust header with a slightly different Bend taking care of this or even wrapping the pipes as another person who was there pointed out with some heat wrap. And of course I harp on this but that battery and rectifier location in my opinion is just atrocious on an ADV bike.... That alone would be a deal-breaker for me and a water crossing where that battery is submerged will it not short out? And spray from the front tire on to the regulator and Battery I can see potential problems as well if somebody can explain this to me better I would surely appreciate it.
As far as braking goes man this bike has some brakes! It takes a little bit to adjust and not squeeze them too hard!
All in all the bike Rode nice. Like I said I just was not (wowed) or Overjoyed with it. When I got back on my tenere, it felt just so much more comfortable it felt more powerful and had more pull. I want to my tenere feels better handling but that could be just something about being used to the bike. I'm going to the ADV Fest next week and hope to possibly demo the bike again.
Forgot to mention the display on the bike. It was okay like other people pointed out you just have to get used to where things are located on the screen it was nice at did have a gear shift indicator and even when you pull in the hand clutch it would show you what gear you're in. I scroll through the menu and it looks like there is a lot of features which I did not really have time to play around with remind me of an Apple phone.
There were a lot of buttons on the hand controls the turn signals are on the left side like most other bikes whereas all other Harleys have the turn signal on each left and right side. Yes there are numerous buttons they were pretty intuitive and easy to figure out if you're familiar with the symbols and buttons on motorcycles.
Funny realization I came to... On the generation one tenere that had that clutch basket that gave those little vibrations between 2 and 3000 RPMs... That little vibrations is what it feels like to be on a bike with a chain at least that's what it felt like the entire time on the Pan America. Seem like that clutch basket on the generation one bothered some and did not bother others and I wonder if the ones that it did not bother came from a chain drive bike previously?
The picture attached shows the battery and how open it is and where the rectifier is directly in front of it so the heat from the rectifier goes onto the battery and heat decreases lifespan of batteries