Harley-Davidson’s Greatest Modern Motorcycle Can Now Be Had For Half The Price Of The Cheapest New Car

Harley-Davidson is perhaps the most iconic American motorcycle brand, but it’s also one that a lot of folks can’t afford, as many of its bikes cost more than some new cars. The Motor Company’s cheapest motorcycle starts at $9,999, and the crew at your local Harley dealer will be happy to scrape more than $50,000 out of your bank account if you let them. This is why a lot of riders just buy smaller, cheaper bikes and don’t even consider the bar and shield from Milwaukee. But what if you could have a Harley and not go broke buying it? Harley-Davidson’s greatest modern motorcycle, the Pan America, is practically a steal on the used market right now. How cheap? How about legitimately less than $10,000?

This month, I decided to let go of my 2024 CFMoto Papio SS to buy a dream motorcycle. Admittedly, I liked looking at the little guy more than I liked riding it, and that’s a story that I will tell very soon. As luck would have it, a motorcycle that I have wanted ever since it launched in 2019 has come up for sale in new condition for half of its original MSRP. Again, that’s a story you’ll have to wait to read. But what’s important about this is that I started checking to see if other new motorcycles I loved had also lost a chunk of value.

I was surprised when I scrolled past the work of our friends at RideApart and saw an article noting that Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 prices have spiraled to the point where you don’t have to be loaded with cash to buy one. I know, I couldn’t believe it, either. But I looked for myself, and I have yet to stop drooling, figuratively, anyway. The Harley-Davidson Pan America didn’t capture the hearts of the Harley faithful or sway too many people off of their BMW GS adventure bikes. Yet, I think it’s the greatest motorcycle Harley has built in the past 10 years and one of the greatest Harleys built in the past 26 years.

The Pan America is great because it’s the motorcycle that shows what Harley-Davidson can do when it gets out of its comfort zone of building giant, expensive cruisers. When I tested one in 2024, it wasn’t just a great effort, but one of the most enjoyable motorcycles I’ve ridden, full stop. It even had one accessibility feature that still remains rare today.

Harley Takes On BMW

Why? The Pan America was built by a different Harley, one that wanted to change its image. The motorcycle was a part of an initiative to attract all kinds of new riders into the Harley fray. The Pan America was aimed squarely at the popular adventure-touring market dominated by the likes of the Triumph Tiger and the BMW GS.

Here’s what I wrote in my review:

The centerpiece of the Pan America, aside from a feature I’m going to tell you about in a bit, is its engine. When you lay your eyes on a Harley-Davidson Pan America, you’ll instantly figure out that this isn’t your grandfather’s V-twin. This engine, dubbed the Revolution Max 1250 or “Revmax” for short, is an impressive piece of engineering. Harley says the Revolution Max 1250 isn’t some recycled engine with new parts, but a clean-sheet design meant to blow the competition out of the water. In its talks about this engine, Harley-Davidson details an almost scary level of detail. Engineers went with a 60-degree V-twin with a narrow profile. This was done to centralize the mass of the engine for better handling, improve rider ergonomics, and to allow the engine to fit into compact spaces.

Ok, that’s pretty cool, but the engineers went further. One goal of the Revmax was reducing weight, so engineers used finite element analysis and deployed optimization techniques to minimize mass in cast components. Harley gives the example of engineers finding out how to shave weight from the starter gear and camshaft drive gears.

Further weight was shaved with the use of single-piece aluminum cylinders with nickel silicon carbide-surface galvanic coatings, plus forged aluminum pistons. Even more weight was reduced by using magnesium for multiple large pieces. Finally, one more weight-saving measure comes from the fact that the engine was designed to be a structural member, eliminating the need for a heavy frame to cradle it. Harley’s engineers didn’t stop at putting the engine on a diet. This thing has variable valve timing, independent hydraulic adjustment for the roller-finger valves, and dual counterbalancers. Look, normally these things wouldn’t be much to gush about, but remember that we’re talking about a Harley-Davidson here.

The Revmax 1250 pumps out 150 horsepower and 94 lb-ft of torque. It also spins up to an un-Harley-like 9,500 RPM redline. The firepower coming out of this engine is harder than what the engines in the BMW and Triumph competition make. Yep, this is a Harley that actually makes the most horsepower in the competition. The engine is so happy to rev that it almost taunts you to ride it hard and fast. I did just that, riding the Pan America hard all day, and the engine never skipped a beat.

Great Ideas, Fun Ride

Then there’s the rest of it. Harley-Davidson gave the bike the look of something Master Chief from Halo would ride. But my favorite feature? For an extra $1,200, you could get your Pan America with a system called Adaptive Ride Height. This smart system automatically lowers the seat to as low as 28.1 inches at stops so short people like me can comfortably get their feet on the ground. When you take off, the system lifts the seat back up. Here’s another snippet from my review:

I hopped on board the Pan America, used the plastic lever to adjust my windshield, and set the ride mode to Sport. I wanted to go whole hog right out of the gate. Only, I discovered instantly that this doesn’t ride like a hog. It’s more like strapping yourself to a Falcon Heavy. At least, upon twisting the throttle, I uttered a word that sounded something like “falcon.”

That was because the Revolution Max 1250 hits like a hammer early on in its rev range. It hits so hard that if you aren’t prepared, you will do a wheelie. This is non-negotiable; the Pan America’s power comes on hard, heavy, and doesn’t relent until you hit that rev limiter. If you have a chance to gather your thoughts, you’ll look down at the touchscreen just to read the “Harley-Davidson” displayed on it. No, the bike hasn’t changed since you hopped on board. This really is a Harley and oh my god is it astonishingly quick.

Now, I’m going to be quick to clarify that this isn’t the fastest ride on the block. There are motorcycles that hit harder and fly faster. My Triumph Rocket III scoffs at the Pan America’s mere 94 lb-ft of torque. But then you go right back to remembering that hey, this is from Milwaukee. This kind of performance with the Bar and Shield badge is just something else. I won’t say it’s as fun as my Rocket III or as diabolical as a 325 HP Sea-Doo, but if you aren’t smiling on a Pan America you probably need to see a doctor.

All of this is to say that the Pan America blew me away. If I had the money, I would have purchased one the moment I got home from that press trip. But I didn’t because I couldn’t. The base price of a Pan America is $19,999, and that’s before you tack on another $1,200 for the adaptive ride height. For much of the Pan America’s run, it was more expensive than BMW’s GS, the establishment leader in the category. Nowadays, the GS has a higher base price of $20,395, but these are still very expensive bikes to buy new.

Great Deals On The Used Market

Unfortunately, rave reviews from owners and journalists haven’t translated into sales for the Pan America. Apparently, resale values haven’t been great, either.

A very quick search of motorcycles for sale on Facebook Marketplace and within 500 miles of Chicago shows about seven Pan Americas for sale for $10,000 or less. The cheapest near me (above) is only $9,000, and I bet you could get it down further with negotiation.

If you expand into a nationwide search, the deals get better. There’s a Pan America on Cycle Trader right now for $8,499. Really, there’s no shortage of Pan Americas for $10,000 or less on Cycle Trader.

It’s not exactly known why Pan America values sink so quickly. As RideApart notes, there are really only theories. One is that the Pan America was the subject of a bunch of recalls when it first came out, and that tarnished its image. But the bikes on sale today should have been fixed. Another theory noted by RideApart is that, allegedly, Harley-Davidson and its dealers don’t give much support to existing owners and don’t try very hard to sell new units, either. Sort of like the old Buell days, apparently, the dealers would much rather sell and service a Street Glide.

I couldn’t find a confirmed reason for the low resale values, but maybe it just goes back to the fact that the Pan America isn’t exactly Harley’s hottest model to begin with. But I wouldn’t let that stop you from getting one of these for way cheaper than new.

I have no doubt that you can get a Pan America for under $8,000 if you try hard enough. Sure, these motorcycles will have some miles on them, possibly some scratches, and maybe even questionable mods. But at the same time, these things are listed for less than half of their original MSRP despite some of them being only a few years old. That can be a crazy good deal. A used Pan America is pretty much less than half the price of the cheapest new car, despite it having the price of a new car when it rolled off the dealership floor.

It’s not like you’d be suffering, either. I thought that the Pan America absolutely nailed the assignment of an adventure-touring bike. It was comfortable, almost like a cruiser, but didn’t have to stick to paved roads. It was happy to pop wheelies and ride like a hooligan, but it also didn’t mind going slow. Add in the thoughtful self-lowering seat and the style, and I think you’d have a winner. It’s a shame I had only enough money to buy one dream motorcycle this March, because I would have happily brought one of these home, too.

So, if you, like me, think that the Pan America is a fantastic ride but just a bit too expensive, now might be the time to act. The Pan America is a great, deeply underrated motorcycle, and with these prices, you don’t have to be rich to afford it.

Top graphic image: Harley-Davidson