17/08/2025

theSunday Special XIV ON SUNDAY AUG 17, 2025

Big heavy Harley-Davidsons are surprisingly fast on track.

not the first time I have attacked the cir cuit. But this is the first time I have done so on a Harley-Davidson. The team from Harley-Davidson had an array of models available for us to ride, ranging from range topping CVO’s that cost close to RM400,000 to the other worldly CVO 135’s. For those not in the know, CVO stands for Custom Vehicle Operations. It is a division of Harley-Davidson that focuses on creating high-powered models which feel and sound like they were made for the Gods. But in the interest of time, I chose to ride the one bike that almost everyone was going for, the 1250 Pan America ST. The Pan America has had a tumultu ous existence. It was introduced to the world at the height of the pandemic. And buyers found it difficult to fathom an adventure motorcycle when it difficult to get out of your own house, let alone cross borders. And when the borders did open, it was a difficult time as well, with many losing their jobs, as well as their savings, during the pandemic. But after what I experience with the ST, the future is looking bright for the Pan America. Designed as a dual-purpose adventure touring motorcycle to take on the likes of the BMW GS, the Pan America was not an immediate sweetheart among the touring community. That was not surprising though con sidering the Pan America was Harley Davidsons first attempt at creating such a motorcycle. It was impressive, but it had its shortcomings. The ST though, well, let me just put it this way – if the 1250 Pan America is a sledgehammer that conquers everything with brute force, the ST is a scalpel – it is precise, clinical and accurate. There are some major differences that lends the ST its much-loved character – the dimension for starters. Its length is slightly shorter, it is slightly narrower, the trail and wheelbase are shorter as well . It may not seem like it in the photos, but it is essentially a slightly smaller bike and that makes it feel more “chuckable” in corners. Of course, the 17-inch front wheel helps as well. The Special gets a tradi tional 19-inch wheel which is quite typical of an adventure bike, but the smaller front wheel makes the front feel more eager. Of course, the fact that the front wheel is made of lightweight cast aluminium also adds to its livewire character. Both the Pan America Special and ST

requires strength and stamina, but well sorted adventure bikes have an uncanny way of masking their heft, and the Pan America Special is no different. There is much to love about the Special as well, such as the Adaptive Ride Height. This function automatically adjusts the seat height as you ride and lowers the seat when you come to a stop so that you can flat-foot easily. You really don’t want to be tip-toeing on a bike of this size, so this is quite handy. It also comes with adaptive headlights with lean angle adjustment. This means that the headlight adjusts to the bike’s lean angle to illuminate dark spots around corners, which is very clever. The Pan America Special made mince of the off-road challenge – this coming from someone that only occasionally rides off-road and that too on lighter motorcycles. So, what did we learn from Dirt, Road and Track? In essence, this was a missed opportu nity for me to ride them all, but that is just me being greedy. Being able to sample the bikes I men tioned above was already an experience by itself, and to do so on open roads, one of the best circuits in the world as well as off-road was a great chance to sample the updates. The Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine offers a host of updates that allow it to run cooler and produce more power at the same time. All Harley-Davidson Cruiser models are also the safest they have ever been with selectable ride modes available on all cruiser models for the very first time. But the one experience that will stick with me for a while is riding the Pan America ST on track. Such a big heavy bike shouldn’t be able to move like it does, but it didn’t only move with you, but it offered face warping braking power as well. I was concerned that riding the bike after a few other riders had their way with it and with brake pads that were at least 50-60 laps old would alter the character of the bike, but the technical guys told me to just have fun. And have fun I did. The new range of Harley-Davidsons are surprisingly fast and agile and are no longer the old lumbering, noisy motorcy cles they used to be. I walked away from Dirt, Road and Track with an entirely new impression of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. I never imagined that I would ever associate Harley-Davidsons with being fast and agile, and now I can’t wait to ride one again.

The Dirt, Road, Track allowed a group of like minded people to thoroughly explore Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The Fatboy was immortalised in pop culture by the Terminator 2 movie.

share the same Revolution Max 1250 V Twin engine, but the ST has a slightly dif ferent state of tune. Both bikes make 150hp but the Special makes it at 8750rpm while the ST makes it at 9000rpm. Torque on the ST is just slightly higher though at 127Nm as com pared to the 125Nm on the Special. This may not sound like much but makes a world of difference on the track. The ST also has a different rear sus pension than the Special. The former runs on a linkage-mounted monoshock with compression, rebound and hydrau lic spring preload adjustability while the Special uses a slightly heavier semi-active compression and rebound damping sys tem. The final weigh in? The ST is a full 12kg lighter than the Special. These little details matter because the ST offers an entirely different riding char acter. While the sitting position and such may be similar to the Special, the ST loves to get lower and grips like a pitbull. If there is one downside to it though, it is the gearshifts from the quickshifter. Each high-speed shift is spine shatter ingly brutal rather than crisp and precise like what you would get with a Suzuki GSX S1000-GX for example.

So, if I were an engineer at Harley Davidson, that is one thing that I would fix with the ST. Getting into the dirt After the track session we moved to Bay 13, to get dirty with the 1250 Pan America Special. This off-road track was designed to highlight the capabilities of the Pan America on the very terrain it was designed to tackle. But to show how far the new for 2025 Pan America Special has come, Harley Davidson generously prepared the older 2024 version to act as a comparison bike. This proved to be a good idea because it highlighted the one thing that has been improved the most on the new Pan America – throttle modulation. On the previous model, the throttle felt choppy and over eager. When off-roading you want a throttle that is easy to hold and does not respond to the slightest of input as you get thrown around with the bumps and dips. With the newer version, the throttle was less intrusive and that made the bike feel easier to manage as well. Of course, throwing around a 258kg bike a dirt road is never an easy feat, it