Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST (2025) – Review

Harley-Davidson’s name might be linked to chrome-clad cruisers but in the UK their Pan-America adventure bike has proved surprisingly popular. The Pan America 1250 Special has become a fixture at the top of the brand’s sales rankings and outsells many of the more traditional models in the range.

The Pan America makes more power than BMW's R1300GS, is more comfortable and, apart from some well-publicised teething troubles when the bike first appeared in 2021, it's been more reliable too.

The new Pan America 1250 ST puts the emphasis firmly on road riding with 17-in wheels a lower seat, shorter screen and road-focused suspension making it closer to machines like Yamaha’s Tracer 9 and Kawasaki’s Versys 1100, Suzuki’s GSX-S1000GX or even BMW’s S 1000 XR than a traditional adventure bike.

We really enjoyed our time riding it. If you get the chance, then try one - we think you'll enjoy it too.

Pros & Cons

2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST - Price & PCP Deals

The new Pan America 1250 ST is the road going version of HD's adventure bike. Think of it like BMW's S1000XR - a half-faired upright sports bike that does Sunday giggles, weekday commuting and some comfy touring too.

The basic Pan America ST (if you can resist the HD options telephone book) costs £16,995. That's the same as a base model BMW S1000XR. For a company with a reputation for making expensive bikes that might not seem too bad for a 150hp, 1252cc V-twin sports tourer. Bear in mind that Yamaha’s Tracer 9 GT+ - higher-tech but less powerful than the Pan America – also lists at £17k, while the Suzuki GSX-S1000GX, which is close to the Harley in power and weight but arguably less exotic, is approaching £15k.

Colour options for the new model include grey, black or red. The black or red finishes cost £350 extra at £17,345.

Harley's PCP deal with a £2500 deposit would see 35 payments of £281 and a final payment of £6698 with an annual 4000 miles.

However... and this is important. Part of the reason Harley customers are OK with Harley pricing is that resale values on most of their bikes are strong. That's not the case on the Pan America which can lose half it's value in just three years.

2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST - Engine & Performance

Harley-Davidson’s ‘Revolution Max’ engine lives up to its name when compared to the traditional air-cooled engines normally associated with the brand. Where the air-cooled engines enjoy their heritage with crankcases and gearboxes the size of a football pitch, the Pan-Am motor is compact, modern and a two-fingered reminder to motorcycling that HD can do high-tech as well as anyone. Not only is it liquid-cooled, but it’s got variable valve timing with cam-phasing on all four camshafts, plus hydraulic tappets and two spark plugs per cylinder.

With 149hp at 8750rpm, it’s substantially more powerful than even BMW’s latest R1300GS, and backs that up with 94lbft of torque at 6750rpm. A 60-degree angle means it’s more compact than a traditional 90-degree V-twins favoured by the likes of Ducati, but wider than the 45 degrees of Harley’s classic air-cooled motors.

The new model addresses one of our original criticisms of the Pan America by adding a Screamin’ Eagle quickshifter as standard, allowing clutchless gearchanges both up and down through the six-speed box.

Forget all (and we mean ALL) your previous opinions and prejudices about Harley if you had any because this engine in this bike is just brilliant. The Pan America ST feels much more like a sporty road bike than the adventure-flavoured standard Pan and this motor's giddy, juvenile power delivery suits that mentality down to the ground.

Open the throttle in the lower gears and giggle at the way the bike drives forward, bars wagging, front tyre lifting in that daft kind of way we always hoped these wide-barred sports bikes would. This is the torquey, easy-power-delivery dream that big-twins sell on but don't always deliver. It's such a fantastic engine; smooth, fast, easy to manage and...did I mention Fast (with a capital 'F')

The gearbox is slick and the quickshifter sits about halfway on the spectrum of good-and-bad quickshifters. Users of BMW's Boxer-twin quickshifter will love it, riders coming from a four-cylinder bike will find it a little soft on downshifts.

2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST - Handling & Suspension (inc. Weight)

Revolution Max dosn’t just decribe the Pan America ST’s engine – to a large extent it’s also the bike’s chassis. As on the other models in the range, the engine is a fully structural component, with a small front frame section bolted to the top to mount the steering head and a rear frame at the back to mount the swingarm, shock and seat subframe.

It’s a concept that reduces size and mass, although the Pan America is still a fairly hefty beast at 246kg ready-to-ride. That’s par for the course in big adventure bikes (and 12kg less than the top-spec Pan America 1250 Special), but 19kg more than BMW'S S1000XR.

American-model Pan-AM STs have electronic suspension adjustment and, when we first saw the bike we were expecting that in the UK too. Somewhere along the way, that changed and we just get the standard 47mm upside-down Showa forks with manually adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping. There's a similarly adjustable Showa monoshock at the back with remote preload adjustment. That's fine by me, I'm happy with manually adjusted suspension.

The big change on both sides of the Atlantic are the wheels. New, slim-spoked, cast alloy 17-inch road wheels, rather than the 19-inch front, 17-inch rear used on the adventure-style versions of the Pan America. Shod with Michelin Scorcher Sport rubber, the Pan America 1250 ST is a road bike and the suspension works with the bike's steering geometry to give a ride that's always on the edge of exciting down a twisty road. Lively, always engaging, but always in control and enjoyable. It's a neat trick that builds a giggly, teenage bond between rider and bike very quickly.

Brembo provides the brakes, as on other versions of the Pan America, with 320mm front discs and four-piston monobloc radial calipers. Front and rear are linked and there's lean-sensitive ABS. They work as well as you'd expect but on standard settings braking really hard starts to overwhelm the front forks, which bottom-out easily and give the rider a choice of backing off the brakes or styling it out with the front moving around.

Of course, the smarter solution is to add a little compression damping to the front suspension, take a little preload off the rear and reduce the rear rebound too.

2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST - Comfort & Economy

While the ST retains the ground clearance and the spacious riding position of an adventure bike, the change to a more street-biased setup means the seat is 25mm lower than before at 825mm. That's still quite tall and the seat is wide too. There's no electronic ride height control (an option on the standard Pan America adventure version) on the manually-adjusted suspension so you'll either fit the ST or you won't.

And, to be fair, even the Adaptive Ride Height suspension on the rufty-tufty version only dips to 830mm at its lowest, with its adjustable seat in the ‘low’ position and suspension dropped.

The seat is comfy though and the riding position roomier than it looks. There's a good balance of motorway comfort and control in corners. The Pan America 1250 ST is a fraction narrower than its sister models, with a litle less weather potection, ditching the side cowls that flank the radiator.

The stubby screen works ok at keeping the worst of the windblast away. It looks like you can adjust it, but you can't. You can accidentally dismantle it by the side of the road whle trying though. If you are going to do this try not to do it on a slope, near a drain where you can watch the spacer drop on the floor and start rolling towards the gutter. If you lose the spacer you'll be riding home with a surprisingly bulky screen blade shoved down your jacket.

And while we're moaning, Harley's weird crash-proof sidestand which works so well on the big cruisers feels out of place and un-nerving here.

Fuel consumption varies depending on your self control and the amount of motorway miles in your trip. I didn't get chance to do as many miles as usual on our test bike so, take our average of 47mpg with a pinch of salt. On motorway journeys I think you'll get mid-50s mpg from this modern engine. But in the twisties, the ST encourages us to ride like we're 30 years younger and that kills your mpg figures.

With 21 litres of fuel you should still expect 200+ miles between fill-ups though.

2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST - Equipment

Rider aids and connectivity are the same as the regular Pan America so you get lean-sensitive ABS and traction control plus wheelie control. You can also control music and navigation apps from the switchgear via the HD app, keep your hands warm with heated grips and enjoy the ease of use of a simple-to-read 6.8in TFT display. Cruise control and keyless ignition (not for the fuel cap though) are standard too.

2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST - Rivals

In terms of performance and specifications, the closest match to the Pan America 1250 ST is Suzuki’s GSX-S1000GX – with similar peak power at 150hp but a revvier four-cylinder engine and less torque, peaking at 78lbft. Kawasaki’s newly-updated Versys 1100 follows a similar formula, but it’s less powerful at 133hp and heavier too. BMW’s S1000 XR goes the other way, power-wise, at 170hp, but isn’t as well equipped as standard. Yamaha’s Tracer 9 would also fit into the class, with the GT+ model also costing £17,000 but majoring on technology rather than performance, thanks to radar-based rider-assists and semi-active suspension.

BMW S 1000 XR | Price: £16,790

Read more

Power/Torque

170bhp / 84lb-ft

Weight

227kg

Suzuki GSX-S1000GX | Price: £14,799

Read more

Power/Torque

150bhp / 78lb-ft

Weight

232kg

Kawasaki Versys 1100 S | Price: £13,649

Read more

Power/Torque

133bhp / 83lb-ft

Weight

257kg

2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST - Verdict

Harley's Pan America ST is probably the most surprising bike of 2025. I enjoyed the standard Pan-Am but as an adventure bike wasn't blown away. Lowering the seat, fitting 17in wheels and a few years to get used to the styling has made all the difference.

The ST has its own mischievous personality, is a complete giggle to ride for most of the time and surprisingly easy and competent for the rest of it.

Price is competitive for the performance and levels of standard equipment, but I would be apprehensive about the resale based on the rest of the Pan-Am range. Maybe this will be the bike that bucks the trend. I hope so, it deserves a following.

If you're in the market for a practical, all-rounder that can make you chuckle on every ride and not too worried about the resale risks, it's well worth a trip to your nearest HD dealer for a test ride.

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2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 ST - Technical Specification

What is MCIA Secured?

MCIA Secured gives bike buyers the chance to see just how much work a manufacturer has put into making their new investment as resistant to theft as possible.

As we all know, the more security you use, the less chance there is of your bike being stolen. In fact, based on research by Bennetts, using a disc lock makes your machine three times less likely to be stolen, while heavy duty kit can make it less likely to be stolen than a car. For reviews of the best security products, click here.

MCIA Secured gives motorcycles a rating out of five stars (three stars for bikes of 125cc or less), based on the following being fitted to a new bike as standard:

• A steering lock that meets the UNECE 62 standard

• An ignition immobiliser system

• A vehicle marking system

• An alarm system

• A vehicle tracking system with subscription

The higher the star rating, the better the security, so always ask your dealer what rating your bike has and compare it to other machines on your shortlist.