Harley-Davidson Pan America 975 Expected Soon

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Considering that the expected Pan America 975 will share many of the 1250’s accessories, we expect that they will be very visually similar. (Jeff Allen/)

It was way back in July 2018, when only scientists were familiar with the word “coronavirus,” that Harley-Davidson first announced its plans to enter the adventure-bike arena with an early glimpse of the Pan America. From the very beginning, a smaller 975cc version was part of that plan. While the launch schedule has slipped, that machine is definitely still on the way.

The Pan America was first revealed in prototype 1,252cc form as the centerpiece of the “More Roads to Harley-Davidson” product plan. Devised and announced by then-CEO Matt Levatich, this ambitious strategy aimed to see the Harley name appear on new models across a variety of classes in which the firm didn’t traditionally compete.

Just 18 months later, in early 2020, before any of the planned new machines hit the market, Levatich was out. His replacement, Jochen Zeitz, started to dismantle the More Roads to Harley-Davidson plans, canceling many of the planned new Harley-Davidsons and refocusing on core cruiser models.

When Harley-Davidson originally announced then-CEO Matt Levatich’s More Roads plan, this presentation showed that a Pan America 975 was in the plans. We believe it will arrive early in 2023. (Harley-Davidson/)

Some models survived. A proposed lightweight electric bike morphed into the LiveWire Del Mar and a then-unnamed design became the Sportster S; others, like the proposed 338R parallel twin and the Bronx streetfighter, fell by the wayside.

The Pan America 1250, despite straying far from Harley’s normal offerings, also survived. It proved every inch the success that Levatich must have hoped for when he announced it in 2018. Reaching the market as a 2021 bike, a year behind the initial schedule, it raced straight to the top of the adventure-bike sales charts in the US.

But what of the smaller 975cc version of the Pan America? In the original More Roads plan, the strategy was clear. The range was to be two bikes, a 1,250cc version leading the way with a 975cc model coming a year later. While the smaller bike didn’t hit that launch target, it’s very much still part of Harley-Davidson’s plan, and there are plenty of indications that its launch isn’t too far away.

In fact, there’s evidence that the RA975 and RA975S versions of the Pan America were due to be released as 2022 models, one year behind the larger RA1250. The NHTSA, which among many other things is responsible for overseeing vehicle recalls, already has dedicated web pages for the 2022 Harley-Davidson RA975 and 2022 Harley-Davidson RA975S. In other words, Harley-Davidson has informed the NHTSA that there’s a 975cc version of the Pan America, and it was due to be a 2022 model.

Harley-Davidson’s Pan America 1250 was an instant showroom success. The ADV market is hot, and a 975 version makes perfect sense. (Jeff Allen/)

More evidence that the bike was due on sale can be found in Harley-Davidson’s own documents. Searching within H-D’s own website for the term RA975 brings up pages for accessories that list the bike. While the links are dead, Google’s cached versions of the pages show that the RA975S is due to be compatible with at least some of the accessories already available for the Pan America, indicating that the lower-powered 975cc model, using the engine that debuted this year in the Nightster, will share its appearance with the 1,252cc Pan America.

The question remains over how soon we’ll see the RA975. One indication might come from Harley’s own launch of the original Pan America, which debuted in production form in February 2021. That was two and a half years after its prototype presentation, but it avoided the normal delay between a bike show unveiling and reaching dealers. Customers were able to get their orders in instantly, rather than having to wait months before production started. There was no risk they’d be tempted away by rival models before they could buy the Harley.

So: Could the RA975 be unveiled early next year? It would make a lot of sense.

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