2024 Harley-Davidson CVO Pan America Is Milwaukee's First Factory Custom Adventure Touring

The unveiling was centered around four new motorcycles. The first two are part of the regular Grand American Touring range and come as the 2024 Harley-Davidson Street Glide and Road Glide. The bikes are sufficiently upgraded to be worth a closer look, but not much more than that.

The other two bikes are in CVO flavor. Harley-Davidson's Custom Vehicle Operations is turning 25 years old in 2024, so it was only natural for the rides it makes to take center stage. And both models are quite impressive.

The first is the 2024 Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide ST, the usual touring bike wrapped in special CVO livery and packing the "most horsepower and torque ever from a factory-installed engine in a production Harley-Davidson motorcycle."

The second CVO treat is the bike we have here, a Pan America. That's right, a Pan America in factory custom guise. Not only does that make it worthy of our attention, but it also secures a place for it in the bike maker's history books as the first-ever "CVO offering in the adventure touring segment."

The Pan America was introduced into this world just three short years ago, following several delays and issues. It came about as Harley's first major foray into the world of adventure bikes. That, in turn, opened the doors to the brand for riders who are looking to ride the same motorcycle both on the road and off of it.

When it launched the Pan America came as the 1250 and 1250 Special, and the same offering is still on the table today. Well, not quite, as the range just grew with the addition of the factory custom bike.

The motorcycle is officially called the CVO Pan America, and it is based on the 1250 Special. And by based I really mean that, as the two-wheeler is essentially the exact same bike.

What that means is Harley-Davidson made close to no changes to the mechanical bits of the base motorcycle. In its own words, "all of the features that have made the Pan America 1250 Special model a leading choice among discerning global Adventure Touring riders are retained."

Translated that means everything, including the first thing CVO usually changes on the bikes it handles, the engine. The ride packs the stock Revolution Max 1250 powerplant, in the exact same configuration as on the Special, and with the exact same performance figures: 150 horsepower and 95 ft-lb of torque.

The list of hardware and capabilities carried over between the two models is massive, and it also includes the semi-active front and rear suspension, touchscreen display, selectable ride modes, and Daymaker adaptive headlamp.

What, then, did CVO do to make the Pan America wearing its name special? In a nutshell, they simply added some accessories and a limited number of parts to make it all feel important. When all was over with, a special paint job and graphics were added.

The CVO Pan America rides on special wheels of the tubeless laced variety, designed to work with a specially crafted adaptive ride height suspension system.

A Screamin' Eagle quick-shifter was added to the bike, as were an auxiliary LED to light up the road ahead and an aluminum skid plate to protect the Pan America. At the rear we can see a new set of top and side cases, made from aluminum. And that's it.

Harley already has the CVO Pan America listed on its configurator, and says the model will become available on dealers' lots by the end of the month. There is only one trim option available, black, and a single color choice, Legendary Orange.

And now, the price. In its normal configuration, the Pan America 1250 Special is selling for this model year from $19,999 (the regular 1250 is is no longer available in the U.S.). That's significantly lower than what Harley is asking for the CVO-flavored one: $28,399.

With the arrival of the CVO Pan America and the introduction of the CVO Road Glide ST, Harley's lineup of factory customs has grown to an impressive four models. The other two are the 2024 CVO versions of the Street and Road Glide, first introduced last year with a new platform, new Milwaukee-Eight VVT 121 engine, and significant tweaks for the suspension system.

To celebrate CVO's 25th anniversary, but also in a bid to give you a more comprehensive look at the 2024 Harley-Davidson CVO offering, autoevolution will be running an extensive coverage on the topic in the coming weekend, so stay tuned for that.