[JessterLSX]

Hello all, new to the forum. I wanted to share my situation with my Pan America. I love the bike, it is very comfortable and fun to ride. Which makes this even worse in the case of being without my bike and hoping this doesn't happen again. So, in the first 12 days of owning my Pan Am, I put 920 miles on it. I bought it with 6 miles on it. Broke it in as the Owners Manual instructs. The failure. I was accelerating onto a Highway, 2nd gear, shifted into 3rd gear around 7,000 RPM, and the engine just died. Gauges and lights still on, no engine power. Rear tire did not lock up. I pulled the clutch in and coasted to the shoulder. Stopped, neutral, restart. Bike started but didn't want to idle. I gave it throttle and it started clacking and knocking so I immediately shut it off. I tow on the weekends as a side job so thankfully have my own roadside assistance 😎 Put the bike in my truck and took it to Harley the next day. I had my 1K service scheduled for that day coincidentally enough. They got to work very quickly, my sales guy and the service advisor both communicating with me very well and very eager to get me back on the road. On inspection, they find that the front Exhaust Cam sprocket had broken into multiple pieces. They reached out to Harley Corporate, Harley Corporate told the dealer to cease tear down because they want it in R&D for teardown and inspection, Harley Corporate authorized a new motor for my bike. Matching numbers and VIN stamped on a new motor should arrive this coming week after Christmas, and I am being told that I should be back on two wheels by the end of the week if all goes well. I am a parts manager for a body shop so I know supply lines are all screwed up from the Rona I've attached some pictures for you of the carnage and the bike itself. I really like the bike, I have a friend who owns one and has had no mechanical issue from it. And I also follow a rider who does all kinds of stunts on his Pan Am. Wheelies, burnouts, offroad, jumps, and I have spoken with him. He has had no mechanical issues either. So hopefully this was just a bad fluke.

 

[Boog]

I am glad to hear the MOCO is taken this route and hope you are back on the bike real soon. Doing a new break-in period is not so bad...

 

[sardonicus87]

You got the right attitude about this. Many people would come in with your situation and just blast the Moco and call the model trash and think they were all bad just because theirs blew up, when they might have been the only one.

Good luck on the new engine, hopefully it won't take them too long to get you up and running again.

 

[JessterLSX]

I am glad to hear the MOCO is taken this route and hope you are back on the bike real soon. Doing a new break-in period is not so bad...

Yeah thankfully the break in requirements are pretty easy on the Pan Am. No higher than 5,000RPM for 500 miles, and if on the highway do not stay at the same RPM for long periods of time. So on the Interstate I just lightly accelerated and decelerated a 10MPH difference gradually. And 5,000RPM is just above 80MPH, so HWY speeds are easy to attain while breaking in. Once the break in miles are done and the 1K service is completed, I'll be riding it hard. I need to know that I can rely on this bike because I plan to make some big road trips with it in the coming years.

 

[JessterLSX]

You got the right attitude about this. Many people would come in with your situation and just blast the Moco and call the model trash and think they were all bad just because theirs blew up, when they might have been the only one.

Good luck on the new engine, hopefully it won't take them too long to get you up and running again.

Thankfully the team at my local Harley have been great customer service wise. Communication, expectation, and the desire to get me back on the road. They could see that I was disappointed but I was not angry or rude with them, and they immediately took action. I've been working for shops and dealers for most of my life so I know that even when a customer has every right to be upset about the situation, it doesn't help to be angry or rude with the people who you need to help you. Unless the people are the problem of course. My sales guy helped me get a great trade in deal, even took me back to work and picked me up while they did the final multi point inspection and such. I rode it home after work and put 100 miles on it the first night. And the service guy was immediately ready to help. He was shocked that it failed so soon.

 

[Breeze3at]

Jesster; Welcome, please post updates on this. We like to know good and bad dealer/factory experiences.

 

[JessterLSX]

Jesster; Welcome, please post updates on this. We like to know good and bad dealer/factory experiences.

I will for sure. This is my first time dealing with HDCO and a dealer with a new bike. The Pan Am is my first new bike of any kind. So I am very interested in how they handle it for me.

 

[Jfrady]

Wow! Sorry to hear about that but glad it's being worked out. Hopefully an isolated incident as I just turned 230 miles on my PAS

 

[JessterLSX]

Wow! Sorry to hear about that but glad it's being worked out. Hopefully an isolated incident as I just turned 230 miles on my PAS

I'm fairly confident that it is. I've seen tons of videos of people riding these things way harder than I was when this happened and they are still running strong.

 

[JessterLSX]

Big update! I'm being told that I will have my bike back today or tomorrow if all goes well! They began reassembly yesterday. Pics below are, bike pulled apart, old motor, bike back together. If all goes well and I get my bike back today or tomorrow in good running condition, I will be very happy with this situation.

 

[Jfrady]

Nice! Hope it works out for you. Those pictures remind me of breaking tractors apart

 

[JessterLSX]

Nice! Hope it works out for you. Those pictures remind me of breaking tractors apart

Oh yeah, splitting them in half? That does have a resemblance haha!

 

[JessterLSX]

Just got the word that the bike is ready to go! Gonna be picking it up after work today. Very excited to have it back!

 

[Tjakes680]

glad to hear Harley did the right thing and the dealer wow hope ur up and running again soon love the pan am

 

[Required]

Hello all, new to the forum. I wanted to share my situation with my Pan America. I love the bike, it is very comfortable and fun to ride. Which makes this even worse in the case of being without my bike and hoping this doesn't happen again. So, in the first 12 days of owning my Pan Am, I put 920 miles on it. I bought it with 6 miles on it. Broke it in as the Owners Manual instructs. The failure. I was accelerating onto a Highway, 2nd gear, shifted into 3rd gear around 7,000 RPM, and the engine just died. Gauges and lights still on, no engine power. Rear tire did not lock up. I pulled the clutch in and coasted to the shoulder. Stopped, neutral, restart. Bike started but didn't want to idle. I gave it throttle and it started clacking and knocking so I immediately shut it off. I tow on the weekends as a side job so thankfully have my own roadside assistance 😎 Put the bike in my truck and took it to Harley the next day. I had my 1K service scheduled for that day coincidentally enough. They got to work very quickly, my sales guy and the service advisor both communicating with me very well and very eager to get me back on the road. On inspection, they find that the front Exhaust Cam sprocket had broken into multiple pieces. They reached out to Harley Corporate, Harley Corporate told the dealer to cease tear down because they want it in R&D for teardown and inspection, Harley Corporate authorized a new motor for my bike. Matching numbers and VIN stamped on a new motor should arrive this coming week after Christmas, and I am being told that I should be back on two wheels by the end of the week if all goes well. I am a parts manager for a body shop so I know supply lines are all screwed up from the Rona I've attached some pictures for you of the carnage and the bike itself. I really like the bike, I have a friend who owns one and has had no mechanical issue from it. And I also follow a rider who does all kinds of stunts on his Pan Am. Wheelies, burnouts, offroad, jumps, and I have spoken with him. He has had no mechanical issues either. So hopefully this was just a bad fluke.
View attachment 820862 View attachment 820863 View attachment 820864 View attachment 820865 View attachment 820866 View attachment 820867

HOLY SHIT!!!
Looks like it's in a chop shop..
I'd ask for a new bike...but that's me.

 

[JessterLSX]

HOLY SHIT!!!
Looks like it's in a chop shop..
I'd ask for a new bike...but that's me.

Hahaha nah, everything else on the bike works fine so far. No point in being a Karen/Ken about it when Harley Corporate sent their own driver and truck directly to my dealer, all the way from Milwaukee, to make sure I got my motor in a timely manner. And I have been in direct contact with the Tech. It was a great experience of communication. And if anything is messed up or missed, it will just go right back to them to fix.

 

[JessterLSX]

Picked up the bike last night! Took it for a test ride, and rode to work this morning! Got a brand new motor to break in and it's running great so far! I'll keep y'all updated on any changes but so far I'm very happy with how this situation was handled by my dealer and Harley Corp!
And yes my dealer offers pickup and delivery. I live an hour away from the dealer but I work right down the road from it, so it makes since to just drop it off and pick it up myself since I pass the dealership each way and not have to wait on them.

 

[Required]

Hahaha nah, everything else on the bike works fine so far. No point in being a Karen/Ken about it when Harley Corporate sent their own driver and truck directly to my dealer, all the way from Milwaukee, to make sure I got my motor in a timely manner. And I have been in direct contact with the Tech. It was a great experience of communication. And if anything is messed up or missed, it will just go right back to them to fix.

Glad it worked out for you...MOCO stepped up and did the right thing.
Are they going to let you know the cause of the failure? Lot of ppl here will be interested in the verdict and what to look out for.
No Karen / Ken here..just seeing a catastrophic failure and a major teardown at 900 miles...too new for that.
Ride safe!

 

[JessterLSX]

Glad it worked out for you...MOCO stepped up and did the right thing.
Are they going to let you know the cause of the failure? Lot of ppl here will be interested in the verdict and what to look out for.
No Karen / Ken here..just seeing a catastrophic failure and a major teardown at 900 miles...too new for that.
Ride safe!

Yes they did a great job getting it done in a timely manner and communicating with me. The Service guy told me that they should hear from Harley about it once they tear it down and inspect it, and I asked if he could let me know what they say so we will see! I am hoping that if it is something that affects multiple engines/parts that a recall will come from it.

And I agree it is way too new for that to be happening. Thankfully my dealer also knew that shouldn't have happened and took immediate action. But since everything else on the bike works flawlessly, I wouldn't want to get another one and then have say a bunch of electrical issues hahaha. I am optimistic of the outcome because I know 1 person personally who has a Pan Am, I follow several on social media, and I know a couple of people with the Sportster S which has the same motor. And none of them have had any mechanical issues, even with hard riding.

 

[Kainam]

Yes they did a great job getting it done in a timely manner and communicating with me. The Service guy told me that they should hear from Harley about it once they tear it down and inspect it, and I asked if he could let me know what they say so we will see! I am hoping that if it is something that affects multiple engines/parts that a recall will come from it.

And I agree it is way too new for that to be happening. Thankfully my dealer also knew that shouldn't have happened and took immediate action. But since everything else on the bike works flawlessly, I wouldn't want to get another one and then have say a bunch of electrical issues hahaha. I am optimistic of the outcome because I know 1 person personally who has a Pan Am, I follow several on social media, and I know a couple of people with the Sportster S which has the same motor. And none of them have had any mechanical issues, even with hard riding.

I bet it was a broken cam. I had a cam bolt break at 1000 miles on a SE 131, leaving me stranded a couple hundred miles from home.

I think they had a run of QC issues from a supplier a couple years ago.