Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Conquers Key La Pass

A group of five motorcyclists, all riding the new Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250, led by Ravi Avalur, Head, Harley-Davidson Business Unit at Hero MotoCorp, successfully reached the summit of the Key La Pass in the Himalayas recently. Situated at 18,600 feet (5,669 metres) above sea level, the Key La Pass is the world's highest unpaved motorable road. With this feat, the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 has created history by reaching the highest altitude any Harley-Davidson motorcycle has been anywhere in the world.

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Ravi Avalur, Head, Harley-Davidson Business Unit, Hero MotoCorp was part of the group of 5 riders to reach Key La pass.

Commenting on the achievement, Ravi Avalur, Head of the Harley-Davidson Business Unit at Hero MotoCorp, exclusive partner of Harley-Davidson in India, said, "When Hero MotoCorp and Harley-Davidson began operations in India, our Chairman and CEO Dr. Pawan Munjal's brief to my team was to take the Harley-Davidson brand to new heights never seen before. We took him quite literally, and my team and I took five Pan America 1250 motorcycles to an altitude that no other Harley-Davidson has ever been to anywhere in the world. It is a strong testament to the capabilities of the Pan America 1250 and a proud moment for all of us at Hero MotoCorp."

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Key La pass is situated at an altitude of 18,600 feet (5,669 metres) above sea level in the Changthang region of Ladakh, and opens up a new alternative route from Leh to Pangong Tso.

Situated in the Himalayas, in the region of Changthang, Leh district in Ladakh, India, Key La Pass is characterised by steep inclines, rocks, loose gravel, snow, ice, steep drops to the bottom of the valley and scarce oxygen levels. It is an extremely challenging terrain that tests both man and machine. The route to the base of the Key La pass was even more challenging and chalked out by Vijay Parmar, the founder of the Raid de Himalaya. According to Harley-Davidson, the brief was simple - "don't make it easy on the motorcycle, or the rider."

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Vijay Parmar, on the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 on the climb up to Key La pass.

Key La pass is roughly 70 km from Leh, and is the gateway to the Key La Tso (Key Lea lake) or Lchagri Gyamtso Lake and further to Tharuk, Sarkunchar and Tangste village, and Pangong Lake. The new road will reduce distance and travel time from Leh to Pangong Lake by 41 km after bypassing the Chang La pass at an altitude of 17,586 feet (5,360 metres).

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The Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 negotiating some deep sand near Sarchu, on the Manali-Leh highway.

The overnight stays on the journey were at Jispa, Pang and Leh, and the roads taken to arrive at these locations were ancient and long forgotten off-road trails for the most part. The journey was undertaken towards the end of October, and temperatures at night often went well below zero. Despite being subjected to the harshest conditions possible, the Pan America never did face any concerns, barring the one time in Pang where the night temperature went to minus 12 degree Celsius and the batteries needed a jumpstart.

"The Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 successfully traversed every obstacle strewn course without missing a beat. The low end torque easily dealt with a rocky gully that was at least a level three enduro climb and in the last two weeks of the bike being in our stewardship, it has only surprised us pleasantly", said Vijay Parmar.

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Harley-Davidson takes a shot at the adventure motorcycle segment with the new H-D Pan America 1250. It's anything like any Harley-Davidson motorcycle ever introduced.

The first batch of the Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 adventure tourer has been sold out in the Indian market. The Pan America 1250 is offered in two variants, with the base H-D Pan America 1250 priced at Rs. 16.90 lakh (Ex-showroom), while the top-spec H-D Pan America 1250 Special is priced at Rs. 19.99 lakh (Ex-showroom). Both variants are powered by the new, liquid-cooled Revolution Max 1250 engine, which develops 150 bhp at 9,000 rpm and 127 Nm of peak torque at 6,750 rpm.

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The Revolution Max 1250 engine is a liquid-cooled v-twin, DOHC, four-valve engine with variable valve timing. The engine offers superb performance, and in numbers, offer 150 bhp at 8,750 rpm, 128 Nm at 6,750 rpm

The Pan America 1250 is also big on electronics with cruise control, lean-sensitive traction control and cornering ABS, five riding modes, a 6.8-inch touch TFT screen with Bluetooth connectivity. There's also semi-active electronic suspension on the top-end Pan America 1250 Special variant, as well as optional Adaptive Ride Height(ARH). The base variant, which only misses out on semi-active suspension and standard knuckle guards, cornering lights, and brushed aluminium bash plate. It still gets full manually adjustable suspension, and offers good value for a full-size ADV. Here are the pros and cons of the H-D Pan America 1250. Bothe base Pan America 1250, as well as the Pan America 1250 Special were used for the climb to Key La pass.

Harley-Davidson has a new business model in India, with a tie-up with Hero MotoCorp, India's, and the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer by volume. Hero MotoCorp now has an expanded network of 14 full-fledged dealerships and seven authorised service centres across the country, exclusively for Harley-Davidson motorcycles.