Pan America CVO - Is It Actually Worth It?
Channel: streetsean21
Date: 26/01/2024

Welcome back to the channel, as most of you know the new bikes from Harley Davidson have just launched. I’ve never actually looked seriously at the CVO line up from Harley as I never really seen the value of getting a CVO. I know…I know…Harley’s are overpriced and CVO’s are even more overpriced. I get that but for us Harley Davidson owners like the brand, culture, bikes or whatever it is that keeps us riding these overpriced bikes.
Having said all that, I like most Harley riders watched the new bike launch for 2024. Yes, yes….I’m disappointed they didn’t release the Bronx too….I think I’ve given up on that….The launch was pretty much a CVO bike launch as they announced 4 CVO models and the other 2, the Road and Street Glides, were just released with the new CVO fairings respectively.
Although the new CVO’s and the new Road Glide and Street Glides are pretty nice bikes, I really don’t think I’m ready to get rid of the Sport Glide for a bagger just yet. So I was thinking the launch was pretty much a dud for me as none of the bikes would be ones I would consider. That was until I started talking to my wife about the launch.
I was telling her that the launch was mostly CVO’s and the CVO’s are really expensive compared to the base models of those bikes. The Road and Street Glide MSRP is $32K CAD ($26K US), the Limited is $39K CAD ($32,500K US) and the CVO’s are $54,500K CAD ($44,500K US) with the CVO ST at $52,800k CAD ($43K US). So for me I was telling her I couldn’t see spending $22K more for a CVO ($18,500US). I know there are more options on the bike and bigger motor, but I just feel they are just too overpriced from the base models.
Now, when I was looking up the cost of each bike to tell my wife how much more the CVO’s were, I looked at the Pan America CVO and noticed it was “Only” 10K more than the Pan America Special…the base model doesn’t seem to be available in North America anymore. The Pan America Special’s MSRP is $25K CAD ($20K US) and the CVO is $34,600K CAD ($28,400). I had just finished telling my wife we might have to look into getting a Pan America as we are looking to potentially move to another country….don’t worry, I won’t go on a political rant here…as the new country’s roads aren’t the greatest and a lot of the locations we wouldn’t want to take a cruiser.
Adding up all the extra’s, don’t worry I won’t bore you with going through each line by line I will just put it up on the screen, I came up with a total of around $7,200 in added parts. The first thing that stood out for me was the fact the Pan America Special didn’t come with the Adaptive Ride Height, I thought that was a standard feature of the Special, but its just available only for the Special.  The other part I did add was the tool kit as the launch did mention it so I’m not sure if the Special just comes with a smaller tool kit or what the difference is to be honest. Now the big item that I didn’t list on here is the paint, as we all know, paint is always a price for Harley and a CVO paint is even more so. I left it off because with the Special I like the paint it comes with standard, but if you wanted to change the paint it would be anywhere from $375-$900.
The last price I did leave off was labour for anyone that would need Harley to install all these parts. Again I left it off because I think I would be foolish enough to try and install all of the parts on my own. 
I think I started researching this video as I was really excited about the CVO Pan America and that it was a good deal compared to the Pan America Special. And with me gathering all of this info I would be able to present it to my wife as to why we might want to spend the extra money for the CVO as I think it does look really good with the CVO paint job. But if I was to get the Special and add the features that are included and installed them myself I can’t see spending another $2,400 for paint and the “prestige” of owning a CVO. Plus, I don’t know if I would get the laced wheels anyway. If you are someone that would need all the parts installed for you I then think it would be a lot more appealing as it would bring that $2400 a lot closer.
Having said all of that, another knock I think the CVO Pan America has against it, would be the fact it wouldn’t hold it’s value as well as a cruiser CVO, especially if the bike is used for what it was built for. If your taking the bike off road, even dirt roads a lot it will be very hard to keep it from getting dinged up.
I had the pleasure of taking a Pan America on a good test ride, it was a 2 hour ride up to some twisties, dirt roads and on the Highway for some high speed riding. The Pan America is a really fun bike and I do think I will get one down the road, but do I think it will be the CVO version….Man that colour scheme is pretty cool though….
Anyway, let me know what you think, is the CVO Pan America a mistake on Harley’s part or is it something you would consider, until next time….Later!