2023 Harley-Davidson RA1250S Owner Complaints

Multiple electrical issues -TFT screen going out while riding, voltage fluctuating dramatically while riding and bike wants to stop running once at idle engine shuts off and won’t restart. Once it’s cooled down or been on trickle charger for couple hours it might restart. Diagnosis was stator failure with complete electrical system repair at my expense. This is a known issue by Harley. Second issue bike not shutting off when turned off. Right hand control module failed dealer said this is also a known issue and they have replaced several. No recall or assistance to repair by Harley Motor Company.

NHTSA ID

11742809

Incident

May 11, 2026

Bike has been at the dealer for almost 3 weeks now chasing electrical issues. HD corporate techs can’t even understand what’s wrong. The are running another diagnostic test on it today that will cost me another 3.5hr of labor on top of the other diagnostics they’ve already done. Luckily I wasn’t on a trip and stranded for weeks.

NHTSA ID

11740392

Incident

May 27, 2026

I purchased a 2023 Harley Davidson Pan America only to find out that the motorcycle has a known issue with the charging system. The motorcycle model years 2021 through 2023 have a faulty charging systems which was fixed for 2024 and beyond models by a redesign of the entire charging system. The faulty older system causes the motorcycle to stall randomly and eventually deplete the battery on the vehicle. The issues is as follows: 1. When the motorcycle has become warm it no longer generates enough voltage at idle to keep the Variable Valve Timing system on the motorcycle functioning properly. 2. Once the Variable Valve Timing system starts to malfunction by turning off and on repeatedly the motorcycle will eventually stall leaving you stuck in the middle of traffic. It is a very well documented issue with these motorcycle and be assured it is dangerous. Harley Davidson is unfortunately profiting on the issue by charging customers upwards of $4000 to $5500 dollars to fix it by upgrading their motorcycles to the latest version of the "fixed" system for the later models. This should absolutely be a recall as it is very dangerous to have your motorcycle randomly stall because of a faulty design of a charging system. Harley Davidson has vast knowledge about this issue but only wants to fleece customers for the profit to fix. Example of the issue: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11714825

Incident

Jan 29, 2026

The charging system failed which caused the engine to stall multiple times.

NHTSA ID

11705576

Incident

Jul 24, 2025

Harley-Davidson knowingly did not coat the inside of the aluminum fuel tanks on 2023 and older model Pan Americas, leading to rust and particle breakdown from ethanol exposure. Those particles have led to fuel pump failure and replacement, but replacing the fuel pump is only a temporary fix as the tank will continue to rust and cause the same failure and replacement loop for the life-cycle of the bike. This issue has been reported by hundreds of Pan America owners in the lower 48, where ethanol is used as a fuel additive. Harley should recall all 2023 and older model gas tanks, and provide a solution (coating or replacing the tank) that does not lead to thousands of dollars in repair and replacement costs for the fuel pump, as the pump is not the issue.

NHTSA ID

11688304

Incident

Aug 16, 2025

Fuel pump failure caused by improper factory fuel tank coating that leads to sudden and abrupt fuel pump failures. Harley fixed the issue in 2024 by coating the fuel tank, but 2021-2023 Pan America’s have repeated and frequent sudden fuel pump failures that can cause the bike to shut down, even when travelling at highway speeds.

NHTSA ID

11660811

Incident

May 12, 2025

MY 2021 Harley Pan America died on the side of the ALCAN hiway 200 miles out of Fairbanks in June 2023, was able to restart, Fairbanks dealer diagnosed faulty fuel pump, no pump available before departure date so left for home in Washington state. 150 miles from home it went in to limp mode in heavy traffic narrowly avoided collision to get out of traffic. Limp mode to purchasing dealer at 40 mph. Diagnosed faulty fuel pump, couldn't fix for 2 weeks due to backordered parts. Traded the 2021 for a (current) 2023 Pan America because of pump, reliability issues. Now the 2023 making same screeching noises as 2021 did prior to failure. Reading online forums pump failure caused by ethanol fuel reacting with the aluminum fuel tank causing pump failure. I narrowly escaped collision on the 2021. Would seem this is a safety issue with unanticipated engine failure

NHTSA ID

11653426

Incident

Jul 7, 2023

Starting at 10,000 miles the fuel pump started making intermittent screeching noise that progressively got worse till it was constant on startup and running at 15,000 miles. Fuel pump screen appears to have been clogged with black material which may have been oxidized aluminum from the uncoated factory tank. Pump was replaced by dealer under warranty but chance of future failures remain. Failure of fuel pump could result in loss of vehicle control on the highway. Other than noise from the pump the only other indicator was a decrease in battery voltage noted over time. As the pump got worse battery voltage decreased.

NHTSA ID

11638694

Incident

Sep 15, 2024