On January 31, 2022, Harley-Davidson issued a voluntary safety recall for certain 2021 Pan American 1250S, 2021 Pan America 1250, and 2021 Sportster S motorcycles due to an instrument cluster software error. Affected bikes may not display speedometers or neutral indicators if ambient temperatures are below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (or 0 degrees Celsius). Should riders opt to continue operating their bikes despite lacking visibility of this important information, it could increase the risk of a crash.
A total of 3,917 units are believed to be affected, according to Harley’s records. The bikes in question were produced within certain specific build date ranges. Bikes produced after those date ranges have updated software installed in their instrument cluster modules, and should therefore not experience this problem.
Here’s how the recall breaks down among affected bike models:
- 2021 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250S: 2,645 bikes produced between March 10, 2021 and October 19, 2021, with non-sequential VINs between 1HD1ZES18MB300794 and 1HD1ZES29MB315751
- 2021 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250: 44 bikes produced between May 24, 2021 and October 12, 2021, with non-sequential VINs between 1HD1ZDS11MB305300 and 1HD1ZDS28MB315752
- 2021 Harley-Davidson Sportster S: 1,228 bikes produced between May 21, 2021 and December 3, 2021, with non-sequential VINs between 1HD1ZC42XMB305005 and 1HD1ZC417MB318088
Subsequent investigation and testing revealed that the instrument cluster will self-heat during regular vehicle operation. That circumstance means that this issue can only occur under the very specific condition of sub-freezing ambient temperatures during a cold start-up of affected bikes. If a bike has this software problem and a rider attempts to start it in sub-freezing temperatures, the instrument cluster may display an error message that reads, “Display Temperature—Please allow to cool down” along with a temperature alert icon.
Harley-Davidson is notifying its dealer network between February 1, 2022, and February 8, 2022, about this issue. Owners will also be notified between February 8, 2022, and February 15, 2022, and advised to contact their local authorized Harley dealers for service. Harley dealers will update the software on affected bikes free of charge. If owners of bikes affected by this recall previously had service performed to remedy this issue prior to the issuance of the recall, it should have been covered under warranty.
Harley-Davidson's number for this recall is 0631. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s campaign number for this recall is 22V-030. Owners may contact Harley-Davidson customer service at 1-800-258-2464. Additionally, owners may contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or go to www.nhtsa.gov.
