An Electric Harley?

[xcsp]

https://www.motorcycledaily.com/2014/06/harley-davidson-project-livewire-harley-wants-you-to-test-its-first-electric-bike-with-video/

 

[CA G-Man]

I just came here to post this up - you beat me by a nose!

An electric Harley is more than a little surprising (in fact if this was April 1 I wouldn't buy it for a second!); it's sure to stir conversation.

 

[HelzBelz]

And just as useful as a gas harley.. (IMHO)

 

[airboss]

Kinda like the looks.

What's the chances of getting it in a V-twin liter version that lives above 5.000 rpm with a 6 speed.

 

[HotRodZilla]

I've been hearing commercials for this all day. Sounds like it's stopping in Albuquerque and they're offering test rides. If so, I'll get on that train. Kinda cool, but probably the same limitations as other electric bikes.

 

[rushes]

An unmistakable new sound with an electric motor? Hmm...

It'd better be loud. Think of all the lives lost if not....

 

[infrared]

(duplicate post)

 

[CA G-Man]

"If you can read this... okay, I'm riding an electric Harley... there never was a *****."

 

[bluesdog]

Betcha it'll still leak oil

 

[FarWestFastEddie]

Harley cares about the environment, they really really care, and that's what counts.

Sure it may be a big flop, the Hollywood types will buy them, but Harley really does care.

FWFE

I don't care one way or the other.

 

[majicmaker]

Silver, it'll have no oil in it but, I think you're right! It'll still leak something. It's a Harley!

 

[dcarver]

For all that say HD is stuck with tractor technology..

then HD ventures into electric motorbikes and the bashing still continues?

:****:

I say nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Zero motobikes are pretty damn coolio.

..and if HD can improve the electric motorbike, more Kudos to them.

 

[SacramentoMike]

I like the looks of it too, but IMO electric vehicles of any kind are useful for commuting, and that's about all. After all, you need to get somewhere (fairly close) and home, maybe with a charge while you're at work, definitely another at home later on. Not much use for the kind of riding we do, I don't think.

I definitely chuckled over the comments at the bottom of the linked article. They pretty much all sounded like the kind of comments about Harleys we post up here on the forum.

 

[yamafitter]

At the Isle of Mann this year John McGuinness won the TT Zero Challenge on a Mugan with an average speed of 117.366 mph. During practice on Saturday two of the electric bikes caught fire in the pits when the batteries overheated. The speed is definitely there but they were changing batteries every lap for the 37 mile course during practice. The race itself was just one lap.

 

[Intech]

Saw that bike on the news last night. Pretty cool. Probably has a pretty cool price tag too!

 

[Geezer]

What I read about it said that it does indeed suffer from the same problems as other electric vehicles. Primarily that is range and charging time. It can go about 100 miles between charges, which is about as far as I could go on my first bike, a Kawasaki 2-stroke triple, but I could fill that up in a minute. Still, 100 mile range would satisfy the needs of a lot of riders.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Wonder how they will play in Sturgis?

 

[CA G-Man]

Silver, it'll have no oil in it but, I think you're right! It'll still leak something. It's a Harley!

Battery acid, maybe?

 

[Burnspot]

Saw a spot about it on CBS News this morning; they said 53 miles on a charge in its current iteration (a contrast to the 100 mile range I've read about). They also had a few Harley riders testing it out...of course there was one guy espousing the virtues of loud pipes (the joy he felt setting off car alarms in a parking garage).

The torque is great, the range is not. With a great number of motorcycles already regularly doing 40+ MPG and having the ability to "gas 'n go" all day long, electric motorcycles have a very very long way to go. Might be good to putt around on in the city, but beyond that, nope.