Harley Davidson to announce an electric motorcycle tomorrow 6-19-2014?

1st I heard of it? Looks like a cool little bike, I wouldn't own it but that won't stop me from cruising down the HD shop to check it out in person :whistle:
 
If one shows up at the local dealership I'll definitely go down and take a look as well.

It will be interesting to see how they market it. I have no idea how the HD/Buell agreements were set up an if dealers had to pay more to care both HD and the Buell bikes but before Buell ceased to exist I was in quite a few HD dealerships that either had no Buell's at all or maybe one or two off in the corner somewhere.

If HD corporate pushes it and they market it right it might be a huge success for them. However, I don't see the local tree-hugging, Prius driving, gotta be green at any cost type fitting in at the average Harley Davidson showroom.

**No offense intended to any Org members who have a Prius, I personally have a Chevy Volt and have converted a diesel truck to run on waste vegetable oil. I like my Volt and thought using vegetable oil instead of diesel in an old F250 for 60,000+ miles was pretty cool, but the only green I worry about is/was the $$$ I save by not having to buy fuel.**
 
I heard they were going to install a loud speaker blaring out an obnoxious exhaust sound,, just so it would be like a Harley ,,,:poke:
 
The fact it was mentioned in connection with a movie makes it sound like it's a movie prop like the Bat Pod
 
I heard they were going to install a loud speaker blaring out an obnoxious exhaust sound,, just so it would be like a Harley ,,,:poke:

I had a real concern here when I saw this thread, but you answered it perfectly. :rofl:
 
Well, it is official. And it looks like all the curiosity has overwhelmed HD's website capabilities.

Project LiveWire Experience Tour _ Harley-Davidson USA.jpg
 
First thought is the South Park episode with all the Harley riders making the "blub blub" noise in the restaurant.

If you haven't seen it. Look on YouTube lol.
 
I'd ride one! I've been wanting an electric bike for a few years, and now they are coming out of the woodwork! Too spendy still though.
 
Project Haywire,, er, uh,, 'Livewire' ,, is not a bad looking bike,,but I digress,, how long between charge,, and how long 'to' charge ,,,
 
That commercial talks so much about innovation, contradicting the reality of HD staying with the same basic design of their motorcycles for generations, finally getting on the bandwagon of electric motorcycles - probably under pressure of real innovation going on around them, coming up with an electric bike which looks much like Buell which HD abandoned so abruptly and obnoxiously just a short time ago effectively distancing Buell followers from HD brand, who were the only people who potentially would buy a Buell looking bike. Do they really think that traditional HD riders would buy this electrical nonsense looking like a sport oriented standard, which can only travel so many miles before it needs charging, which does not have the look and sound of the American muscle, and which will likely cost an arm and a leg? My head would hurt trying to comprehend all of that if I really cared about the answer to this question, but I am curious to know where this all goes, and sure as hell I would throw a leg over one if an opportunity presented itself.
 
and sure as hell I would throw a leg over one if an opportunity presented itself.

Me too. I would test ride any electric motorcycle - just don't tell me the price first as I might have a heart attack, or be
too afraid to throw my leg over it. :rofl:

I'm not sure if I would miss shifting it. Even in our 4 wheel vehicle we can feel it shift (or see it on the tach).

Then again to have instant power all the way up to the max speed might be very interesting. :whistle:
 
Here's a pretty good article from wired. Harley-Davidson?s First Electric Motorcycle Surprisingly Doesn?t Suck | Autopia | WIRED

And a couple of quotes about specs:

"The LiveWire offers 74 horsepower, 52 foot-pounds of torque and a (governed) top speed of 92 mph. It’s more powerful and quicker off the line than the $13,000 Zero DS, but it’s got less torque and range. That said, it’s got more torque and power than Harley’s Iron 883."

"Harley isn’t saying much about the drivetrain beyond saying the bike uses a lithium-ion battery with a range of 53 miles. It charges in 3.5 hours at 220 volts."

While 3.5 hours charge time isn't bad, 220 would require a special charger, it would take twice as long on regular household 110.
 
The Isle of Man event has a class for electric bikes. Anyone know who makes the electric bikes run in this event? I have to beleive the Japanese bike manufacturers and BMW have electric bike development projects. The quiet operation will take some getting used to. I'd love to get a test ride on one. To catch on for the touring riders, the bikes will need to be able to be charged with 110 VAC electric and a conventional 3 prong plug. I work with a local high school team on an electric race car project. It is actually an electric go-kart. Sure is strange to have 12 karts running around a track with no engine noise, all you hear is the tire noise in the turns.
 
The Isle of Man event has a class for electric bikes. Anyone know who makes the electric bikes run in this event?

If you have Netflix watch the movie "Charge". It's a really good documentary about electric bikes racing the Isle of Man. There are some companies that are electric motorcycle only running there. I want to say Brammo is one of them. They have a commercial line of electric motorcycles. My brain is useless this morning and I can't remember any of the other companies that I'd actually heard of before.
 
That said, this isn’t a production model. Not yet, anyway. Harley is taking a few dozen LiveWires on a tour, dubbed Project LiveWire, of the United States and Europe. It will invite people in each city to check out the bike and provide feedback. The tour starts Monday in New York.

They are not in production yet? It will take a long while before we see them in dealers showrooms.
NOWHERE in that article did they mention a price. Faster then the $13K Zero DS? How do we know it won't cost $15-$20K for this one?

One more thing- they need to make a compartment to hold a long charging cable - as what good is it if you can only charge it at home?
 
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