Harley has made 40 of these Project LiveWire bikes, each made by hand. They're going on a national tour to gauge public opinion and get feedback, and somehow my application got selected and I got to ride. The ride took about 20 minutes through Annapolis, with Street 750's in the front and back of the pack of 4 LiveWire's, with a local Harley cop providing an escort and stopping traffic when needed. Even though the cop was there, I really cranked on the throttle every chance I got. You know, for science.
It's undersized, over-engineered, uncomfortable, and not practical in any way. The seat is terrible, riding position is cramped, mirrors are blocked by your hands, and the strong engine braking greatly reduces your need to apply the brakes, which means less lights (safety hazard). Its also got a range of only 60 miles.
That said, the motor pulls hard and rockets up to 65 pretty damn quickly. Aesthetically, it's not bad. It's a good starting point for an electric bike, but Harley will have to make a LOT of changes before they even think about putting it into production.
Incidentally, my buddy managed to break one of them on the ride. In a turn, he ran over a piece of all thread on the road and it somehow rocketed through a plastic cover near the back, just in front of the rear wheel. They took it out of service to check everything out.
Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App
It's undersized, over-engineered, uncomfortable, and not practical in any way. The seat is terrible, riding position is cramped, mirrors are blocked by your hands, and the strong engine braking greatly reduces your need to apply the brakes, which means less lights (safety hazard). Its also got a range of only 60 miles.
That said, the motor pulls hard and rockets up to 65 pretty damn quickly. Aesthetically, it's not bad. It's a good starting point for an electric bike, but Harley will have to make a LOT of changes before they even think about putting it into production.
Incidentally, my buddy managed to break one of them on the ride. In a turn, he ran over a piece of all thread on the road and it somehow rocketed through a plastic cover near the back, just in front of the rear wheel. They took it out of service to check everything out.
Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App