Harley-Davidson now taking orders for its first electric motorcycle.

I'm in the process of taking a Mongoose Fat Tire bicycle and electrifying it.
Bike
Motor
Hope to have it completed by April.

Here are some out of date photos and video of it.

https://cjneil82.smugmug.com/Project-CB750K/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfp_ixZlB-M&t=11s

I’m tired of it sitting and hope maybe next month be able to bring it home and try to figure something out.

My Willys developed a bum alternator today and have another on order....

It never stops.

Harley as a company is dead. They need the “next big thing”. I’m not sure this is it.

They didn’t move when they should have — like many companies in the corporate graveyard. Their customers became old and fickle. Those folks would ride for a short while and sell their bikes, creating a huge aftermarket bike glut which slammed their new bike sales. Trump gave them crap for opening plants overseas, but in reality, Harley’s only salvation is in the foreign markets right now.

Unless, of course, they find that “next big thing”...

Nice!
The fun never ends. But as long as you can fix it yourself, it’s good and cheap!

Still waiting for you to reveal which EV you drive...

Nope! That's not the way things work.

It's like asking me which helicopter I fly. I don't need to fly a helicopter to know what I don't personally want one.

However, each time I've bought a new car in the last 10 or so years, I've test-driven the available EVs on the dealer lots, including those from Ford and Honda and Chevrolet. They all drove nicely and quietly. Heck, I even test-drove their hybrids. which were very nice too.

But, I'll let you in on a secret. Each one of those dealers had a bunch of returned EVs which people gave up on after a few weeks or months, and there were a lot more EVs traded-in for ICE vehicles. I asked the salespeople why there were so many used or returned EVs and hybrids, and they refused to tell me any reasons, but most of those salespeople would only go as far as telling me to forget the EV side and perhaps get a hybrid, but to be very cautious about hybrids too. However, I've known a couple of people who have owned EVs and they told me that they wouldn't do it again, and that they're more dependent on their primary vehicles which are ICE driven. A bunch of hybrid owners that I know have told me that they're actually happy with their purchase, but then, all of them have made sure that they also have ICE vehicles in their households.

So, basically, I don't see where having to own something is mandatory before making a decision on anything. I do listen to the experiences of others and then make the appropriate decision; but then, I also have to see and experience for myself, which is why always ended up with my 2 ICE SUVS in the last 10 years. I'm getting ready to trade one of them in, in the next few months, and, I'm leaning towards a hybrid; perhaps an Explorer hybrid.

BTW, I also read extensively about EVs and, surprise!!!, I'm not the only one with the kind of opinions I have about EVs.

BTW, there is one correction I need to make in my prior post regarding agreeing with you on the most expensive component on an ICE car. The most expensive component on ICE cars, at least most that I've known, is the transmission. I know that from personal experience and from most mechanics that I've ever dealt with.

Another point regarding ICE engines: I've never had to get any of my cars' engines rebuilt, and I've driven a couple of them past the 150,000 mark. When it comes to vehicles for my wife, I don't ever let them go past 70,000; not gonna take any chances on them ever breaking down on the road; not that they needed to be replaced; just not taking any chances. Which then leads me to one of the reasons for not driving or owning EVs; not gonna take any chances of running out of a charge and not being able to get road service. BTW, other than the whatever road service there might be from the EV manufacturer or dealer, how is the road service(s) from towing services like AAA and others?

My apologies—I thought I read in one of your posts on this thread that you have an EV yourself. I am absolutely going to disagree with you on your statement that the transmission is the most expensive component in an ICE car, however. I’ve purchased quite a few domestic crate engines and transmissions, and have rebuilt many more, and can’t remember ever paying more for a transmission than an engine.

As for road service, I have no idea—I have never had a breakdown. My understanding, however, is that AAA will tow you to a charger, and I think that Tesla have their own ranger service. Considering how many chargers are available in 2018, the only way to achieve a dead battery on the side of the road is simple negligence.

My experience with this car as a daily driver is mostly the same as with its ICE predecessor: “fill it up” once per week, and drive it. I don’t need to plug it in at night or at the office. What’s different? This car is faster, silent, and much lower maintenance (had to do a $6k rod bearing service and clutch at 75k miles on the BMW).

FR needs a “like” button

An electric HD? What's it going to leak, battery acid?

And will it have a high-fidelity sound system that goes "potato-potato-potato?"

:-)

Mark

Electric motorcycle = Moped?

Not exactly, there's Moto-E racing just getting started...

It's nice seeing Colin Edwards on a race track again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYxyIi_20kM

Mark

Who wants a bike that doesn’t go...rooom roooom

Harleys don't go "rooom rooom." Harleys go "potato-potato-potato."

Mark

110 Miles on a charge is not very far compared to the gasoline engine that will give you several hundred miles on a tank.

The most popular Harleys (other than the touring bikes,) didn't have fuel tank capacities that would give you many more miles than that.

On the other hand, long poker runs, especially going through rural towns could be a lot scarier, when you have to wonder if you'll be able to find a charging station!

Mark

I see the staff of Monkey Wards all found new jobs.

Hey, back in the day, Monkey Wards was a great company to work for, with great products, including tools (when I worked there, in the late 70s) which rivaled Craftsman, and the same lifetime warranty. It wasn't "the staff" that killed it... Like Sears, it was executive management.

Other than that, you're absolutely rights... "The executive management of Monkey Wards all found new jobs."

:-)

Mark

And when I hear 30k for a flipping MC it makes me laugh.

In the mid 90s, people were paying more than MSRP for new Harleys to get them in a reasonable amount of time. My boss at the time paid about $23,000 for a new HD.

Of course, that was at the height of the HD "boom."

Mark

That boom was driven by all the accountants and attorneys who decided it was time to play the biker role so they could be cool.