Posted on 07/21/2019 5:30:21 AM PDT by cba123
Hello again, old friend. What you're looking at is the Harley-Davidson LiveWire, a very different bike from a very traditional motorcycle company. It's Harley's first EV, and the first EV from what I would consider a major, mainstream motorcycle company. At $29,799, it's also one of the most expensive. I was lucky to ride a prototype of this bike way back in 2014, and while I'm not entirely sure what's taken so long to bring it to production, I'm very glad to say that this thing was worth the wait.
(please see link, for full article, and a good video)
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Which means an average speed of 35MPH. A model T could do better.
The problem is that the electric drain by the amplifer and speakers to play the obnoxious pipe sound.
The general consistency is that this bike is completely gay.
“At $29,799,” It’s a rich man’s toy. But then, Radio shack, back in the early 70’s, sold a simple hand calculator for $150 1970 dollars, so it might get cheaper.
Frankly, it should be cheaper than a gas powered motorcycle, and probably will be some day fairly soon.
I rode for 35 years before my health put a stop to it. Knew a lot of riders. Can’t think of a single one that would go for something like this. I’m wondering who is their market?
Something to hop around the burbs at least.
Vehicle batteries need to be standardized for electric to ever take off. You can't sit around waiting for the things to charge between legs of a trip.
One possible solution - I haven't bothered to see if it's economically feasible - but from an engineering POV is to make the battery packs easily removable/replaced.
You drive up to the battery "pump" which extracts your spent battery pack and a charged one is then inserted, and you drive off.
The spent packs are charging on a conveyor with one ones that are fully charged being switched to the "charged" conveyor where they are now on just a trickle charge awaiting the next customer.
In the meantime, I'll just stick with gasoline and sing the throaty Song of the Ducati People.
The Edsel of motorcycles. What a joke and a really bad idea, which means treehuggers and sierra clubfoots will love it.
No way. The rumble and roar is at least 75% of the ride.
A Steel Horse.
Yes, of course.
Small cycles for short distances are the primary transportation some places.
When ownership and operating costs over short distances are calculated, the electric cycle may very well prove to be viable
A silent motorcycle.
I for one, love the sound of the cams, chains, transmissions, and exhaust note.
Overpriced with no range and long recharge times. What could possibly go wrong?
It will be the Range Rover of the e-bike world. At $30k new then worth $5k in 5 years regardless of the mileage because no one wants one and/or because they have known problems that are expensive to fix. The sport bike stance is another problem. Harley people like cruisers. I guess HD didn’t learn anything from their low V-Rod sales. At least it had a cruiser stance.
The Chinese already have e-bikes for a third this price and twice the range. E-bikes are currently only good for a local spin around the area which would satisfy some people I guess. I figure we are still many decades away from any transition away from gas and diesel vehicles. They might make good local deliver vehicles for small items like pizza or prescription drugs.
PS: I’ve seen 5-15 year old $75k Range Rovers for sale on Craigslist for under $5k and a few under $2k. Those things depreciate fast. Many of the fancy cars do. At least a full size pickup truck in the same price range will hold its value for many years after the initial big 2 year price drop after driving off the lot.
IIRC the old Harleys only had about a 75 mile range on a tank.
Most of what I need in my immediate area is within a few miles. A jumped up electric scooter could be more than adequate.
A few groceries in a carrier or saddlebag, quick hop to the dentist, and the like.
Sound system to simulate muffler sounds? A quiet bike is a dangerous bike.
Your idea strikes me as very sensible.
I wouldn’t guess about the economics though.
Harley Davidson made of tin.
Ride em out and push them in.
I think it depends on whether Harley can hold onto its ridership with a new style of bike.
It is pretty cool looking, I think.
Actually.
Basically, you’d plan a 50-mile ride...stopping half-way for a beer. For traditional riders, it won’t sell. And once you figure the recharge time into the operation, that cancels out the prospect of buying one.
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