Harley-Davidson Will Go All-Electric, Says CEO

Jalopnik ^ | 2023-01-18 | José Rodríguez Jr.

[Salman]

Harley-Davidson is planning to phase out motorcycles powered by its storied internal combustion engines, and will slowly but surely transform into an all-electric brand. Harley CEO Jochen Zeitz tells Dezeen that after 120 years of being famous for its big gas-powered models, electrification is the logical next step. That is, if the company plans on sticking around for another 120 years.

Harley-Davidson’s EV transition “needs to happen,” according to its CEO, and not just on a small scale with a brand like LiveWire. No, we’re talking H-D dealers selling EVs exclusively, although it isn’t going to happen overnight.

...

[BraveMan]

Don’t bother; the haters have to have SOMETHING to hang their hats on . . .

[dragnet2]

Harley was done anyway...Most of those who rode the big Harleys are older now and many are retired. Most of those guys no longer have any desire to push around and ride an 800+ pound bike or ride the freeways/interstates.

From my experience many former Harley owners that still want to ride and have fun, have opted for lighter weight dual sport motorcycles. They're light, they won't crush you if the bike falls over in the garage, this one below gets 72 miles per gallon, and they go just about anywhere, on or off road.

No need to electric when one can get dual sports such as the Yamaha XT-250, which is street legal and gets about 70 miles per gallon. Reliability? They've been making basically the same bike for 30 years. They run forever. Pretty much bullet proof. And these models come with a real low seat, electric start and provide large ground clearance for off road trails.

They're not for the Interstate, but around town or country roads, the fun and reliability are hard to beat.

Yamaha XT250

[crz]

Yup. The survived AMF and now this will put the final nail in it.

[NWFree]

Who wants to buy a battery moped? That’s what I thought

[M_Continuum]

I can still hear. I don’t have sound canceling headphones. Loud pipes are neither. I won’t ride in the city anymore, too dangerous, even with loud pipes. I had to drop my bike a few years ago because the idiot in the car didn’t see or hear me (bass speakers and texting).

[IYAS9YAS]

What's the first thing a driver will say after hitting a motorcycle?

The way many riders around here (Albuquerque metro) ride, they probably didn't see them because the riders were doing twice the limit and weaving in and out of traffic. And even if you do hear them, it's not as the bikes approach approach, it's as they ride by, too late to react to anything.

I've seen one car/bike crash here live. Watched it as it unfolded. Harley rider came from behind weaving in and out of traffic doing at least 60 in a 35. A car was turning left across our collective paths. Plenty of room for the car to have cleared had the bike been doing the limit. Bike hit her in the passenger rear quarter. I told the cops and the insurance companies that both called the same thing.

[RatRipper]

dum dum dum dum,
dum dum dum dum. . . .

[glorgau]

Now they can change their motto from:

“Loud pipes save lives”

to

“Silence is golden”.

[steve86]

“They’re light, they won’t crush you if the bike falls over in the garage”

I’m into dual sport bikes too, but my 1200 cc Buell that I mentioned a few comments back is 440 pounds curb weight and not pig in the garage at all. I did replace the OEM muffler as it was a boat anchor and put in li battery, too (nod to the rare earths crowd).

[Mr. K]

I just bought one last week.

Who knew they would go stupid a week later.

I bet this causes some backlash.

Maybe it’s a joke! Like: [to pathetic reporter] Oh yeah, um.... yeah we’re going to go electric. Um... soon. As soon as we learn to make an electric with the correct Harley sound.

[strange1]

LOL, Iron butt runs going to be interesting...

[strange1]

“..A Harley ain’t a Harley if it sounds like a BMW...” or no sound at all. Now Victory sounding like George Jetsons space ship will sound better.....

[cymbeline]

“Why can’t both EV and ICE technologies co exist?”

I think political pressure is being applied way down beneath the surface.

On a related subject, wonder how the Indie 500 will go over with electric cars.

[strange1]

“...Am I a bad person?...” not is you put Cheery Bombs in place....

[TheRake]

Maybe then I won’t have to hear their stupid, loud pipes. Why that is not considered noise pollution is beyond me. What if I cut off the muffler on my truck? Flame away.

You must be the old man that yells at a cloud, LOL!

[TexasGator]

” I had to drop my bike a few years ago because the idiot inn’t see or hear me (bass speakers and texting).”

Loud bass speaker save lives.

OTOH, the only time I “dropped” my bike is when I wasn’t paying attention to the traffic ahead of me.
In quotes because traffic cleared and I recovered before going completely down.

[GOPJ]

GO WOKE - GO BROKE

[TexasGator]

” I had to drop my bike a few years ago because the idiot in the car didn’t see or hear me (bass speakers and texting).”

If you had time to notice he was texting, you had time to avoid going down.

[Tommy Revolts]

LOL, stick a fork in HD.

[zeebee]

The noise motorcycles make is a safety measure for the rider. It’s bad enough that other drivers do not see motorcycles. Now they won’t hear them either. Bad idea.