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2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Coolness Factor = 73.9%

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:09 am
by totalmotorcycle
2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire on the Total Motorcycle Cool Wall

For MORE photos and information click here: http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyc ... ectric.htm

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Innovation, meet heritage. Today, Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) reveals Project LiveWire – the first Harley-Davidson® electric motorcycle.

In keeping with the company’s customer-led product development approach, starting next week select consumers across the country will be able to ride and provide feedback on the bike, helping to shape the future of Harley-Davidson’s first-ever electric motorcycle.

While not for sale, Project LiveWire is specifically designed for the purpose of getting insight into rider expectations of an electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

“America at its best has always been about reinvention,” said Matt Levatich, President and Chief Operating Officer, Harley-Davidson Motor Company. “And, like America, Harley-Davidson has reinvented itself many times in our history, with customers leading us every step of the way. Project LiveWire is another exciting, customer-led moment in our history.”

Spurred by this heritage, the Project LiveWire Experience invites customers to test ride, provide feedback and learn more about the story of the motorcycle. Even those who don’t yet ride will have the opportunity to feel the power of Project LiveWire through Jumpstart – a simulated riding experience.

A 2014 U.S. tour – kicking off with a journey down Route 66 – will visit more than 30 Harley-Davidson dealerships now through the end of the year. In 2015, the Project LiveWire Experience will continue in the U.S. and expand into Canada and Europe.

“This builds on many recent reinvention successes for Harley-Davidson.” said Levatich. “In just the last few years, we’ve broadened our reach to serve an increasingly diverse society, as well as reinvented our approach to product development and manufacturing. This has resulted in cutting-edge products like the recently launched Project Rushmore touring bikes, Harley-Davidson Street 500 and 750 models and this reveal of Project LiveWire.”



An Innovative Approach to Advance the Possibilities of Personal Freedom


This exciting new ride blends the company’s styling heritage with the latest technology to deliver a new expression of the signature Harley-Davidson look, sound and feel.

“Project LiveWire is more like the first electric guitar – not an electric car,” said Mark-Hans Richer, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Harley-Davidson Motor Company. “It’s an expression of individuality and iconic style that just happens to be electric. Project LiveWire is a bold statement for us as a company and a brand.”

The bike offers a visceral riding experience with tire-shredding acceleration and an unmistakable new sound.

“The sound is a distinct part of the thrill,” said Richer. “Think fighter jet on an aircraft carrier. Project LiveWire’s unique sound was designed to differentiate it from internal combustion and other electric motorcycles on the market.”

Longer term plans for retail availability of Project LiveWire will be influenced by feedback from riders along the Project Livewire Experience tour.

“We offer a no excuses riding experience in everything we do and we are led by what our customers tell us matters most,” said Richer. “Because electric vehicle technology is evolving rapidly, we are excited to learn more from riders through the Project LiveWire Experience to fully understand the definition of success in this market as the technology continues to evolve.”


For MORE photos and information click here: http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyc ... ectric.htm

Re: This Week: 2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Vote Today

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:40 am
by Mithrandir
I like the looks of the MC. For now I consider it cool, although depending on its ride ability, specs and cost my opinion can change.

Since it is electric, I would like to know:

Distance to empty on spirited riding. It would need to be at least about 110-150 miles (~180-240km) and ideally about 200-250miles (~320-400km) per full charge

How long to recharge the battery? Ideally it would be under 10 minutes. Although if it can be done under 2-3 hours, it could be acceptable depending on the situation.

What is the cost? If it has similar performance as a $8 000 motorcycle, but costs between 12-14 thousand dollars then it would be a very hard sale to me. Even if the price premium was ignored, I would want an electric motorcycle that can recharge as quickly and easily as a gasoline motorcycle.

Re: This Week: 2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Vote Today

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 12:16 pm
by montanalifter
I think the bike looks great, would never get one as it is electric with limited range. Kudos to Harley for making a modern good looking bike.

Re: This Week: 2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Vote Today

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 12:40 pm
by totalmotorcycle
No specs have been released yet, but here is the top of the line Zero SR at $20,000 USD. I don't think Harley-Davidson could get $20k for the Livewire, but hopefully they get close to the specs for it with all their R&D power:

ZERO SR ZF11.4 +Power Tank
City 171 miles (276 km)
Highway, 55 mph (88 km/h) 106 miles (171 km)
» Combined 131 miles (211 km)
Highway, 70 mph (112 km/h) 88 miles (141 km)
» Combined 116 miles (186 km)
Max torque 106 ft-lb (144 Nm)
Max power 67 hp (50 kW) @ 4,000 RPM
Top speed (max) 102 mph (164 km/h)
Top speed (sustained) 85 mph (137 km/h)
Acceleration, 0-60 mph (0-100 km/h) 3.9 seconds
Type Z-Force® 75-7 passively air-cooled, high efficiency, radial flux, permanent high-temp magnet, brushless motor
Controller High efficiency, 660 amp, 3-phase brushless controller with regenerative deceleration
Est. pack life to 80% (city) 385,000 miles (620,000 km)
Power pack Z-Force® Li-Ion intelligent
Max capacity 14.2 kWh
Nominal capacity 12.5 kWh
Charger type 1.3 kW, integrated
Charge time (standard) 9.9 hours (100% charged) / 9.3 hours (95% charged)
CHAdeMO charge time (accessory) 1.5 hours (100% charged) / 1 hour (95% charged)
Quick 2x charger time (accessory) 5.8 hours (100% charged) / 5.1 hours (95% charged)
Input Standard 110V or 220V
Transmission Clutchless direct drive
Final drive 132T / 30T, Poly Chain® GT® Carbon™ belt
Front suspension 43 mm inverted, aluminum slider forks with adjustable compression and rebound damping
Rear suspension Piggy-back reservoir shock with adjustable spring preload, compression and rebound damping
Front suspension travel 6.25 in (159 mm)
Rear suspension travel 6.35 in (161 mm)
Front brakes Nissin 2 piston hydraulic, 313x4 mm floating disc
Rear brakes J-Juan 1 piston hydraulic, 240x4.5 mm disc
Front tire 110/70-17
Rear tire 140/70-17
Front wheel 3.00x17
Rear wheel 3.50x17
Wheel base 55.5 in (1,410 mm)
Seat height 31.8 in (807 mm)
Rake 24.0 °
Trail 3.2 in (80 mm)
Frame 22 lb (10 kg)
Curb weight 452 lb (205 kg)
Carrying capacity 313 lb (142 kg)
Equivalent fuel economy (city) 462 MPGe (0.51 L/100 km)
Equivalent fuel economy (highway) 236 MPGe (1.00 L/100 km)
Typical cost to recharge $1.60
MSRP $19,490.00
Standard motorcycle warranty* 2 years
Power pack warranty* 5 years / 100,000 miles

Re: This Week: 2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Vote Today

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2014 2:55 pm
by BRUMBEAR
wow I am sure they robbed the idea from somebody :wink: but its still AWESOME!!!!! :mrgreen:

Re: This Week: 2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Vote Today

Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 2:31 am
by Grey Thumper
Kinda hard to discuss whether a bike is cool or not if the manufacturer itself hasn't decided if it'll produce the bike to begin with. Isn't this essentially a concept bike to test public reaction? No price, no specs, very little info to judge. What if it's a $20,000 bike with a 50 mile range?

That said, I do hope that the feedback will be good enough for H-D to produce this bike. It's great that Mission, Zero, Brammo, etc. are producing e-bikes, but for such a mainstream brand (with a huge dealer network) to push for e-bikes is amazing, and will no doubt help more people to be open to e-bike use.

Re: This Week: 2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Vote Today

Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 8:16 am
by JackoftheGreen
Grey Thumper wrote:Kinda hard to discuss whether a bike is cool or not if the manufacturer itself hasn't decided if it'll produce the bike to begin with.
^ Agreed. Discussing concept bikes is a whole different animal. I sorta feel like casting a vote on a concept bike should really have nothing to do with the manufacturer itself or any particular aspect of the useability of the bike. Instead, it's the technical concepts on display -- what's being test bedded -- that's important. Without any hard technical specs to digest here, though, we're left having to assume the only thing H-D is test bedding is consumer reaction.

Consider from the copy:
totalmotorcycle wrote:While not for sale, Project LiveWire is specifically designed for the purpose of getting insight into rider expectations of an electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
totalmotorcycle wrote:“Project LiveWire is more like the first electric guitar – not an electric car,”
totalmotorcycle wrote:“The sound is a distinct part of the thrill,” said Richer. “Think fighter jet on an aircraft carrier. Project LiveWire’s unique sound was designed to differentiate it from internal combustion and other electric motorcycles on the market.”
What H-D wants to know is if they could sell enough electric bikes to new customers to offset the number of die-hard Harley fans who will abandon them if they go live with an electric sportbike. And there will be a few.

And so, just like with the Street, they're playing catch-up and calling it innovation.

But...

Energy security is an incredibly important issue, especially for America, and more importantly, carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels is THE single greatest threat of the 21st century. If we can't get that right, it wont matter it Apophis nails us in 2036.

So, the idea of a well respected and iconic "MURIKAN!" company like H-D dipping a toe into electrics is HUGE. For that, Awesome.

Re: This Week: 2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Vote Today

Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2014 2:21 pm
by BRUMBEAR
You know I am sure I have seen that color scheme and basic streetfighter look somewhere before but IDK ...... :D

Re: This Week: 2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Vote Today

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 3:40 pm
by sunshine229
Folks, this is just craaaazzzzzyyyy... Harley-Davidson doing electric? Wow. That is definitely a statement. I went with Awesome simply because it's about time that a mainstream company went electric... and that mainstream company was the least expected... H-D.

Re: This Week: 2015 Harley-Davidson Livewire - Vote Today

Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 6:20 am
by totalmotorcycle
I really don't know about the new Livewire where it will end up or be, but I do find it a very interesting development from Harley-Davidson. Like a few have said, it's not a company I would (ever) expect an electric motorcycle from! In fact, I would think H-D would push against electric bikes. How so? Well, Harley-Davidson is all about the sound, in fact, sound is so big to them they tried to trademark the potatoe-potatoe sound of their V-Twin. So why make a H-D without sound? Got me.

The styling seems a little too much Ducati (really not a bad thing) and not much Harley-Davidson, but I definitely can see a lot of Buell in there too.

IMO, I really wouldn't want to own an electric bike, it's like having a cake without any frosting, it's just missing too much to enjoy. On the other side, I really don't like electric cars either so I'm unbiased to either. :mrgreen:

If anything this represents a real 180° turn around for Harley-Davidson, they are indeed trying something very different, very new and very untested. How will their legions of loyal followers feel about an electric bike in their lineup? Well, many of them are still not over the V-Rod or the EFI or even the Street 500/750 or that liquid cooled thing... but that's ok, Harley-Davidson is about itself, not something else. If it was Suzuki2 or Honda2 would they be successful? Heck I'm wondering if they took away the unique H-D sound would they even be as successful as say, Victory*

Would I test ride a Livewire? Sure, maybe H-D can convince an old-school rider the future isn't about the sound of an engine on a motorcycle...

Mike

* I'm not saying Victory isn't successful they are; but they are not on the same sales number field as H-D.