CarBrandLogos archive · Harley-Davidson · 2019
Harley's electric bike, which eventually stopped being a Harley at all.
Discover the storyPhoto: Auge=mit · CC BY-SA 3.0
The story
Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Harley-Davidson LiveWire, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.
01
Nobody expected the first credible electric motorcycle from a major manufacturer to come from Harley-Davidson. Project LiveWire began as a prototype tour in 2014, with demonstration bikes taken around the United States specifically to find out whether Harley's audience, or anyone else, would accept the idea. The production machine followed in 2019.
Harley Davidson Livewire at Motorcycle Live 2014 02 · big-ashb · CC BY 2.0
02
It was a serious motorcycle rather than a gesture: a longitudinally mounted, liquid-cooled three-phase motor, single-speed belt final drive through a bevel gear, fast charging, and suspension and brakes from the usual premium suppliers. Reviewers rated the chassis highly and were unanimous about the acceleration. They were equally unanimous about the price, set well above what a first electric bike from any brand could easily justify, and about the range, which limited it to shorter rides.
Harley Davidson Livewire at Motorcycle Live 2014 03 · Decio "desmodex" · CC BY-SA 2.0
03
Sales were slow, and Harley's answer was to separate the two identities. In 2021 LiveWire became a standalone brand and later a publicly listed company, taking the electric programme out from under the Harley-Davidson badge so that each could be sold to the audience that suited it.
Formula E Day1 0236 · Manitou1 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Technical specification
From the journal
Harley-Davidson · 1940WLA
Harley-Davidson · 1957Sportster
Harley-Davidson · 1990Fat Boy
Harley-Davidson · 2001V-Rod (VRSC)Contemporaries from the 2010s
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