Straddling the Future: Harley-Davidson LiveWire First Impressions

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart) 08/27/2019 at 18:46 • Filed to: two wheels good, Harley-Davidson, livewire

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The world is gravitating towards electrified transportation. While electric cars have had the spotlight for some years there is now buzz about the electric future of motorcycling. The electric motorcycle actually has been around for a while, only in recent years experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity. Now electric motorcycles and scooters can be found on dealerships and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! everywhere. It was inevitable that the electric vehicle craze would reach motorcycles and big names would get involved, like !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

The motor company is shaking things up and reaching more riders than before. Their upcoming lineup includes scooters for Asia, a street fighter, an adventure bike, and the subject of my newfound love, the LiveWire. Their future possibly hinges heavily in how these bikes perform around the world. They’re planting seeds and not just by releasing new bikes. Harley-Davidson now even gets involved with more diverse rider communities than before. Earlier this summer they hosted their second annual Ride With Pride. Yours truly rode in on a vintage Goldwing and a sketchy helmet that I was supposed to paint in the Transgender flag colors.

Riding to the Future

The Milwaukee company hosted a LiveWire demo ride event in a city near me last weekend and I felt there was no better time to try it out. For full disclosure, my most modern motorcycle was built in the 1990s and my normal daily is a 1980 GL1100.

Regardless of my experience with the LiveWire it was going to feel like swinging a leg over a bike from a sci-fi movie. It certainly looked straight out of one!

Rolling into the parking lot of the event revealed the kind of riders interested in seeing what Harley-Davidson had built. There were plenty of Harleys, some Japanese cruisers, a few sportbikes, and even an ADV or two. Most of the people at the event were Millennials, or the people HD hope to bring in with these new machines.

The setup was amazingly minimal and easy. You sign up for a demo ride, then as you wait for your turn you can check out the LiveWire sitting on rollers. Sit on the LiveWire and you can get comfortable with the controls, learn how the motorcycle works, and even give it a few revs. Play around with it before you take it on the road.

The motorcycle is delightfuly intuitive. It takes no time to figure out how to navigate the display’s menus, setup custom drive modes (more on this later), and figure out your hand controls. In a world where car infotainment systems can be alarmingly confusing, this is a wonderful surprise.

The Wait is Over

Eventually it was my group’s time to ride. We were advised to have fun but ride within our limits. The demo ride would take us on a twisting loop of largely empty roads around a mall. It had a little bit of everything from stop and go, to curves, to even a short highway speed portion.

This motorcycle doesn’t appear to be designed for big people in mind. So if you’re bigger it’s going to feel a little tight. The seating position for me wasn’t quite sportbike but not quite standard either. It was a somewhere in between that allowed me to take a more aggressive stance or more casual stance depending on how I felt. Right out the gate, however, I discovered that the mirrors were definitely not well thought out for larger riders. If you adjust the mirrors properly, you only see yourself.

If you kick them out to a position where you aren’t just looking at your own shoulders, it’s far outside where it would be useful. The smaller riders of the course didn’t seem to have this issue, so it’s just a thing where larger riders may need to consider aftermarket mirrors.

How is it put Together?

While we’re talking about the mirrors, how is the quality? Well, to me the mirrors and front turn indicators feel a bit like cheap aftermarket parts from eBay. On my test bike a hilariously tiny wire connected each turn indicator. Sure, these lights are LEDs and thus don’t draw much power, but there’s nothing really protecting these razor thin wires from getting broken. The bar grips were also pretty disappointing.

A few of the test units already had extremely worn (and a couple even tearing) bar grips and these bikes didn’t have a whole lot of miles on them. But these are easily solved nitpicks and the rest of the bike felt really well built to me. I would be curious to see what these displays will look like after years of use. How much scratch protection do they really have?

Surprisingly Intuitive

Starting up the LiveWire is not a whole lot different than a normal motorcycle. You have a kill switch and a “start” switch. Before you energize the drive system the display gives you a chance to tweak your motorcycle. Feel free to go through the menus to create custom drive modes, turn modes you don’t want off, set the time, and look at other metrics you wouldn’t be looking at on a ride.

The bike offers a bunch of different standard driving modes. You have a Sport mode for aggressive riding, a Road mode for a balanced experience, Range mode to get every mile out of your charge, and Rain to help you keep the shiny side up in inclement weather. These modes all adjust power, throttle, and regeneration levels depending on the end goal. The bike also includes three user defined modes. For my multiple rides, I played with every setting, including making my own “MAX POWWWWWER” mode with max power, max throttle response, and no regen.

Once you get done playing with the bike’s settings, hold the start button for a few seconds to activate the drive motor. When your screen is flanked with green LEDs you are cleared for takeoff! And you better be ready for it.

On paper, the LiveWire is only slightly better than my twenty three year old Honda CBR600F3. It scoots to 60 miles per hour in a similar low 3 second time, it produces 105 horsepower to the CBR’s 100, and with the LiveWire’s top speed of 110 miles per hour, my CBR will easily outrun it. Despite this, riding the LiveWire feels like being strapped to a rocket. Why? Two words:

Instant Torque

The LiveWire offers 86 torques on tap, nearly the instant you give it throttle. At full throttle, this bike will easily perform a burnout and if you’re not careful, that burnout will be complimented with a wheelie. My CBR feels fast, this feels like it’s shifting my brain to the back of my helmet. The Demo bikes had wheelie control and traction control locked permanently on, not even they could fully stop the bike from converting some of its rear tire into a black stripe on the pavement. And if you weren’t tucked on takeoff? Expect air from that front wheel.

I don’t know how to describe what it feels like to ride this motorcycle from 0 to its top speed. The power feels bountiful and relentless. Not long after you surpass 60 miles per hour it only takes a glance up and a glance down to see yourself already at 90. Once you get yourself back down to a reasonable speed your heart may continue racing. At least for me, the LiveWire was just that fast at full throttle.

But not all Speed

Riding this 500 pound motorcycle feels a lot like riding my old Buell Blast, and yes that is a compliment. It’s quick to make direction changes and feels planted in corners. This is a Harley that loves to turn. The best part for me was that the bike did pretty decent at hiding its weight. You can feel it there, but at least for me it didn’t detract from the experience. The suspension was also surprisingly good at soaking up Chicago bumps and holes as well.

Not Interested in all out all the Time?

Another amazing thing about this bike for me was that it didn’t have to be an always on all the time experience. If you want to have an easy city cruise, flip on Eco mode or make your own preset with low power and maximum regen. The regenerative braking is so good you may not even need to use your brakes. Unlike some electric cars, this bike will also illuminate the brake light any time regen is in use. In a tame mode, the motorcycle is no harder to ride than your average scooter.

But Wait, There’s More!

There’s something for everyone on this motorcycle. While it’s geared toward city and sporty riders, it also has some creature comforts for those that like to travel on the highway and backroads. It has cruise control, self canceling turn indicators, and even USB ports for your devices. Be warned about being on the highway though, the bike is really only good for 70 miles of straight highway cruising. And another thing, a lot of people are concerned with noise. Some think an EV motorcycle would be too quiet or maybe they would miss the sound of a rumbling engine between their legs. I had some of those concerns as well. The LiveWire emits a noise like a spaceship from a sci-fi movie and in the demo rides it didn’t seem like drivers didn’t see us. If anything, the bikes attracted attention because they sounded like spaceships and not like anything else on the road. This experience is also so different that the lack of an internal combustion soundtrack didn’t make a difference to me.

The Elephant in the Room

Check out these specs..

Base Price: $29,799 (Destination and setup fees not included)
Power: 105 hp, 86 lb-ft
Drivetrain: Liquid-cooled electric motor, single-speed transmission, belt drive, 15.5 kWh lithium-ion battery
Curb Weight: 549 pounds
Range: 146 miles city, 70 miles highway, 95 miles combined
Charging: 10-11 hours Level 1, 40 minutes to 80 percent or an hour for full charge on a DC-fast charge.

I adore this motorcycle and would buy it in a heartbeat. After seeing it in person I think it certainly looks better than a Zero. This is the first Harley I’ve ever ridden and in a perfect world I would be taking one home. My heart still races thinking about that instant on torque. However, it does – at least on paper – fall short of the competition.

Harley’s biggest competitor in this realm is a company that’s been building electric bikes for a decade: Zero Motorcycles. The LiveWire slots between their SR ZF14.4 and SR/F.

The SR/F is a much more powerful motorcycle that beats the LiveWire in absolutely every metric while also having a price tag that maxes out at $10,000 less than the LiveWire.

And what if you don’t need tire killing power? You can get an impressive amount of city range and respectable highway range with the SR. However, the SR comes with a power penalty compared to the LiveWire. That bike starts at $14k.

Final Thoughts

So comes a dilemma. Is the Harley-Davidson name and killer style worth the extra coin? I think the LiveWire is a fantastic little rocket of a motorcycle, however I couldn’t see myself dropping $30,000 on this motorcycle. This unfortunate thought was shared by many at the event.

I definitely want to learn and experience more of the electric motorcycle revolution. Expect to see me test Zero models and maybe even find more seat time with the LiveWire. One thing is for certain, this little Harley impressed me and I definitely hope it does well. If anything, this has made me want to test other Harley-Davidson models as well.

See more at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a site created to not only share the pursuits of LGBT motorsports competitors, but to encourage others to get behind the wheel and participate as their full selves. Follow us on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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Oppo Q/A:

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Frankly the only thing im curious about is how is the weight distribution in comparison to a “normal” bike?

I wonder if the batteries are heavier and make controlling the bike harder than a “normal” one.

Most of the weight felt pretty down low to me. You could stand at a red light and dance the bike between your legs. You definitely feel the weight when you’re riding, however I felt the motorcycle was actually very easy to control. I got a hang of it in a near instant.

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How does the weight feel? It looks like quite a lump of a machine but I’m hoping that most of the weight rides low and makes it fairly flickable.

Do you find yourself wishing it had gears? Or is the power delivery intuitive and responsive. I know electrics don’t really need gears, but I’m curious to know exactly how weird it is to not have gears being your first time on an electric bike, and if you think gears might actually benefit it.

Is the fit and finish worthy of it’s price tag? It’s overpriced no matter how you slice it IMO, but Harley is generally really good about fit and finish, and I’d expect it to be top notch at this price especially. More generally, does it feel premium or cheap?

Lastly, and maybe you can’t answer this one, how do I convince my wife that purchasing a fifth motorcycle that is more expensive than anything I’ve ever bought, and simultaneously more valuable than everything I own, a good idea?

Enjoy the demo days!

Weight: See my response to Jewish Stig. You can definitely tell it tips the scales at over 500 pounds, but it remains pretty flickable as far as I’m concerned.

Gears: Surprisingly? No. The experience is so different than an ICE motorcycle that I didn’t even reach for gears or a clutch that didn’t exist. I basically rode it like a powerful scooter. The power delivery is smooth and it never feels like you can’t blast your way out of trouble.

Fit and Finish: Aside from the aforementioned mirrors, front turn indicators, and bar grips, it does feel like a decently quality machine. I’m not sure I’d say it’s of “premium” quality, but it also doesn’t feel cheap. It definitely feels like it should cost less than $30,000.

The Wife: Well, it’s not a good idea but I’ve already established that if price were no factor I’d be first in line to get one, range and performance be damned.

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! asked:

I wanna know about the sales process. Is this something put on by the dealership or by some corporate types? How pushy are they to get you to buy one, or just to buy anything at all? How knowledgeable and well trained do they seem to be?

My hunch is that HD is going to run into the same problems that other auto manufacturers did when launching EVs. They didn’t do a good enough job training the dealership employees, and as a result it hurt them.

So this demo tour is definitely put on by Harley-Davidson corporate. It appears they’re sending a trailer full of bikes and knowledgeable staff all over the place. I’ve seen these tactics called “Guerrilla Marketing” before. They certainly attracted tons of riders, not sure how many sales this will translate to. The general consensus was that while the LiveWire looked cooler, its high price makes the Zero lineup was far more enticing.

The staff weren’t at all pushy and they were far more knowledgeable than I could have ever expected them to be. Last time I went to a “road show” type of event it was for smart and those people didn’t know anything that wasn’t on the spec sheet.

The question remains how well the dealerships themselves push and sell this bike. I expect dealerships in more affluent urban areas to push them harder.

And for a fun question, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! asked:

How many HD accessories are you going to return with?

Funny enough, I came home with these cool little flashcard things. On the back of each was some sort of spec about the motorcycle, on front is a high res still of the bike. I guess maybe HD wants you to hang or frame them like tiny posters?

Wacko > Mercedes Streeter 08/27/2019 at 11:37

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wow 30000 $US thats insane. Guess this won’t be the bike that saves H arley....

They built the wrong bike for their demographic..

Sovande > Mercedes Streeter 08/27/2019 at 11:52

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$30,000 American Dollars?  That is a ridiculous amount of money.  70 miles of range?  For $30,000?  

jimz > Wacko 08/27/2019 at 11:59

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you joke, but they’re desperately trying to stop relying on that demographic.

Wacko > jimz 08/27/2019 at 12:01

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not with 30000$ bikes they aren’t

jimz > Sovande 08/27/2019 at 12:02

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where else do you recommend they put more battery? Drag is a huge problem on bikes at highway speed.

as for the price, it’s clear this is a “soak the early adopters” product to recoup development costs while they try to get costs down.  Zeros are perfectly cromulent bikes but having seen these in person, Zero doesn’t have quite the level of f&f that the LW does.  plus, Revzilla’s reviews indicate they ran into thermal management problems on their test Zeros. 

Sovande > jimz 08/27/2019 at 12:07

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I’m not sure where they should put the battery. I do know that $30,000 for a range of 70 miles would be a non starter for me. I certainly wouldn’t pay extra to have a Harley badge.

What’s a Tesla 3 cost?  It has 4 times the range and can park itself.

Pickup_man > Mercedes Streeter 08/27/2019 at 12:26

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The price is just the killer on these. I’m a millennial finally getting to the point in life where things are paid off and I can start thinking about buying things like this, but at $30,000 it’s just way to much to even consider. If the price was a lot more reasonable I’d love to have one for commuting.

Gonna have to check out their demo tour schedule, I’d love to get some seat time on this even though I can’t afford one. 

jimz > Sovande 08/27/2019 at 12:43

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Tesla has made about 200,000 Model 3s, H-D will be lucky to move 10,000 of the LiveWire.  And a reminder that Tesla loses money almost every quarter. 

Decay buys too many beaters > Mercedes Streeter 08/27/2019 at 12:48

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This was dead from the moment they announced pricing. Currently, it is the most expensive (save for a few fully kitted out goldwing/BMW touring/other harley) motorbike on the market. It brings nothing new to the arena that Zero hasn’t already done better.

It’s going to turn into another “S ee?!? Millennials don’t want motorcycles!!”  talking point in 3-5 years time, which makes me sad. 

Sovande > jimz 08/27/2019 at 12:49

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Those are all true statements. As is mine that $30,000 is a silly price for this bike.  

Mercedes Streeter > Decay buys too many beaters 08/27/2019 at 13:01

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All correct across the board. Even the best Zero costs a hefty chunk of change less than the LiveWire. Zero’s apparently had some reliability issues over the years. Thou gh considering this is HD’s first electric, how reliable these things will be is completely up in the air.

Decay buys too many beaters > Mercedes Streeter 08/27/2019 at 13:09

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If it was a few grand more , they could probably get by on name recognition (note: only with select demographics. To people like me the name is a detriment), but it costs a Street Triple R more than the most comparable Zero, that is far too many dollars for something that is trapped in a 100 mile circle for all practical purposes.

Goggles Pizzano > Pickup_man 08/27/2019 at 13:19

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For me, the price is disappointing but it’s the range that would absolutely turn me away. I wouldn’t be able to ride to a friends place an hour away on the highway.

Pickup_man > Goggles Pizzano 08/27/2019 at 13:56

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Range isn’t great, but it’s enough for my commute, and a few of the bike meet ups that I go to with friends. Of course I’d still be keeping my big cruiser for long highway runs. 

Chuckles > Mercedes Streeter 08/27/2019 at 19:22

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Did anybody try the passenger seat? There's really nothing for the passenger to hold on to back there.

Mercedes Streeter > Chuckles 08/27/2019 at 20:51

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I tried to while nobody was looking. Can't imagine it being used for anything other than moving a second person a short distance in a pinch. Then again, I'm no small person. lol

nermal > Decay buys too many beaters 08/27/2019 at 21:19

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You’re looking at it from the perspective of somebody on a budget, where price is a concern . The target customer for this will not look at it the same way. This is an image item more than a useful one. The target customer will be somebody that makes $250k+ per year and already has a Tesla, and whatever the latest $1k smartphone is, and regularly wears $300 jeans and $200 shirts .

As far as motorcycling value, you are correct that it is a poor one. However, the price point isn’t unheard of, there are plenty of other models in an HD dealership approaching or above that price, same as a BMW or Ducati dealership.

In two years time they will be selling for $15k though .

nermal > Mercedes Streeter 08/27/2019 at 21:20

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Good stuff, thanks for sharing! 

Chuckles > Mercedes Streeter 08/27/2019 at 21:34

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It just looks like youd be sitting on the edge of a see-saw. Really exposed compared to a lot of bikes.

Decay buys too many beaters > nermal 08/27/2019 at 21:49

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The customer you just described... Buys Z eros and  doesn’t like the inescapable political ties that HD has.

nermal > Decay buys too many beaters 08/27/2019 at 22:47

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....but this costs $10k more than the plebeian Zero bike. Therefore it is better, in the eyes of somebody that buys expensive stuff because they want to be seen with expensive stuff.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Mercedes Streeter 08/27/2019 at 23:36

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I don't know crap about motorcycles but this all read fluid to me and I understood all points made. Well done. Also I may have missed it due to some late night work exhaustion but what about sound? How will the loud pipes save lives crowd react? 

Decay buys too many beaters > nermal 08/28/2019 at 00:52

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I don’t see that person going into a blue collar fabulous HD dealer for that. They’d probably just buy a Panig ale like everyone else.

nermal > Decay buys too many beaters 08/28/2019 at 16:47

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Right, that person doesn’t go to an HD dealer...... yet.

The point of the Livewire is to get them to start. Overall the reviews on the bike seem positive. How they are able to execute is still TBD. Personally, I see what they are trying to do, but am extremely bearish on their ability to actually accomplish what they envision.