There�s an old saying among motorcyclists that 95 percent of the Harley Davidson�s built since The Motor Company opened in 1903 are still on the road. The rest made it back.
The point is, Harley doesn�t exactly have a reputation for innovation. The company proudly embraces its 50-year-old air-cooled engine technology because its customers are rabidly loyal to that old-school stuff. Heck, in 2001, when the company finally leapt into the 1970s with its first liquid cooled offering, faithful Harley riders collectively vomited in their mouths just a little bit.
With that history in mind, the idea of Harley building an electric motorcycle is akin to the Amish having a space program. But that�s just what the company is doing, touring the country with a prototype electric bike called Project Livewire.
Bryan Hartley at Motorcycle USA had this insight:
For a company [that has] established a devoted following by producing familiar, V-Twin-based motorcycles, releasing an electric motorcycle could potentially ruffle the feathers of loyalists. But Harley didn�t become a company with an 111-year-history without making savvy business decisions, and as range, speed and recharging technology has rapidly evolved, so has acceptance for electric motorcycles. With zero emissions and a low carbon footprint, electric motorcycles are touted for their reduced environmental impact.
�Preserving the riding environment is important to all of us,� said Levatich in PR. �Project LiveWire is just one element in our efforts to preserve and renew the freedom to ride for generations to come. As a company that has seen success for 111 years, we think in generational terms about our great riding environments for the next 111 years.�
Startups like Brammo, Mission, and Zero are already producing excellent, real-world bikes, and electrics have been making staggering progress in racing, giving them serious street cred.
It�s hard to imagine the average Harley Rider embracing the e-bike, but that might be the point: The company�s current ridership is, how can I put this gently, old and dying, and Harley is well aware that it needs to get younger.
There�s no denying this bike looks cool, like a cross between a street-tracker and a Ducati Diavel, and if Harley does build them (PLEASE build them! And also, I�ll take a press demo bike!), it could draw the new, young riders the company so desperately wants while limiting CO2 emissions at the same time.
Of course, so much of a Harley�s mystique is its sound, and it�s hard to seem cool when your sled sounds like a Krups coffee grinder. (Heck, those things ain�t even American!) My suggestion? Just record Peter Fonda yelling, �Potato-potato-potato.� No one will know the difference.