LF: The DeadWire

People aren’t getting a charge out of Harley’s first electric motorcycle, the LiveWire . . . literally.

Owners – and there aren’t many – have been advised not to plug their bikes in at home or anywhere else except a Harley Davidson dealership, where “special equipment” is available.

This means the LiveWire’s already limited radius of action due to its being electric is now limited to no more than about 70 miles away from a Harley dealership – the there and back trip amounting to the LiveWire’s maximum best-case range of about 140 miles. (Italics to emphasize the fact that best case assumes low-speed, “urban” use; on the highway the bike’s actual range will be considerably less.)

Once you’ve made it to there, you’ll wait for about an hour while your bike recharges on the dealership’s “special equipment.”

But what if you’re not within range of a Harley store?

What if you haven’t got an hour to kill?

So much for the freedom of the open road – which is what Harleys used to be all about. Now HD is about being trendy – and stupid.

That being defined as not understand who you’re selling to.

People can be forced to buy electric cars because most people have to have one – to get to work, to live. Almost no one has to have a motorcycle.

It is a want.

And what person who likes motorcycles would want one of these overpriced, underperfoming gimps?

Harley has halted production and won’t deliver any more LiveWires until this problem is sorted out. But the company has a a bigger problem – and it’s essentially the same problem that is belly flopping electric cars, only worse because we’re dealing with bikes.

Which almost by definition are indulgences rather than necessities. People buy them for fun primarily and for transportation secondarily. Almost everyone who owns a motorcycle also has a car – because it rains and it gets cold and sometimes it’s too hot to ride or you just don’t feel like it.

But most people haven’t got $30k laying around to spend on an indulgence.

There are a few people who spend $30k on bikes, but most of those are the age 50-plus people who are Harley’s traditional and aging-out demographic. They are also exactly the people least likely to be interested in a bikini-faired electric sport bike with short legs, no storage and not even a passenger seat for the Old Lady.

They want a long-range cruiser with the legs (and bags) to handle a cross-country trip.

Not a stripped-down bikini-faired electric sport bike, something Harley couldn’t sell gas-powered versions of. See Buell.

The young and “diverse” crowd that Harley says it wants to attract with this next-to-useless bike can’t afford to spend $30k on a car.

Forget a $30k motorcycle – one that’s only good for short hops. And long waits.

An electric motorcycle that hasn’t even got the “sell” of much lower fueling costs that an electric car can tout.

Even a Hog costs almost nothing to gas up. The worst of them still get better mileage than almost any economy car (40-plus average) and most get better gas mileage than a hybrid (50-plus). Some middleweight bikes – in the 650 cc range – easily average 60 and commuter bikes with 250 cc engines can deliver 80 MPG.

Most take about 3.5 gallons of $2.40 unleaded gas to fill up. And cost tens of thousands less than the LiveWire.

You do the math.

An electric bike offers no economic or functional advantage to a prospective buyer.

And eliminates practically every reason for owning a bike. Including the sound. A silent Harley is like a cat that doesn’t purr – or won’t chase mice.

What’s the point?

No rumble, no vibration – and almost nothing to do. An electric motorcycle isn’t even a motorcycle – if that term means something different than scooter.

Motorcycles have transmissions and gears and a clutch as well as engines that rumble and bellow. The rider syncopates the action, which is part of the art as well as the appeal.

Scooters have a grip you twist to make it go faster.

The rest is mostly just sitting there. It’s “gay” – in the South Park, Cartman sense.

Motorcycles are also about spontaneity, which is an aspect of the fun and so part of the point – but it’s hard to be spontaneous when you’re tied down by a power cord. It’s not much fun to have to restrict and plan your travels accordingly.

Meanwhile, one can find gas practically anywhere – without having to plan ahead for it. The remotest backcountry road will eventually lead to a fillin’ station – almost always before you run out of fumes. The worst case scenario – if you don’t quite make it to the fillin’ station – is having to thumb a ride or hike to the fillin’ station, which will be down the road just a bit.

And bring back a gallon.

You can’t bring back a gallon of volts.

Sigh. At least you can push your LiveWire to wherever the charging hub is – one of the few upsides of the electric bike vs. the electric car, which is much to heavy to push.

But why would you want to?

The whole thing is ridiculous – and sad.

That the people running Harley – including its female chief operating officer, Michelle Kumbier – no longer understand what motorcycles and Harleys are all about tells you all you need to know about the future of Harley.

There isn’t one.

The brand will live on – in memory – like other great names (Pontiac, Plymouth) that now sleep with the fishes.

Sic gloria transit mundi.

. . .

Got a question about cars, Libertarian politics – or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in!

I've got a 22-year-old Fat Boy; there's a lot to like about a giant twin and its torque - made a nice contrast to the Honda ST-1100, but my ass would fall off if I tried touring with it instead of the ST. Great for a lazy afternoon of back country roads, looking at cows.

The idea of an electric-motor bike is intriguing if only because of the characteristics of the motor itself. I'm sure it's exhilarating off the line; my ST is almost a 3-second 0-60 bike (well, maybe 'was' because it's 27 years old so I don't push it that hard anymore - got 137 mph out of it once, though, certified by a cooperative Oregon Highway Patrol cop who was riding his ST and brought his radar gun) and it's a rush, especially for over 750 pounds.

But 30 grand? That's insane; I'd be amazed if there were enough trendoids around to make this the company's savior. But it's early tech and there will be better and cheaper competition eventually. For short days and round trips, I could see putting up with recharging overnight in the garage if it's a fun ride.

That's just plain sad. Harley has gotten by on brand name and nostalgia by old dudes who didn't even ride Harley's when they were young men.

I personally love the sound of a V-Twin,but I also love the effect riding on the bitch seat brings out in women.

One I used to know defined it the best when she said "I like the way Harley's vibrate."

In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.

Nobody needs to panic. I would bet money,something I NEVER do,that the only reason Harley produced that brain fart was because the feral goobermint gave them a VERY healthy tax break to do so.

There is no corporate board in the world going to turn down a tax break,along with the "free money" grants that usually come with them.

In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.