Standing in the paddock of the Sepang GP track in Malaysia with the scream of Moto3 bikes racing around the track there was something missing with the Harley-Davidson next to me. The Project Livewire bike was emitting a ferocious… dead silence, you see Project Livewire is an electric motorcycle and the good ol’ boys at Harley surprised everyone by being the first major manufacturer to show off a production ready EV bike.
The history of electric motorcycles has been a varied and almost forgotten aspect to the history of the motorcycle, predating the internal combustion engine and then disappearing for roughly a hundred years. Of all the big name brands to give electric bikes a revival, nobody would have dreamed that to be Harley-Davidson.
Harley’s Project Livewire burst onto the scene last September, to the utter shock of motorcyclists the world over. A testament to the surprise Harley pulled on the market is H-D's short YouTube video has so far gained over 2.6 million views so far breaking all previous records for the channel.
It should be clearly noted that for now, Livewire isn't going into production anytime soon (or at least Harley-Davidson are being very tight lipped on the matter), though there were suggestions from the Harley team that the company is waiting for battery technology to catch up to extend the bikes range to a figure closer to that of its petrol fuelled brethren. In its current form with range mode selected the bike has a range on one charge of 85km, enough to commute in the city but not enough for most riders who want to be able to hit the highway on the weekends without the need to frequently stop for the current three hour charging time.
While your average Harley is a conservative beast to say the least, Harley-Davidson want to change the way the brand as a whole is perceived to bring in younger generations into the fold.
Greg Willis, Harley-Davidson’s director of marketing for the Asia Pacific region said “we’ve realised it’s time to challenge these preconceived ideas”
And that is the key to Project Livewire, it isn't your average new bike concept, it is Harley's idea of the future of the brand and a key bike to draw in generations Y and Z as it's current customers slowly age away.
That’s not to say that Project Livewire is also going to alienate the more traditional Harley rider. Also in attendance at the recent media ride in Malaysia were a number of Harley owners Group (HOG) representatives. To my outsiders eyes and going off their quite ecstatic remarks in the hotel bar after the ride, I would say that they had a blast on the all-electric Harley, something I wouldn’t have picked before the day began.
According to Willis, after the US Project Livewire tour concluded the stats showed that US riders were four times more likely to buy an electric bike than they were before being exposed to Project Livewire.
Starting Project Livewire up is as simple as starting up any other motorcycle. Simply thumb the kill switch into the on position, wait for the digital dash to display , then thumb the starter. It is quite a weird sensation as the only indication that the bike is on and ready to go is a change in the display to reading km/h, percentage of power currently being used, and how much range is left.
Functionally the touch screen digital dash is sublime, surpassing all my expectations by being easy to read at a glance with the speedo taking up the majority of space, and also easy to use while wearing gloves (because let’s face it, it’d be a pain to have to remove them).
Styling wise the bike is clearly a Harley-Davidson, with aspects of the bike resembling the XR1200 and Buell bikes of old. The Harley styling department led by the legendary Willie G. Davidson, working closely in conjunction with the engineering department to produce a good looking bike with clear Harley-Davidson DNA that works flawlessly. They pretty much achieved this goal, with the only complaint being the functionality (or lack thereof) of the mirrors and integrated indicators. To try and see behind me while riding around Sepang Circuit’s ring road I had to bury my chin into the faux tank to see out one of the mirrors.
Being a prototype (that means you can’t buy one...yet) these minor niggles wouldn’t make it into the full production version when Harley-Davidson finally unleashes the Livewire on the roads.
Powering the Livewire is Harley’s own longitudinally mounted electric motor. Taking inspiration for its aesthetic design from dragster superchargers it transfers power via bevel gears to a more conventional belt drive for powering the rear wheel. Being electric the Livewire produces torque from 0 rpm, and it is more than a healthy dose with 70Nm on hand anywhere, anytime at the twist of the throttle. It’s more than enough to propel the Harley from 0-100km/h in 4 seconds flat and makes overtaking at highway speeds simple. Top speed is a sensible 148km/h, still enough to lose your licence and unlike most other limited vehicles Project Livewire’s restriction is due to the bevel gearing and not to software.
There’s also a peak power of 55kW in there too placing the Livewire amongst the middleweight sports class in terms of power and size when you add in the wheelbase of 1468mm and a weight of just 210kg ready to go.
Pulling that 210kg to a halt is a floating 2 piston caliper at the front matched to a decent sized hoop rotor, with a single piston brake at the rear suggesting Project Livewire is a step by Harley back into the sporty side of the market. But the conventional brakes aren’t all that’s stopping the Livewire, with regenerative braking coming from the driveline. The regen has been tuned by Harley’s engineers to feel eerily similar to the engine braking of a conventional engine and they’ve nailed it, with the regen smoothly slowing you down without the force of that found in some cars. Combining the conventional brakes with the regenerative braking means Project Livewire comes to a stop fast. With no ABS it was a case of grab a fistful of brake and hope that the Michelin Scorcher tyres keep you from getting unstuck.
But at the end of the day Project Livewire is Harley-Davidson getting out there and saying ‘we’re not just the brand your Dad rides, we have an eye on the future’. And that’s it, While older generations might look at Project Livewire with a bit of scepticism for Generation Y and those that follow Project Livewire is as a friend said on Facebook “Now that’s a Harley I could ride!”
I guess I'm not the only one set to have a crisis over their petrol head beliefs...
Pros & Cons: Harley-Davidson Project Livewire
Engine: AC Electric motor with belt final drive
Range: 85km
Top Speed: 148km/h
Pros: New direction for Harley-Davidson, Good range for around town, Fun factor
Cons: Range less than 100km, Not currently for production, Mirrors suck
Comments
Post a Comment