Electric Harley Davidson Motorcycle

[ARKNT]

DirtFlier's statement "steep uphill climb" got me thinking. Has anyone used electric power for traditional dirt hillclimbs? A quick web search brought up Pikes Peak but I was thinking dirt stuff. The cost is probably prohibitive for hillclimbing but the torque of the electric motor seems like it may be a good fit.
Maybe one of you with unlimited time, money, and common sense can start a new project.

Brad

 

[karl]

This is up the road in the next town: http://monsonmonster.com/schedule/4570921947 Funds and time are at a premium...

 

[Electraclyde]

If Harley or Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha ever come out with a "Hybrid" in a touring type bike at a reasonable price, I will step up to the plate. My wife and I own two hybrid cars and we really like them. A straight electric car or motorcycle with a limited range and long re charging time would not be of any use to us.

 

[mikesim]

Elon Musk has made a fortune going after government subsidies from building plants to making space ships. Whether anything material comes out in the end, is immaterial. Is it possible that HD is going in this direction? Producing an electric motorcycle to qualify for government incentive programs and using the money to stay afloat? And to pay the executive's salaries?

Many have maintained that Elon Musk is a financial/engineering genius. IMHO it is not too tough to turn government subsidies into huge profits. Could he (Space-X, Tesla, et al) have gotten where they are now without government handouts? In a word, no.

Mike

 

[Thumpn]

I believe Harley is marketing the Livewire to Sportster owners.....the limited range is similar to bikes with the "Peanut" tank.

 

[DirtFlier]

I believe Sportsters were often aimed at women riders who were just starting out and it was much better than the Buell Blast but that's not saying much.

A long time ago, I rode a Buell Blast (500 cc single) at an AMA event in Athens, OH. I was still an active MSF training site administrator and wanted to see how the Blast worked as a training bike since it would be used by all the Harley training sites. Before I even got out of the parking lot I killed the engine 2-3 times because the clutch was an Off-On switch with no modulation. Once on the road, it started to vibrate like crazy and at about 35 mph, the mirrors were useless. At 50 mph, it felt tapped out and the engine was making a real racket. I thought it sucked as a training bike and friends who taught at Harley sites agreed with me!

It used the same crankcase as a full size Sportster but the hole for the rear cylinder was blocked off. I got the impression that they utilized as many 883 parts as possible but never bothered to downsize and rebalance them for only one piston going up/down. :-(

 

[Warren]

Harley could easily become the next Sears if they cant figure out the new world they are living in. They seem to understand the US market is unlikely to go back to what it once was at least when it comes to large displacement motorcycles so they are looking overseas in particular to India. The want their motorcycle sales to be 50% international in the future. Unfortunately those are going to be small less profitable motorcycles with heavy competition from local Indian manufactures like Royal Enfield that recently released a mid size 650 twin that is getting favorable reviews.

 

[RedLdr1]

When I owned their stock I read the Annual Report, and other reports, fairly closely. At the time H-D made more money licensing their Trade Marks than selling their motorcycles... The same was true with their clothing line up... While they do need to wake up and revamp their motorcycle line up they actually do have other profitable sources of income.

Awhile back I went to a local dealer and took a look at the Street 750. The salesman couldn't quite bad mouthing it long enough to answer a question... That was probably "my fault" :unsure: as I admitted I had owned three previous Harleys when he asked what I knew about H-D. Unless H-D can get their dealers to educate their sales team new products won't help... I doubt if the dolt I was speaking with could put batteries in a flashlight without seeking serious help...selling a Live Wire will be really challenging with folks like that...

 

[Brillot2000]

I believe Harley is marketing the Livewire to Sportster owners.....the limited range is similar to bikes with the "Peanut" tank.

Coming from an Ex-Zero Owner, Range is relative to the what you are going to be using the bike for. An electric motorcycle is perfect for commuting and riding the same route regularly.

At least this bike comes with both a Level 2 and 3 charging capabilities from the get-go that can be used at all public charging station networks. The Zero that I had only had the Level 1 onboard charger that used a 120VAC cord with very long charging cycles. Unlike Zero, Harley did all their product and resource testing before putting this bike into production. For 2 years I was a Product Tester for Zero finding Easter Eggs for them left and right.

I do not agree with the nearly $30k price tag for this bike. A Zero is about $10k cheaper, however, you will be spending a lot on headache medication and all the needed therapy that goes along with owning a Zero.

 

[Warren]

Has anyone read where the Harley LiveWire is going to be manufactured and if Harley is actually going to make the electric motor of if they are going to a third party for it ?

 

[Brillot2000]

Has anyone read where the Harley LiveWire is going to be manufactured and if Harley is actually going to make the electric motor of if they are going to a third party for it ?

I'd have to assume that they went outside as electric drive motors, electronic drive systems, and lithium battery packs are not their areas of expertise. Designed and manufactured for Harley, probably not developed by Harley and built by them in-house either.

 

[RedLdr1]

Harley hired a bunch of EEs and other EV tech folks a few years ago to do the development. I suspect they will go outside for the hardware though as getting the permits to open a battery plant isn't cheap and takes a lot of time and effort...just ask Tesla...

 

[Brillot2000]

Did they go to Tesla? If so...

Chris

I am pretty sure that is not the case. Nor do I think that Elon Musk is interested in Harley or what it represents. He could buy the company if he was. His goal is to electrify transportation and create an underground network of transportation tunnels beneath the surface.

 

[Sojourner]

Remember that Elon Musk made his original money at Paypal, then created Tesla and SpaceX. While any entrepreneur will be interested in government programs and incentives, I wouldn't consider him greedy for government money.

I worked at Fisker Automotive, which got a bunch of 'stimulus package' money from the government. That was one of the companies that was using the A123 batteries. How well did that work out? A123 is gone, and Fisker was put on liquidation sale by the government and now the Chinese own the Fisker design, and are making it with a V8.

Musk wanted to be anywhere but Detroit, thinking that the automotive industry needed a new mindset, and that there was too much of entrenched way of doing things in Detroit. I couldn't see him partnering with Harley for that same reason.

 

[RedLdr1]

Musk wanted to be anywhere but Detroit, thinking that the automotive industry needed a new mindset, and that there was too much of entrenched way of doing things in Detroit.

That same attitude was what caused Ross Perot to fall on his butt after GM bought EDS and gave Perot a Board seat. it wasn't very long before Ross was on his way to screwing up other things... GM could do that without his help anyway...

 

[karl]

Hard to reply here without crossing that line...