DirtFlier
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EV Motorcycle News
- Thread starter DirtFlier
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Looks like Honda is copying Harley yet again... 
I found it interesting none of the Big Boys bought Zero to get a "jump start" in the market.
I found it interesting none of the Big Boys bought Zero to get a "jump start"
in the market.
mikesim
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Just this morning I was looking at Livewires sales and stock performance. It is no wonder that HD is pulling the plug on Livewire. You will recall that Livewire was split off from HD as a separate company several years ago. I thought then that it was a strategy that HD used in case Livewire was a flop. A Livewire flop would not then affect the HD bottom line. It turns out that my guess was pretty much spot on as the Livewire will probably rank up there with the Edsel for market success or lack therof. So far this year, LVW in its 3rd quarter statement has lost over $15 mil and that was after losing over $22 mil in 2022. Reporting on the 3rd quarter, LVW is reporting only 129 dealers, worldwide with sale of ~1000 units. Their recently introduced Del Mar which is offered at ~$15K has found few takers. According to Wall St., HD is still the majority shareholder of LVW so in spite of their attempt at creative accounting, LVW will still affect the HOG balance sheet negatively.
Mike
Mike
mikesim
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I'm not surprised... the Japanese manufacturers were not seduced into drinking the koolaid that some of the other manufacturers have been intoxicated by..... good on them..... perhaps ICE bikes will be around long enough for our grandkids to enjoy.
Mike
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DirtFlier
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"....Looks like Honda is copying Harley yet again..."
I don't think Honda got anywhere near where H-D was as far as producing bikes, setting up a separate retail outlet, etc. I never even read about the Honda E-bike until a few months ago but H-D had nicely-finished preproduction examples for many years and showed them everywhere to no avail.
Personally, I think ICE power for cars and motorcycles will be around for a lot longer thanks to alternative fuels being developed and NOT something corn-based.
I don't think Honda got anywhere near where H-D was as far as producing bikes, setting up a separate retail outlet, etc. I never even read about the Honda E-bike until a few months ago but H-D had nicely-finished preproduction examples for many years and showed them everywhere to no avail.
Personally, I think ICE power for cars and motorcycles will be around for a lot longer thanks to alternative fuels being developed and NOT something corn-based.
mikesim
Site Supporter
Funny you should mention that, I just read an interesting article from MIT where they have developed a system to produce clean hydrogen economically and at scale using solar energy."....Looks like Honda is copying Harley yet again..."
I don't think Honda got anywhere near where H-D was as far as producing bikes, setting up a separate retail outlet, etc. I never even read about the Honda E-bike until a few months ago but H-D had nicely-finished preproduction examples for many years and showed them everywhere to no avail.
Personally, I think ICE power for cars and motorcycles will be around for a lot longer thanks to alternative fuels being developed and NOT something corn-based.
MIT design would harness 40 percent of the sun’s heat to produce clean hydrogen fuel | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
also, working on a fuel made from carbon dioxide that can be produced economically and at scale.
Engineers develop an efficient process to make fuel from carbon dioxide | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Both of these processes are in their infancy and much development work must be done to determine if they are truly practicable but the amazing thing is how much more efficiently and effectively science and the market works as opposed to government diktat.
Mike
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DirtFlier
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They do have small commuter-size, electric scooters in Japan and from what I can recall, the four Japanese makers decided to communize the battery and battery receptacle within the scooter so anyone with one of those four brand scooters could pick up a fresh battery from a gas station, hardware store, etc., while out and about.
I'm really disappointed in this, so that trio of Honda electric motorcycles originally slated for the US market around 2025 is not going to happen? I probably would have bought one. So much for choices