The throaty roar of their V-twin engines usually offers Harley Davidsons away lengthy ahead of you catch sight of them. So will Harley fans, a lot of of whom fine-tune their touring bikes to make them even louder, go for an environmentally and ear-friendly electric model?
That was the query getting posed earlier this week, when the initial electric Harley Davidson hit the road at a launch occasion in New York.
Simple rider
Named Project LiveWire, the black, red and chrome beast that is the electric Harley Davidson undoubtedly looks the part.
It can go 130 miles ahead of it requirements charging (a approach that takes between 30 minutes and an hour) and will offer riders a best speed of 92mph.
The manufacturer also claims the bike can go from -60mph in just 4 seconds.
But rather than putting its electric bike out on common sale, Harley Davidson has decided to test its functionality and reputation by asking some of its loyal consumers to test drive the new model although touring around the US.
The tour will incorporate a trip down the popular Route 66 amongst Chicago and Los Angeles, and will take in at least 30 Harley Davidson dealerships just before the finish of the year.
Silent running
With its relatively modest 74 horsepower and a best speed beneath 100mph, the electric Harley Davidson is unlikely to appeal to bikers with a require for speed (and a scant regard for the law of the land).
That is not the biggest dilemma, even though. Like other electric vehicles, the engine on Harley Davidson’s Project Livewire prototype is practically totally silent.
And that is probably to prove off-putting for those Harley fans who get pleasure from the admiring glances attracted by the gutsy engines on the manufacturer’s far more traditional touring bikes.
It would also be exciting to see how insurers would react to an electric bike – would it be noticed as intrinsically low-danger, and consequently deserving of decrease motorbike insurance coverage premiums?
New in town
However, attractive to its traditional buyer base might not be the point of this groundbreaking new bike from Harley Davidson.
Robin Farley, an analyst at UBS, thinks that the motorcycle maker is trying to show it can attract a new sort of consumer, something “that’s been a challenge for them in the past”.
And this opinion appears to be supported by the truth that Harley Davidson has recently launched 2 bikes aimed at females, who now acquire 1 in 10 of the Harleys sold in the US.
Motorcycle diaries
Any person keen to get their hands on an electric Harley will have to wait for a although at least, although. There are no firm plans to bring the Project Livewire electric bike into production as but.
A Harley Davidson spokesman said: ‘Any final decisions about regardless of whether to bring an electric motorcycle to marketplace – and when – will be created at a later date.’
Get your motor whirring… Harley Davidson goes electric
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