Harley-Davidson is planning to make electric motorcycles

[Masark]

The Harley-Davidson Livewire concept.



http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/harl...tric-1.2681089

[Reeve]

Yeah I saw that. Seems like they ought to be able to get a better range than that when they only need enough juice to move something that small.

[Deleted]

Pointless, the best thing about a Harley is the sound of the engine.

[Reeve]

Pointless, the best thing about a Harley is the sound of the engine.

Slap a speaker on it and play an mp3.

As far as I'm concerned, loud engine noise is a bug, not a feature.

[Rukentuts]

200km? That's pathetic.

[Spectral]

Well, that's not going to allow their riders to be obnoxiously loud, narcissistic assholes, is it?

[Yunru]

Well it could actuly be cheaper than gas based one. Oil price is going up and up every year.

[Reeve]

200km? That's pathetic.

The first article I read said 83 miles, which is even worse.

[Elegiac]

Well, that's not going to allow their riders to be obnoxiously loud, narcissistic assholes, is it?

Isn't that a right covered under the Constitution?

[Kuntantee]

Pointless, the best thing about a Harley is the sound of the engine.

I bet there are some people jerking off to that sound. To normal folks, that noise is just annoying.

[grimsanta]

Thing is super ugly.

I know, I know, it's just alpha!

[Sunseeker]

Not what I'd call the most attractive design...

[Bakis]

Oh no! The manly man self-esteem issues rider will get outraged
Nice to see that HD explore that option though, very nice

[Merite]

I drive a motorcycle daily. Just got back from Oakland splitting lanes across the bridge. For reference, I drive a sportsbike primarily, but have ridden choppers and sportsters, I just enjoy sportsbikes more. I dislike Harleys and most people who ride Harleys, though I could go for an older sportster. I gave one a bike wave today, revved his engine at me in anger and I could feel his sadness.

Right now I think electric is pointless, like zero benefits and a handful of negatives.

#1 Range - My trips are either ~6 - 12 mile round trip or ~200 miles in a day. The fun part of a motorcycle is mountains, even if it kills your back. I suppose an electric could be good on the track, but Harley's bike definitely isn't suited for that.
#2 Noise - To anyone who says noise is a bad thing on a motorcycle hasn't driven one in a city. With exception to my attentiveness and skill, noise has kept me alive more than anything. A quick rev alerts the idiot who's texting changing lanes without a blinker. I purposely keep my engine at high revs splitting lanes because it works. I drop the revs when I'm around open windows, convertibles, or see a pedestrian talking on a phone, but it's seriously a wonderful thing. I'm thinking of changing my exhaust to be louder to be honest... I will say Harleys who rev their engines through residential areas at 2 am are just dicks. There's reasons to rev and sometimes you're in a low gear and engine brake and it's a bit loud on accident, but Harleys are generally dicks about it.
#3 Acceleration - Due to the the way electric motors work, they have too much torque, at least the one I drive (but that was a sports bike). You have to add so much computer assistance, wheelie control, traction control, abs, etc., just to make the thing rideable..and most of that on a motorcycle is ~3 years old with a lot of bad track records and failures. My bike can do 0-60 in 2.6 seconds as it is, do I really need more torque? There's no need for electricity in terms of speed. The lower top speed doesn't make me happy.
#4 Engine Braking - Engine braking on electric is faked, it just doesn't feel right. I can come to a complete stop without using my breaks and often do if I have a long runway into a red. Engine braking is a huge part of quick deceleration too, I can't even say I've mastered it in corners or fastest possible stops, I would not want to begin to re-learn it on electric.

That's just the start. There's some weight issues on the one I rode, was far too easy to lowside. If it slips before I can touch a knee due to the weight balance, there's a problem. Maybe in 10 years they'll get better, but honestly the noise thing..I seriously don't know if I could split lanes on an electric bike.

Also, honestly gasoline used in bikes really isn't a problem. I get ~35 mpg in the city and I race the lights and split traffic and drive all sorts of terribly for gas mileage. I get ~45 mpg going ~80-100 mph average on a trip / mountain / road course. Electric could save me money, but motorcycles are cheap.

Last point. What would a Harley be without their patented terrible sound? It would be a normal bike, we don't want them people intermingling with the rest of us.

[Masark]

#4 Engine Braking - Engine braking on electric is faked, it just doesn't feel right. I can come to a complete stop without using my breaks and often do if I have a long runway into a red. Engine braking is a huge part of quick deceleration too, I can't even say I've mastered it in corners or fastest possible stops, I would not want to begin to re-learn it on electric.

It isn't "faked", it's just that the energy that would otherwise be turned into heat is getting turned back into electricity. Regenerative braking is important for electric and hybrid vehicles.

[Merite]

It isn't "faked", it's just that the energy that would otherwise be turned into heat is getting turned back into electricity. Regenerative braking is important for electric and hybrid vehicles.

By faked, I mean it's an entirely different process than that of an internal combustion engine. It doesn't feel the same, it doesn't slow the same, it's all sorts of wrong. It felt much more consistent (like engine braking at 10 mph was the same speed reduction as 100 mph), whereas the range in my gear that I'm going will change the amount of braking I get. If I downshift and drop the throttle, I'll brake very quickly, much faster than my rear brakes will do, which is great if you know how to control it and it's worth a rear lockup. That surge of braking has been a lifesaver (probably literally). Electric just felt unnatural and wrong. I've also driven a motorcycle for ~6 years as a daily commute, done a ton of track, road courses, and mountain riding, so I'm used to gasoline.

For reference, I drove one of these: https://www.mission-motorcycles.com/ Which I've seriously considered buying, it seems FAR better than the Harley's option in my opinion, but the cost is rediculous, I could buy 3 bikes with the better performance for the price of one of those.

[Afrospinach]

It isn't "faked", it's just that the energy that would otherwise be turned into heat is getting turned back into electricity. Regenerative braking is important for electric and hybrid vehicles.

I think he is just saying the feel compared with a natural engine brake is off.

[LilSaihah]

You can always make the noise with your mouth.

[Deleted]

You can always make the noise with your mouth.

[Cthulhu 2020]

How can I be an edgy, suburban, badass poser if I don't get to rev my engine so loud that nobody within 500 feet of me can hold a conversation?