ELECTRIC HARLEY IS A GENUINE LIVE WIRE
Who’d have thought Harley-Davidson, the US giant famous for its huge, petrol-guzzling combustion engines, would be the first of the traditional manufacturers to offer a production electric bike?
Well, that’s exactly what it’s done in the form of the LiveWire. And it’s nothing like a typical Harley.
Styling wise, it has the appearance of an aggressive but refined naked super bike. The big silver lump slung underneath is what it’s all about – the Revelation permanent magnet electric motor.
It produces 105hp, which is perfectly commendable, but the more important figure is the highly impressive 86ft lb of torque.
As with all electric vehicles, that torque and power is instantaneous.
From a standstill or whatever speed you’re doing, the surge forwards is phenomenal.
There are four ride modes – Sport, Road, Range and Rain, plus three customisable settings – but Sport just takes your breath away, going from 60-80mph in 1.9 seconds.
Urban riding will allow you to achieve 145 miles and combined figures are about 90 miles.
A good quality DC fast charger will get you from zero to 100% in about an hour. At home, with a normal three-pin socket it’ll take up to 12 hours.
So what of the handling? It’s superb. At just under 250kg, this is not a light machine, but out on the road you don’t notice that. The excellent aluminium beam chassis with its very low centre of gravity, plus fully adjustable Showa forks and rear shock, mean its a beauty through the bends.
The LiveWire come with an impressive array of electronic trickery and rider aides, including cornering ABS and enhanced electronic linked braking, cornering traction control and wheel slip control, plus hill-start technology.
You also get a colour TFT dash, LED lights all round, keyless ignition and a tyre pressure monitor.
Download the H-D Connect app onto your phone and you can check vehicle and ride data and find the nearest charging station. So, is the LiveWire the future? Maybe not quite, but it’s a major step in the right direction – it’s seriously quick, handles beautifully, looks great and is built and finished to a superb standard.
It’s an electric experience!