In a move that will certainly cause more furrowed brows and some harsh language from the Harley Faithful, the Motor Company has doubled-down on their LiveWire electric motorcycle project
) understands, the company needs to branch out beyond ground-pounding, big-inch boulevard cruisers and high-dollar touring rigs if they hope to survive. MaybeKeep in mind that Levatich is more than a pencil-pusher or Harley-come-lately. He's been with H-D since the halcyon days in 1994, whenwas in full swing. He's also a mechanical engineer, and he's watched the downturn go from a trickle to a receding tide. The problems H-D faces are many and varied.
Harleys can be expensive, but worker wages haven't kept up with rising economy, while rents and other expenses definitely have. Older and returning riders are aging out of the market and into the safety of cars. Young people are not into motorcycles like their parents and grandparents were; they're into their phones, video game consoles, those ever-multiplying city scooters and rideshare services to get from A to B.
Kids brought up in ever-safer cars with a dozen airbags and full-body padding plus helmets on their bicycles aren't exactly embracing the road rebel lifestyle as adults, at least not in the numbers that can keep H-D afloat with new riders as in the past.
I imagine the conversation that took place at Harley as they spooled up the LiveWire project over the last five years or so was not"Why," it was probably more like"Why the hell NOT?" Of course, this is a monumental risk in product and direction for Harley-Davidson, which for decades sold motorcycles under a banner of rebellion, freedom and machismo.
While I applaud Harley's broader vision and More Roads mentality, I am sure they are not ignorant of the fact that competition in ebikes is already here and more is coming, from Japan, China, Europe and just about anywhere motors and batteries can meld with bicycles. Harley makes great motorcycles, I've ridden many of them over the years.
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