Of all the motorcycle manufacturers in the world you wouldn’t expect Harley-Davidson to enter the electric vehicles segment. But to the surprise of many that’s exactly what the American company has done.
The Harley-Davidson (HD) Livewire is the first electric bike from Harley’s assembly line and is among the most expensive motorcycles from the company to date.
The HD Livewire hasn’t been officially launched in India, but HD has given the Indian audience a glimpse of what it can do with an electric drive train.
The Livewire’s design philosophy doesn’t scream Harley-Davidson rather it does look the part as a standalone electric bike. The orange can only be seen on the false fuel-tank and the front cowl around the all-LED headlamp cluster.
The bike is powered by a 15.5-kilowatt battery and can go from 0-100 in just 3 seconds.
It pumps out 115 bhp of power and 116Nm of torque. Since there are no gears and no clutch the power delivery is linear. The company says that the bike will offer a maximum range of 235 kilometres, which is expected to drop to 152 kilometers if you are riding on the highway.
It takes a while to charge the bike. Almost 12.5 hours to charge completely with a standard charger. Fast charging will get the bike fully charged in 60 minutes.
The Livewire also offers a 4.3-inch LED touchscreen display that has Bluetooth connectivity and also pairs with a dedicated app to control some of the other features of the bike
In terms of safety, the bike offers something Harley Davidson calls Reflex Defensive Riding System, which bundles features like cornering ABS and traction control.
It also comes with upside down front forks and a rear monoshock. The bike offers dual channel ABS as a standard offering.
The Livewire gives us a glimpse of what the future of motorcycling may be like a decade or two from now.
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