Any News On Harley LiveWire?

[MikeL]

Has anyone heard anything lately? I'm wondering if something is up with it, I've been wanting to test ride one.

I haven't heard anything on the LiveWire and now Harley's website says:

The LiveWire™ motorcycle to be available in select dealerships through North America and Western Europe in the fall of 2019.

Last I heard maybe August, but that's right around the corner and I haven't heard or seen any updates from the MoCo.

 

[Map8]

One of the writers at Jalopnik (and presumably other journalists) will ride a LiveWire later this week with a review to come soon after.

 

[TheRobSJ]

Typically, the new models are all available pretty much the day after Harley does it’s annual dealer show. Which just happens to be in August. They all go live on the website. And you can conceivably go down to a dealer and test ride or even buy it if they’re willing to let it go so fast.

The Livewire however is a special bike. Not all dealers will sell and service it. Pretty sure San Jose HD (yes back to San Jose...the whole Lane Splitter thing didn’t last long) will be one of them. Maybe next month, I’ll go down there to buy a new battery for my Limited. If they have the whole DC fast charge station all set up there already, I’ll know the Livewire is probably on time for delivery with all the rest of the 2020 models. Hopefully the Streetfighter will be around for test rides too.

 

[Slow Goat]

August 15.

They’ll likely sell the first one with the caveat that it stays on their floor for a week or two for everyone who wants an in-person look see.

 

[secn8ure]

News?

LiveWire makes debut at Goodwood on 7/6/19. :ride

https://youtu.be/wPyR53QShKQ

 

[MikeL]

One of the writers at Jalopnik (and presumably other journalists) will ride a LiveWire later this week with a review to come soon after.

Had no idea, nice find. I'm curious on what they have to say.

Typically, the new models are all available pretty much the day after Harley does it’s annual dealer show. Which just happens to be in August. They all go live on the website. And you can conceivably go down to a dealer and test ride or even buy it if they’re willing to let it go so fast.

The Livewire however is a special bike. Not all dealers will sell and service it. Pretty sure San Jose HD (yes back to San Jose...the whole Lane Splitter thing didn’t last long) will be one of them. Maybe next month, I’ll go down there to buy a new battery for my Limited. If they have the whole DC fast charge station all set up there already, I’ll know the Livewire is probably on time for delivery with all the rest of the 2020 models. Hopefully the Streetfighter will be around for test rides too.

Hopefully you're right. Last time I was at SJ Harley I didn't see anywhere getting prepped for DC fast charging, but that had to have been a month or so ago.

I'm debating ditching my FXDLS for one.. but this is one of those "it crosses my mind but probably not" debates.

August 15.

They’ll likely sell the first one with the caveat that it stays on their floor for a week or two for everyone who wants an in-person look see.

That will be me hopefully looking at it. I wonder what the sales numbers look like in terms of pre-orders.

News?

LiveWire makes debut at Goodwood on 7/6/19. :ride

https://youtu.be/wPyR53QShKQ

Speed demon in that video haha.

 

[Starpower]

Here is the latest that I'm aware of:

https://www.asphaltandrubber.com/bikes/harley-davidson-livewire-dc-fast-charging/

 

[CDONA]

Should be able to test ride in Sturgis

 

[TheRobSJ]

I'm debating ditching my FXDLS for one.. but this is one of those "it crosses my mind but probably not" debates.

That will be me hopefully looking at it. I wonder what the sales numbers look like in terms of pre-orders.

Speed demon in that video haha.

Yeah really tearing up the hill climb there. Not exactly how I’d build up some hype for the bike. Jesus, at least one wheelie or something.

I’d be surprised if there are a lot of pre orders. $30k is an awful steep asking price for an unproven bike. Doubt many people are will omg to let H-D test drive their money for a pre order before they got to test ride the bike.

You have one of the few recent Harleys that you wouldn’t lose too much on depreciation if you got out of it. All the Dyna boys think that one is awesome and they would rather pick up one of those on the secondary market than buy a new Softail platform bike.

 

[MikeL]

Yeah really tearing up the hill climb there. Not exactly how I’d build up some hype for the bike. Jesus, at least one wheelie or something.

I’d be surprised if there are a lot of pre orders. $30k is an awful steep asking price for an unproven bike. Doubt many people are will omg to let H-D test drive their money for a pre order before they got to test ride the bike.

You have one of the few recent Harleys that you wouldn’t lose too much on depreciation if you got out of it. All the Dyna boys think that one is awesome and they would rather pick up one of those on the secondary market than buy a new Softail platform bike.

I wonder if they were worried about crashing an early version in front of the world :ride

 

[HadesOmega]

 

[R3DS!X]

Seating position looks so uncomfortable

 

[Mechanikrazy]

News?

LiveWire makes debut at Goodwood on 7/6/19. :ride

https://youtu.be/wPyR53QShKQ

That is quite possibly the worst debut I've ever seen. :laughing

The Livewire looks cool enough, but I wonder how their target demographics will respond to it. From the electric bike side, it is no Zero or Energica. From the Harley owner side, it's not exactly a "must upgrade to this" kind of bike.

Part of me wonders if it will end up like the Aermacchi-Harley-Davidsons as quirky museum pieces.

 

[gixxerjeff]

Part of me wonders if it will end up like the Aermacchi-Harley-Davidsons as quirky museum pieces.

^^This is perfect. I'm going with this^^

 

[HadesOmega]

Haha that was such an underwhelming ride. No wheelies or burnouts. It looks like it was moving along pretty well but maybe they got 5deg of lean angle? I think they are trying to say something it is not a sporty bike.

On another note those picture I took at the Petersen Museum if anyone is wondering I finally got to see a Livewire in person. This was a production version also. It's a lot more sporty riding position than I thought a lot like the SR/F. The heatsink fins looked pretty cool.

 

[ViperThreat]

Yeah, the performance on them is definitely a big setback. Given the price, you'd figure it would at least out-perform a Zero, but all reports I've seen are showing that they simply don't have much go.


On the flip side though, I saw one in person and will admit that it's definitely a well-built bike. All of the materials and components are high quality, and it makes even the newer Zero bikes feel like plastic toys. I'm just not convinced that the difference in build quality makes up for the lack in performance and the huge price gap.

 

[ScarySpikes]

Yeah, the performance on them is definitely a big setback. Given the price, you'd figure it would at least out-perform a Zero, but all reports I've seen are showing that they simply don't have much go.


On the flip side though, I saw one in person and will admit that it's definitely a well-built bike. All of the materials and components are high quality, and it makes even the newer Zero bikes feel like plastic toys. I'm just not convinced that the difference in build quality makes up for the lack in performance and the huge price gap.

That has been the harley shtick forever though. Not really all that fast, but very good build quality. The question is whether it will work for the younger crowd that they are after, who don't necessarily have the love for the brand that older generations have. Honestly compared to this, the Zero's or Energica's look a lot more appealing to me.

 

[bigpoppa]

That has been the harley shtick forever though. Not really all that fast, but very good build quality. The question is whether it will work for the younger crowd that they are after, who don't necessarily have the love for the brand that older generations have. Honestly compared to this, the Zero's or Energica's look a lot more appealing to me.

Agreed...

I was excited when H-D first announced the Livewire but based on specs available earlier this year I ended up looking at the SR/F and then eventually the Energicas. Even with the updated specs, unless H-D drops the MSRP to $25k or less the SR/F and Energicas are definitely the better options IMHO.

The SR/F has better range and I would argue the build quality of the Energicas are just as good if not better at a lower price point. Performance seems to be relatively close across all of them as far as I can tell.

 

[ViperThreat]

That has been the harley shtick forever though. Not really all that fast, but very good build quality. The question is whether it will work for the younger crowd that they are after, who don't necessarily have the love for the brand that older generations have. Honestly compared to this, the Zero's or Energica's look a lot more appealing to me.

I agree 100%.

To me, the biggest mistake here is that HD is trying to pivot their brand to focus on the younger generation, but they seem to be assuming that the average millennial has $30,000 to drop on a motorcycle that realistically won't be any better to ride than a used sv650. Sure it looks cool, but 90% of this generation is struggling to make rent, let alone drop $30k+ on a motorcycle that offers no major benefit over it's competition.

The silver lining is that HD recently announced a partnership to start building some more budget-minded bikes, and I think that's a good move.

 

[Mechanikrazy]

Sure it looks cool, but 90% of this generation is struggling to make rent, let alone drop $30k+ on a motorcycle that offers no major benefit over it's competition

This. I have been glad to see more and more sub-$10k motorcycles, like the FZs, CBs, and Ducati Scramblers. I would be intrigued to see the actual purchase demographics for those below 40 years of age. I just don't see many younger folks spending effectively new car money on a motorcycle.