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LiveWire has some of the best electric motorcycle technology available, and there's one market where electric motorcycles are red hot right now: dirt bikes.
Imagine this (pic from above article):
You know what LiveWire should make? A dirt bike. One that has the same level of accessories as Harley's regular lineup. LiveWire, and indeed Harley-Davidson, needs a Sur-Ron competitor. Harley needs to revive the Peashooter nameplate.
The author, Jonathan Klein, makes some simple but tantalizing points:
1. Harley's current LiveWire offerings are overpriced and unwanted, so ... stop it. Stop focusing on street bikes nobody wants.
2. Harley has no entry path to the youth market, at all.
3. The youth are going crazy for the Sur-Ron and other electric dirt bikes. He says why:
They're cheap, efficient, don't require a master's degree to fix, and won't **** off your neighborhood HOA. Kids love them as they're hooligan-encouraging machines, while parents love them since they get them out of the house and out into the world. They're also inexpensive to produce, with the industry average costing around $4,000. And best of all, they breed motorcyclists. Something Harley-Davidson absolutely needs.
Now, stick with me. When I was looking at the Grom & Benelli TNT135 scene, it was all about modifications. A big bore kit was $135. A ram air intake was $50. The kids who love groms love to modify them. Sure sounds like future Harley owners, doesn't it?
So Klein continues:
Imagine a world where this (new Harley Peashooter) exists, but has the accessories support of Harley's regular motorcycles? Imagine having an 800-page accessories book just for the Peashooter? Imagine having the ability to have it come as a dirt bike, but with a few choice accessories, go full supermoto. There could be different handlebars, different batteries, different wheels and tires, different visual changes, headlights, brake lights, and everything would get the younger generation into the Harley-Davidson ecosystem before they're even legally allowed to start riding motorcycles on the street.
Problem is the other companies got a strangledhold on the market. But harley did try a dual sport.
I don't think it could save harley. could they make another product that is decent? Probably, but people and dealers won't support it and it will end up like buell.
IMHO there is not a chance in Hell that Livewire is going to save HD. HD announced that they will no longer fund LiveWire it must stand on its own now, or die. They have shutdown the CA facility and it's moving all operations back to the Juneau Ave. facility that HD has all but moved out of. That said they have nothing that the rest of the Electric bike industry does not already have. The battery technology just does not exist yet to support it. As for the dirt bike area that is already flooded and Livewire doesn't stand a chance in Hell getting something to compete on both price point and quality.
The battery technology just does not exist yet to support it. As for the dirt bike area that is already flooded and Livewire doesn't stand a chance in Hell getting something to compete on both price point and quality.
Agree harley's problem is price point, and a reason to buy. As for battery technology? As the guys around here, how far they rode today.
There is a place renting electric snowbikes. I have tracks in the deep bush, not sure if gassers or electric though. Electric dirt bike would be good for hunting, I know a guy who bought one or assist to get back to his spot quiet.
i don't think any of this will save harley. But I do think electric is a bigger share now and of the future than one what some people like to think. And it has nothing to do with saving baby penguins.
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Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
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Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Could LiveWire actually >save< Harley?
