Just got an email from the local Harley dealership. LiveWire S2 bikes are all now slashed in price, from $4,000 to $6,250 off, between now and Halloween.

That brings a LiveWire S2 Del Mar down from $16,249 to $9,999.

It's not enough, but it's a start. When they get the new Del Mar down to $6999 out the door I think I might become interested. They're all good bikes, some of the best electric motorcycles out there, just grossly overpriced for today's market. This is a good first step.

 

Still wouldn't buy one.

 

Well, to each their own. I'd buy one if the price was right. I suspect this is just phase 1 of the Great LiveWire Clearance Sale. IIRC, Zeitz and the board said they'd pay LiveWire's bills for one more year but that's it. And that year is already drawing to a close. If they still can't move the product they've got, I suspect a Phase 2 sale around Black Friday. And business shutdown next year.

But that's just a guess. I've been expecting a super-deal like this, so my guesses are sometimes right.

If they clearance the Del Mar at $4999 there's no way I wouldn't buy that.

 

It is the best commuter motorcycle that Harley makes. The operating cost is hard to beat.

 

I think once they start hitting the $4-5k mark I'd be interested in trying one out. Still wouldn't get rid of my other bikes, but for a fun/super fast toy it would be a good option..

 

The logic problem people have with electric vehicles, is the electric vehicle is their only vehicle.

Funny thing is most people don't go far enough in a day to need to charge.

The people that say they would not buy one, are not the intended audience. I am a redneck with a truck, so I am not buying a tesla if it has 1000hp gasser in it.

Part of me thinks harley should keeps it toe in the water, it is going to be part of the future. Do they want to be behind? On the other hand should they focus on their dying core audience? I talked to a few hard core bikers a few years ago that it was good idea for harley, since I think most people can acknowledge it is part of the future, even if they don't want one. Which is where I am at, on this in general.

I also never say never, 10-20 years from now, riding something doesn't need to be wrenched on with lots of power, is not impossible. No one knows what the world will look like. 20 years ago did you think we would electric cars?

 

Well, If that happens with me, I guess I'll be sticking Baseball cards in the spokes again.
What I'm saying is the dang thing needs to make some kind of noise so people know you are there.
Even my wife's Hybrid makes noise in the parking lot.

 

When H-D decided to spin off LW in 2021, they projected LW unit sales of
2024 - 15,000
2025 - 50,000
2026 - 100,000

Actual sales have been
2024 - 612
2025 (through 3rd quarter) - 272

LW had $16M in operating funds at end of 3Q2025.

How a storied brand like H-D embarked on an electric bike business plan in the first place is nuts.

 

It's plainly obvious how they did it. Zeitz is a climate/global warming zealot, it's his main interest and his highest priority. And as part of that, he despises fossil fuels and internal combustion. He wants all gas-burning vehicles gone. And, while he may be gone from Harley itself, last I knew he is still the CEO of LiveWire.

In one of his first interviews, he said his goal was to "transform" an iconic american brand. He didn't say from-what or to-what, but I think now after the colossal failure of his signature priority, we can safely say he wanted to transform it away from the stinky/smelly/dirty/rebellious 100-year heritage and into a cutesy inoffensive inclusive electric bike maker.

Think about his main message for the gas-engine Harleys: he wanted to sell fewer bikes, and to make up for the lost revenue he wanted to make Harley "premium" by charging more for the few bikes they did sell. What business leader, anywhere, ever, wants to sell fewer products? But Zeitz did, because he wanted fossil fuel motorcycles to die.

He gambled on a pie-in-the-sky unattainable LiveWire goal, and blew through so much of the company's money chasing it, that the only thing he can take away from his Harley tenure to comfort himself in his dark lonely nights is "well, at least I killed off the motorcycle business."

Finally the board grew a set of ********* (probably one set shared between all of them) and declared LiveWire's money hose was being turned off -- they had to sink or swim on their own, and they had 1 year to figure it out. That year's about up, and LiveWire still can't give bikes away, and so here we are with this last gasp, the Honcho, which -- if it'd been the first bike they launched, it probably would have been successful, but now they're facing extinction so they put together a real bike, a practical model, and some potentially workable marketing, at the last possible minute, to be put into production in 2026 -- after the cash hose is shut off. Right bike for the market, probably overpriced, and way too late.

I doubt we'll ever see the Honcho built, unless Bloomberg or Soros or some other climate zealot billionaire steps up with another money hose.

All that said, LiveWire made good bikes. I still want a first strike orange 2020 H-D Livewire, or maybe an S2 if the clearance sale dips the price below $5k.

 

That part is plainly obvious. How the BoD let Zeitz get away with it was recklessly irresponsible and not obvious. I would enjoy watching a business documentary about the whole affair. Or, at least a 60 Minutes reporter grilling Zeitz's *** publicly. I have no doubt the 2021 LW sales projections were BoD material. What happened at that meeting...