A look through Harley's history as they prepare for the future, which includes an electric motor called H-D Revelation. Back in 1903, when H-D sold their first few units, no one could know that Overhead Valve and Flatheads would one day give way or at least make room for the Knuckleheads, and now the LiveWires.
Harley Davidson Revelation?
Harley-Davidson has just tipped their hand in regards to what the electric Harley-Davidson motor will be branded.
The US homegrown motorcycle company just filed to trademark the name “H-D Revelation” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for batteries, chargers, and motorcycle powertrains." Didn't even know there was such an office."
It’s not hard to put two and two together, and see that the name Revelation will be applied to the engine—or family of engines—that will power the upcoming Harley-Davidson electric bike that has been rumored to enter production inside the next 18 months. The engine that powers the Sportster lineup is called the Evolution and the engine in the entry-level street bikes is called the Revolution. Harley seems to like “volution” names, trade in some vowels, and voila we now have a “velation”... a "Revelation," that is.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
With Harley's focus shifting the impending "electric" future, I thought it would be nice to take a trip down memory lane and look at some of the past models that got us to where we are today.
And what better place to start than the very first model ever? Harley-Davidson got their start in 1903 when they produced a whopping total of three units. One of which was actually sold by their first dealer C.H. Lang out of Chicago.
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Roaring Twenties
Seventeen years later and business was booming for HD by the 20's standards. At that time they had 2,000 dealers in 67 countries, making them the largest motorcycle company in the world. Their business success was in no doubt fueled by their racing success as Harley-Davidson took all eight national championships in 1921.
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Reinventing the Motorcycle
In 1957 Harley decided to essentially re-invent the wheel and introduced an all-new motorcycle in the Sportster. Leaving the flat heads behind, and moving to overhead engines, starting with a 55-cubic-inch overhead-valve engine in the 57 model. The Sportster offered impressive performance, later becoming known as the first of the “superbikes.”
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The Eighties
The eighties saw plenty of Harley milestones starting in 1980 with the release of the Sturgis model. To commemorate the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota Harley-Davidson released a special-edition FXB Sturgis model in 1980, featuring a belt drive, black chrome appointments, and an 80-cubic-inch engine.
1983 saw the inception of the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G), which as of today is one of the largest manufacturers backed owners groups in the world with over a million members worldwide.
1984 saw the debut of the 1340cc V2 Evolution engine after seven years of development. The new motor produced more power while running cooler and cleaner.
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Livewire Specs
If it is anything like the prototype, the new motorcycle, will have an approximate range of 50 miles and be able to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4 seconds.
By comparison, Zero’s SR hits 60mph in 3.3 seconds.
A standard Ducati Monster 1200 motorcycle can hit 60mph in just under 3 seconds.
The motor will produce about 55 kWh of energy roughly equivalent to 74 hp and 52 lb-ft of torque.
The future is exciting.
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