Harley-Davidson Unveils Their First Electric Motorcycle 345
Major Blud writes Harley-Davidson has unveiled their first electric motorcycle called "Project LiveWire." The bike is currently not for sale and detailed specifications are scarce. Harley plans on taking it on a demonstration tour of the U.S. for the next year to gather customer feedback. "The new LiveWire won’t make the distinctive 'potato-potato-potato' chug that Harley once tried to patent. Its engine is silent, and the turbine-like hum comes from the meshing of gears. But electric motors do provide better handling and rapid acceleration — with the electric Harley able to go from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds. LiveWire’s design places the engine at the bottom of the bike."
Nice looking bike... (Score:5, Interesting)
Nice looking bike, but I wonder if they're going to offer something more cruiser-like. I'm certainly not opposed to a "greener" ride, but I'd look a damned fool on one of those.
Re:Nice looking bike... (Score:5, Funny)
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Ever notice how the [LGBTs] who [allegedly] own Hollywood always sneak in pro-homo garbage in their movies?
Don't worry; they squeeze in plenty of anti-Homo sentiment [orain.org] as well.
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Ever heard those crazy bastards claim "loud pipes save lives"?
A REAL motorcycle makes plenty of noise, but by the time anyone hears it, the bike is a couple hundred yards out in front of them. The thunder always follows the lightning. Loud pipes are compensation for 75 year old technology that won't run any faster than the family car. It's amazing how many people have spent all that money on a Harley, but either the machine won't run over 80 mph, or the rider is to scared to exceed 80. My commuter is 33
Re:Nice looking bike... (Score:5, Funny)
Loud pipes are compensation for 75 year old technology
Incorrect. "Loud pipes" are compensation for a small penis.
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Incorrect. "Loud pipes" are compensation for a small penis.
FWIW, I have several friends that ride bikes. None of them are the sort of people that I would classify as the type that would do something just out of some sort of inferiority complex.
They uniformly tell me that they see loud pipes as a critical safety measure to make drivers aware that they're there.
I do not know if drivers in general (i.e., around the world) are uniformly bad at paying enough attention to notice riders (of bicycles or motorbikes), but certainly here (Brisbane, Australia) people seem to
Re:Nice looking bike... (Score:4, Insightful)
I ride bikes and I've always seen this attitude as more of an excuse to ride an anti-socially loud vehicle more than anything else. I'm not sure how blowing a lot of extra noise out behind you is supposed to help the cars in front of you (who so like to pull out of side roads) notice you, with their windows shut, AC blasting, and perhaps the Stereo on.
Just ride defensively and stop giving politicians more reasons to legislate motorcyclists
Re:Nice looking bike... (Score:5, Interesting)
My uncle had been riding a white BMW for decades, and one day he decided to paint it black. After that he noticed that people weren't keeping out of his way the way they used to. It may have been because people associate white BMW bikes with cops (NSW police used them for years before switching to Yamaha) and normally don't give a fuck about motorcyclists, or it could just be that a white bike is easier to spot.
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My old man has a white Honda ST1300 that was meant to be a cop bike. Even has all the extra switch gear but never got delivered because they shifted to the BWMs that year.
His problem is people see him and brake because they think he is a copper
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Black bikes are notoriously easy to overlook. When I got my current bike (Yamaha XT660X), it was black. Looked pretty mean, but I knew it would become a problem. So I switched out all of the plastic parts for the bright orange spare parts that I got with the bike, and now you really have to be legally blind to overlook it. And I've found that personally, bright goddamn orange looks cooler than all black, anyway.
Re:Nice looking bike... (Score:5, Interesting)
Loud pipes don't make a difference, riding defensively and not putting yourself in bad positions relative to other traffic is what makes a difference. Visibility also makes a big difference. Consider that most cars these days are very thoroughly sound-proofed, and most people have their radios up loud enough to be heard clearly from outside the car. They routinely fail to notice emergency vehicles until they're literally right in front of them. They probably won't notice the fart can on your bike.
My previous bike was a 1996 Suzuki Bandit 600. It had a completely straight-through "muffler" with all the wadding blown out from years of (ab)use. That thing was loud enough to wake the dead and cause cows to stampede when I rode by. It also spat fire when hitting the limiter and burbled gloriously under engine braking. In short, it was a fantastically antisocial mode of transport. I had a number of close calls while riding it, which I attribute partly to my inexperience, and partly to the fact that it was very dark green, almost black.
My current bike is almost completely opposite. It's a bright orange Yamaha XT660X with stock pipes, and in the two years I've ridden it, I have only had one "close" call. It was really that close at all, just some guy merging closely in front of me. All I had to do was close the throttle and beep the horn. We waved 'hi' to each other as I passed him, he did look a bit sheepish, but I guess he was chatting with his passengers, and I might have been in his blind spot.
And I promise you, I ride every bit as hard on my new bike as I did on my old one. I'm just a lot more conscious about making myself visible and not putting myself in dangerous positions in relation to cars. Exhaust noise doesn't even factor into it.
Re:Nice looking bike... (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's my issue with the whole loud pipes thing. Take out a dB meter, pick an arbitrary cutoff, find a nice spot out in the open, and start your motorcycle. Now walk in front of it until you hit your target dB level, then walk around it maintaining the dB level and mapping out the distance you are from the motorcycle.
You'll find that loud pipes give you a quadrant behind the bike that's extremely noisy, noisy for a far longer distance than in other directions. But is that really the direction you want to be throwing off noise? Is that really the most likely direction for an accident to a motorcycle to come from? I really doubt it.
And let's be honest, are audio cues really the best cues? When people are driving along, they're not "listening for other vehicles", they're *looking* for them. If you really want to increase people's awareness of your bike, put little flashing lights or the like on them. But that'd "look gay" or something, right? It feels better to pick a "manly" way that makes you feel better about safety than something would have a lot more effect at getting drivers' attention, doesn't it? I'm not saying that sound doesn't play a role, but it mainly plays a role at the pedestrian level; pedestrians rely on sound cues far more than drivers.
My last problem is, picture what things would be like if everyone started driving their cars around with their hand on the horn at all times because "Constant honking saves lives!" Do you really have the right to create noise pollution so that you can get a greater feeling of safety for a means of travel that you yourself elected to take part in, knowing the risks? Does everyone else have to endure your pollution of the commons for your enjoyment? Do I have the right to jet-ski in a drinking water reservoir or offroad a caterpillar in a national park? The commons is just that - common. Everybody owns it and has a stake in it. Meaning you don't get unlimited access to dump into it without the consent of others, regardless of your intentions.
Re:Nice looking bike... (Score:5, Informative)
You'll find that loud pipes give you a quadrant behind the bike that's extremely noisy, noisy for a far longer distance than in other directions.
Also, due to the way sound dissipates, I'd argue that having a loud motorcycle does more to impair the motorcycle driver's hearing of his/her surroundings than it does to alert other drivers to the presence of a motorcycle.
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More importantly, the doppler effect will ensure that most of the sound you make is behind you when moving.
The "loudness = safety" is the same idiotic bullshit that make people want to legislate "vroom vroom" speakers to be placed on all electric cars. Are bikers actually advocating this shit?
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Yes, indeed, SOME bikers advocate that shit. If you should visit the various biker's forums, however, you will quickly find that older drives, as well as more experienced drivers tend to argue against it. Young and/or inexperienced drivers tend to argue for it. That isn't a strict rule, but it's good enough for a rule of thumb.
I will note, that you can find riders who have owned bikes for thirty or even fifty years, and are STILL "inexperienced". The bike comes out on sunny weekends to be washed and pol
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Your thinking is good - and statistics bear out the idea that visibility saves lives, while loud pipes do not.
I'm part of a school of thought, though, that actually doesn't WANT to be seen. I ride dark colored machines, I wear a black textile armored jacket, and I wore a black and gray helmet for a long time. (Speed and Strength, 1100 I think it was) The kid gave me his hand-me-down HJC which is red - kiind of a dark red, but still red.
I'll refer you to David Hough, and his books on "Mastering the Ride",
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I don't know about for motorcycles, but it's at least not only legal for bicycles, but recommended. Regardless that was just an example. Paint the bike bright neon orange, fly a bright-colored flag from the bike, cover it in fur and googlie-eyes, whatever. The goal should be to increase the *visibility*, because that's what drivers use to make decisions when driving. About the only sound drivers don't tune out is that of a police / ambulence siren.
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Re: Nice looking bike... (Score:2)
Going beyond 80mph is illegal.
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Not everywhere...
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Depends on where you ride. Some places have speed limits that are higher than 80mph, or no speed limits at all.
And a lot of people are perfectly happy doing 10-20mph over the limit, even if it is illegal. That does not invalidate the OP's argument.
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Re:Nice looking bike... (Score:5, Funny)
You don't get it. The girl in back resonates at exactly 80mph. She really hums..
Back of the T-Shirt. "If you can read this, my bitch fell off"
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I'd look badass on one of these.
And man, did you see the hair on those guys? Do they actually ride motorcycles?
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I dunno, as someone who enjoys crotch-rockets (Hayabusa FTW), I love its look.
It's almost like something that Batman would ride.
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I dunno, as someone who enjoys crotch-rockets (Hayabusa FTW), I love its look. It's almost like something that Batman would ride.
Yeah, almost, except that it has half the range and half of the performance of the competition, which is already shipping bikes. It makes no sense to sell this bike as a H-D.
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It's a Hardley Rideable, not a bike!
So hang on, (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So hang on, (Score:5, Funny)
I understand that they are also developing a graphene playing card / titanium clothespin module that can be attached to the front fork for that awesome 1950s Schwinn Beach Cruiser buzz.
Re:So hang on, (Score:4, Funny)
Re:So hang on, (Score:4, Informative)
Nah, you should have said that
If it has a Harley logo, an awful lot of people with more $$$$$ than sense will buy it. These will be mostly middle aged (or older) men who want to do their 'Easy Rider' trip.
Yes I do ride bikes but frankly, I'd rather be pushing up dasies than be seen on a Harley. Others will have differing opinions though.
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Re:So hang on, (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:So hang on, (Score:5, Funny)
Harley Davidson is rebranding itself as Hardley Audible?
The real question is how they're going to make an electric motor leak oil?
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Re:So hang on, (Score:5, Interesting)
Back in the early days, Harley-Davidson used to make bikes known as "silent grey fellows". A stock modern Harley is actually surprisingly quiet, while still having that characteristic lumpy idle that has become their trademark.
They only become unbearably loud when dumbass idiots put SCREAMIN' EAGLE pipes on their bikes because LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES and CHOPPER CHOPPER CHOPPER CHOPPER, 'MURICA!
Dangerous (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Dangerous (Score:4, Insightful)
Bikes aren't dangerous ... bimbos in SUVs are dangerous. Cell phone drivers are dangerous. Bikes are devices. People are the problem.
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Bikes aren't dangerous ... bimbos in SUVs are dangerous. Cell phone drivers are dangerous. Bikes are devices. People are the problem.
The fact that 'people are the problem' are what makes bikes dangerous.
If you're behind the wheel of a Smart car and you're hit by a bimbo in an SUV you get up and walk away.
If you're on a bike you're a dead skidmark if you're lucky and in a wheelchair for the rest of your life if you're not.
Re:Dangerous (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes and no.
While bikes are more dangerous than cars you can avoid more accidents on them then if you are in a car.
What most bike riders don't like to acknowledge is that, as much as we would love to blame the volvo driver, we tend to kill ourselves by ourselves.
Have a look at the statistics. A huge percentage of fatal motorcycle accidents are single vehicle. It comes from the fact that you can but an absolute weapon of a vehicle for essentially pocket change. Then most of us ride for fun at the weekend so our total number of hours driving a bike are relatively low, and as such so is our skill levels.
My bike will do 120kph in 1st gear and get there unbelievably quickly, then the only thing that caps its speed as an electronic limiter at 300kph..... Way faster than this electric harley. There are so few cars that can even come close and none of them are affordable.
If we weren't out having fun on our super awesome toys tearing up and down the local mountain the fatality rate would be a hell of a lot lower.
Re:Dangerous (Score:5, Funny)
People are the problem.
In particular, the people that ride bikes.
Don't be so mean. The world has enough of a donor-organ shortage as it is, without you going and discouraging nice, healthy, young specimens from doing things that not infrequently result in massive cranial trauma that leaves much of the rest of the body so usefully intact...
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I have long advocated an exemption from mandatory-helmet laws. So long as the rider agrees to register as an organ donor.
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Idunno about that "healthy young specimens" bit. That was true when I was young. But now most of the hog riders I see on the road are gray bearded balding overweight guys who would have trouble pulling their bike upright if it fell over.
Re:Dangerous (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh, are you one of those people who thinks a glass muffler gets you noticed and keeps you safe? More likely startles some poor minivan driver into swerving into your path. If you want to stay safe, the way to do it is to pay attention. Keeping the bike quiet means you'll hear Mr. Minivan coming. See and avoid, man. See and avoid.
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Actually, if you're running on the side of a road without a sidewalk, you're supposed run on the left side of the road so you can *see* the oncoming traffic.
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Is this what we've come to? "It's not a law", so fuck common sense?
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No amount of noise is going to make a bike safer. The noise FOLLOWS you, it doesn't precede you. The guy 200 yards behind you on the interstate hears you, the guy 200 yards ahead of you doesn't hear a thing. I don't give a damn that they guy behind me can hear me - he is no threat to me. That guy ahead though, could be a problem.
Noise generator - what a waste of energy.
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umm NO. sound travels in both directions, a bike does not move at sufficient speed for sound to only be behind them. The benefit of hearing a bike is not for cars on the interstate, it is for pedestrians that will step out in front of you, people that are doing slow speed manoeuvres that may fail to see you in the mirrors but still might hear you coming 20-50 yards behind them. push bike riders that at the best of times are a hazard even when they know you are there.
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But it doesn't need to be *LOUD* to accomplish that. It certainly needs to be no louder than a modern, quiet car.
I wish people with loud vehicles would be ticketed to death... and that especially holds for boom-box cars.
http://www.southparkstudios.co... [southparkstudios.com]
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I completely agree, it doesn't need to be loud, just at a level to make it audible at close distances, quiet car level is many times better than silent. morons that modify cars and motorbikes just to increase sound for some sort of dick waving exercise should be fined to oblivion.
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Well, duh. That would work if you turned your pipes around so you were blasting the loud exhaust ahead of you.
Maybe you should do that. It would make a truthier statement about who you really are.
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who said anything about it needing to be loud? it merely has to be at an audible level, something around the average car sound is sufficient.
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It's the people next to you on the interstate that are the dangerous ones... Not the one 200 yards in front or 200 yards behind.
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Dangerous to your trim, maybe. Dangerous to your life? Not so much.
It is not speed, but difference in speed, which is dangerous to your life. I fear the one coming up behind me at a difference of 50+ MPH MUCH more than the one next to me doing a couple MPH different. Yeah, the guy next to me may take out my mirror or scuff my door, but the guy behind me may kill me.
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I'm talking about from a motorcycle perspective - that guy next to me merges into me. I come off the bike. Hit the road. Hope like hell I stay following the road and not run off it and into armco - posts or trees while also praying that the person who was behind me doesn't run me over.
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Dangerous to your trim, maybe. Dangerous to your life? Not so much.
It is not speed, but difference in speed, which is dangerous to your life. I fear the one coming up behind me at a difference of 50+ MPH MUCH more than the one next to me doing a couple MPH different. Yeah, the guy next to me may take out my mirror or scuff my door, but the guy behind me may kill me.
NOT On a motorbike, the person next to you is as dangerous if not more so than oncoming traffic. when your travelling at speed on a motorbike a tap from the person next to you that doesn't see you can be just as fatal as a head on. Usually I am far more concerned about whether the person next to me has seen me, oncoming traffic is far easier to predict and handle on a motorbike, the driver that merges without indicating is nightmare that you need to be constantly aware of if you want to stay alive.
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The way to be safe is to increase the VISUAL presence of the bike.
Finally, someone sensible joins the discussion.
In my own experience, going from a dark green (near black) bike with an obnoxiously loud exhaust to a bright orange bike with quiet stock exhausts, it is definitely the visual presence of the bike that matters. And that includes actively making yourself as visible as possible, never riding in blind spots etc.
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Dominos has an electric bike scooter doing delivery in the Netherlands that has a noise machine.
More for pedestrians than cars, to stop them walking in front of the bike because they don't hear it, this happens to me fairly often when I'm cycling. People won't even check the road but will assume that because they can't hear anything nothing is coming.
Livewire? (Score:2)
"The new LiveWire won’t make the distinctive 'potato-potato-potato' chug that Harley once tried to patent."
I'm pretty sure Livewire [wikipedia.org] can chug in any way it wants, if they include it.
A sure failure (Score:5, Informative)
Harley owners want to be noticed, and without the 120 decibel roar, we won't be paying enough attention to them.
Re:A sure failure (Score:4, Funny)
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TALK LOUDER STILL if THEY'VE BEEN RIDING for a WHILE. THE NOISE INDUCED HEARING LOSS [wikipedia.org] MAKES it HARDER STILL for THEM to HEAR.
(lower case used only to get around the lame filter.)
Dead on arrival (Score:3, Interesting)
I can predict that such a motorcycle will never have much of a market. Here's why.
Bikers such as myself appreciate the engine noise their bikes make. It's a marvelous thing. While I personally dislike the noise Harley engines make—they're too damned loud—I like the healthy, high octane growl the 1.2 liter engine I sit just above and behind makes. Then there are the vibrations from the engine. At 90 mph, the engine spins at about 5500 rpm. It's an incredible feeling to sense all that power at my command being exerted.
As you can expect, none of these things are present in an electric bike. It's going to be quite a dull experience to ride an electric bike I think.
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> Bikers such as myself appreciate the engine noise their bikes make.
We'll you and your kin are the only ones. Nothing more annoying than a handful of Harley's driving downtown between the buildings, holding the clutch in, and revving the engine.
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> Bikers such as myself appreciate the engine noise their bikes make.
We'll you and your kin are the only ones. Nothing more annoying than a handful of Harley's driving downtown between the buildings, holding the clutch in, and revving the engine.
You're damned right! However, I personally dislike the noise Harleys make. They're too damned loud. I ride a Suzuki Bandit. That's a Japanese sport touring bike with a big crotch rocket engine. It's reasonable quiet until you get onto the freeway and wind it up.
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>" That's a Japanese sport touring bike with a big crotch rocket engine. It's reasonable quiet until you get onto the freeway and wind it up."
I *have* a 1.4 liter Japanese sport touring bike with huge performance. And like all other factory Japanese bikes, it is not loud at all, regardless of how much I "wind it up". Why? Because I didn't replace the stock, legal, quality, perfectly appropriate muffler with some loud, annoying aftermarket thing that serves no purpose except to scream "look at me" (or
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Please buy one and get rid of your ridiculous 130 db bike. Nobody is impressed. The noise of 30 bikers rumbling through tourist towns and mountain scenic highways is highly annoying. I've been in towns like Taos and Durango where Harley bikers are not appreciated by the business owners. They don't buy the art and they scare away customers who want to eat outside on beautiful days.
Imagine a bike that only needs tires and brakes (Score:5, Interesting)
The sound and the fury are great; there is no denying that. But I would be very interested in an electric bike that just runs. No oil, no fuel, no maintenance. Just a ultra-reliable ride.
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They're called bicycles.
Re:Imagine a bike that only needs tires and brakes (Score:4, Insightful)
Of course you'll still need to lubricate and adjust the throttle, brake and clutch cables
A throttle cable? Why would you want a cable to move a potentiometer to adjust current flow? Just put the potentiometer on the handlebar and run a wire down to the engine. All solid state.
Brake cables... maybe, though they could be eliminated if you want.
Clutch cable? With an electric there's no need for a transmission, so no need for a clutch.
inspect/repair the brakes
Yes, although with regenerative braking there's a lot less wear on brake pads and discs.
inspect shock absorbers, inspect/replace front fork seals, inspect/add front fork oil
Yes, still need those, although why you wouldn't just go with permanently-sealed shocks I don't know.
adjust the chain (or belt, if it's a Harley)
It looks like this model still has a belt, but it could actually be eliminated and replaced with a hub motor.
lubricate steering head bearings, and go over all the critical fasteners
Yes, although with so many fewer moving parts there will be far fewer fasteners.
The only real difference is changing the oil and adjusting the valves.
Only if you insist on designing an electric bike to be identical to a gasoline-powered bike. But there's really no need to do that.
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You'd not want a hub motor because it increases unsprung weight which has an adverse effect on handling. Same with electric cars - Tesla for instance doesn't use hub motors but the traction motor for the Model S is attached to the structure of the body.
Then again, we are talking about a Hardly Rideable rather than a motorcycle...
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Bikers appreciate all kinds of different things. I like something that handles nicely in the turns and has lots of torque. Quiet is a bonus for me, not a drawback.
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If they can't make that combination, through some combination of vibration and sheer acceleration, inject the sentiment "Plenitudo potestatis. fuck yeah" directly into the operator's brain, they are doing something wrong.
If they can do it without the noise, they are d
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Not all bikers are like you. Personally, I would absolutely love an electric motorcycle.
Plus, all that power and more will be exerted in an electric motorcycle - they just won't be wasted on noise and vibrations. They will be efficiently used in a servo motor, and as a geek, that excites me more than any rumble of power being at my command.
Re:Dead on arrival (not) (Score:2)
Your thinking about the engine noise will totally change after you drive an electric bike that is faster and better performing than any gas bike could ever be... You'll pull up next to someone with an old fashioned gas bike roaring and making noise and fumes and you'll just effortlessly smoke them while they are roaring and straining to keep up with you.... and you'll start to think of the noise not as power but as "poser"... like a fake strong man groaning to lift a tiny weight or a rock guitar player mak
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You, on the other hand? As others have pointed out, sounds like you want compensation for somethin
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Then there are the vibrations from the engine. At 90 mph, the engine spins at about 5500 rpm.
Have you ever actually tried a battery operated sex toy? They could build one right into the seat.
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You are of course spot on and everything you said goes double for a Harley. Everyone I know who ever looked at a Harley did so for the "legend" and the noise and definitely not the technology.
Theoretically the e-engine would give this bike some crazy pick-up just like all those e-cars have shown us but of course that does not matter even a tiny little bit for the typical chopper and Harley rider.
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Sure, I like revving my big thumper (660cc single-cylinder) and feeling the vibrations, but have you ever ridden or driven a decently powered electric vehicle? They're not silent, there is a very definite motor/geartrain noise, and the torque and responsiveness really has to be experienced to believe it.
They may not roar, but they are anything but silent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
And just listen to this as he's braking into the corners:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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I'll have you know that no one has ever complained about my penis. It's more than adequate I assure you. Have you looked in a mirror yourself?
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Oh, I've experienced it. But on a bike that high torque is going to leave you on your ass and your bike bent up as you pop a wheelie using all that torque. I'll stick with gasoline and pistons.
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Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
90% of motorcyclists are perfectly reasonable people who ride motorcycles with the original quiet mufflers, or a reasonable muffler that is not a lot louder. The 10% of cretins who ride with earsplitting open pipes are the MINORITY. Don't think that because they make 90% of the noise that we're ALL like that.
I've ridden 40,000 miles on motorcycles in Canada and the USA and I always had a reasonably quiet muffler. So please don't keep spreading the lie that "90%" of us are lowlifes: There
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From a BMW Rider (Score:2)
The "won't be paying enough attention to them" is true enough. But the Dead on arrival comment is perhaps not accurate. Well, accurate enough for a Harley rider. But I rode a BMW R75-5 airhead for a decade or so. Quiet, vibration free. But hardly dull.
What? (Score:4, Interesting)
How will they make it leak oil and break down like normal Harleys?
Re:What? (Score:5, Funny)
Firmware upgrade
Sounds (Score:2)
loud = fast NOT (Score:2)
>"with the electric Harley able to go from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds."
Wow, so that makes it only twice as slow as my old gas Kawasaki. Extreme noise (because people think loud = performance, which it does not) and vibration (along with poor handling and old tech) are Harley trademarks... I can't imagine why they would be interested in producing such a model.
Wonderful (Score:2)
They'll finally have a model that doesn't sound like an elephant with a bad case of gas. :(
Tesla superchargers (Score:2)
And now that Tesla has freed up the patents for their superchargers, you'll be able to plug an electric bike into something that uses that connection and current (not necessarily the Tesla ones). Given that the motorcycle battery packs are much smaller than the car packs, I don't expect that a 2-minute charge to full would be out of the question.
That might almost be quicker than walking up to a cashier and paying money, and certainly would be quicker if you're not the first person in line.
The build quality (Score:2)
Well I guess things change. In the future you have to be an electrician...
As a Motorcyclist, I Declare "Meh" (Score:2)
The limits of existing battery chemistries is what will reduce the LiveWire to an expensive hipster commuter toy. A 54 mile range per charge is not sufficient for anything but a typical daily Home - Office - Grocery Store - Home - Recharge cycle and the price will kill consumer interest. No one is going to buy this EV motorcycle for weekend back road twisties or poker runs. Or Track Day. Or pretty much anything else people use motorcycles for.
For electric vehicles to be practical a significant breakthr
"Project Livewire" (Score:3)
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It's 2014 now (Score:2)
With vast advances in batteries, motors, everything that range problem is now around equivalent to the "range problem" with a tank of fuel. There's still a fast charging problem but the "range problem" has effectively vanis