I don’t know about you, but I know I was totally flummoxed that the first major motorcycle manufacturer to showcase a running/riding fully electric motorcycle (not a scooter or something silly) was the company known for air-cooled pushrod V-twin motorcycles. The last H-D shocker back in 2001, the V-Rod, has the Revolution engine with its water-cooling and engine architecture, but it never was the revolution this bike could turn out to be. Who saw this one coming? Not me, I probably would have said anybody but Harley-Davidson, but then I’m not as smart as The Motor Company’s engineers and product planners who saw an opportunity and jumped on it until they had  a motorcycle powered by electricity that’s so advanced it could change the way we look at EVs.

   We all love stats and Project LiveWire has some extremely impressive ones. How does 74hp, 52lb-ft of torque and a weight of around 360lb sound to you? If you didn’t know it was electric, you’d be all over it. The lithion-ion battery provides a range of 53 miles (3.5 hour recharge time on 220 volts) in high performance mode and that’s no misnomer calling it high performance. With a 0-60 time of under four seconds and a top speed approaching 100mph, that’s some good stuff going on. Plus it’s quite good looking in a contemporary way and all the components, bodywork, frame, and geometry don’t look kinda dorky like I’m used to seeing in pure electric vehicles.

  All in all, it’s an exciting happening and I’m looking forward to more info on Project LiveWire as it progresses. Check out the Harley Press release below for more info on where you might actually see and ride a Project LiveWire prototype and also click on  http://project.harley-davidson.com/en_US. for more info straight from the horse’s mouth.