Sunday, July 6, 2014

Harley-Davidson rolls out the Tesla of motorcycles


(yahoonews.com) - It might be the Tesla (TSLA) of motorcycles, or it might be a flop. Last week Harley-Davidson (HOG) allowed me and a few other drivers to test ride Project LiveWire, the company’s new electric motorcycle.

Project LiveWire is a prototype motorcycle that isn’t going to be road model, at least that’s what they tell us. Harley’s first ever electric powered bike definitely looks the part, although it’s range is only about 55 miles on a full charge. And the sound it makes is decidedly not very Harley-like, but more on that later.

The LiveWire will feel familiar to sport-bike enthusiasts accustomed to 600 cc engine or so, which is fairly mid-range for sport-bikes. Handling is nimble yet the bike feels heavy enough to be comfortable on the highway. I didn’t peg the throttle, but Harley says the LiveWire runs from 0 to 60 in less than 4 seconds. What I can say is there’s plenty of pickup for passing the pokies next to you and catching that light that just turned yellow. On my congested downtown ride, twisting the throttle put a grin on my face as I darted ahead of buses and put instant space between me and the traffic in the rear-view mirror.

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