In photos: Riding Harley-Davidson's new electric prototype
Thunderous noise. The potato-potato-potato idle of the shuttering engine. Back-breaking bulk. The manoeuvrability of a tank. These are qualities that have made Harley-Davidson what it is today – the geriatric symbol of aging boomers, who tie on their headscarves, throw their beer bellies over the tank and head out to be wild every summer weekend, full of dreams about what might have been if they only could’ve landed on the wrong side of the law. It is not – so not – about virtually noiseless, agile and impeccably clean sport bikes that can take on the Japanese crotch-rockets and save the Earth at the same time. Until now. Enter the Harley LiveWire – a prototype electric motorcycle, but unquestionably one that is headed to market (widely rumoured by 2020). It is the bike that could change everything you think about the largest mass-produced U.S. bike manufacturer. If, that is, it can find its market. Which is no small task, given the skeptical eye traditional Harley owners cast on this 21st-century interloper into their 1950s motorized fantasy.
Harley fans are escorted down a street in Calgary’s Inglewood district
Harley LiveWire’s project has an aluminum exoskeleton frame.Doug Firby/The Globe and Mail
Harley LiveWire’s project has aluminum exoskeleton frame
Harley LiveWire’s project has aluminum exoskeleton frame
John Littauer converts cars to electric, and came out to compare the bike to his product
Warren Loyns, a Saskatchewan farmer, likes the bike but says it doesn’t have the range he needs for long cruises.
Heading out to test the new Harley-Davidson LiveWire concept in Calgary.
Cindy Dewis says likes the no-effort effect of not having a transmission.
Harley-Davidson’s first electric motorcycle