Harley Davidson Live Wire $30K

[Ssscooter66]

Definitey a bike I'd like to take for a ride but , is it worth $30K ? I'm saying no .... https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18...price-ces-2019

[John]

[Frenzy36]

Not my style bike but everyone has their own taste. Here's mine.

[John]

We are Harley people, and loved ours. This is, in our opinion, a far better looking stock Harley than the new electric one above — and at over $10K less than the electric bike. Again, just saying what our choice would be, and we haven’t start our customization yet (still $10K to spend on that to make it ours compared to the electric version).

Give us please a Harley with our substitute Vance and Hines pipes to listen too (compared to who knows how that electric one sounds). This would be the first item on our $10,000 customization budget. Thinking some custom paint would be next.

[whl3]

Definitey a bike I'd like to take for a ride but , is it worth $30K ? I'm saying no .... https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18...price-ces-2019

Paying that for a Livewire may be inconsequential! For a dealer to sell electrics from Harley, with the Livewire being their first foray, the dealer first has to ante up $100,000 big ones! Finding a dealer who does so, may be more difficult than finding a sucker to buy one! The current management at HD is delusional and this proves it.

[Busa Dave]

I HAVE NO WORDS! That does not happen very often!

[Mobius]

My first thought about the electric Harley was the loss of the classic Harley exhaust note, which wouldn't go over well with the Harley-guys, but then I read this:

"And just because it’s electric doesn’t mean motorcycle lovers have to sacrifice that distinctive rumble of speed. Harley says LiveWire is designed to produce “a new signature Harley-Davidson sound as it accelerates.”

Still, it's hard to imagine this bike being popular. I've got two brothers who own Harleys, including one (5 years my senior) who regularly covers 20,000+ miles annually on his. I expect he's also heard about this bike, and already rolled his eyes.

[whl3]

Mobius, I think the vast majority of we contributors to the MECF will all die a 1,000 deaths with the "RIP" of the internal combustion engine! Whether you are enthralled with the mechanics or the esthetics of internal combustion engines or not, you cannot deny that the various (and sometimes very distinctive) audible sounds stir your soul! Piping in "fake" sounds as Harley is proposing and Honda does with their new NSX, just isn't going to cut it with we diehards! Touring in a Tesla is currently somewhat of a hassle. I can't imagine what it would be on a motorcycle with a battery with less than a 200 mile range.

[John]

I wonder how many Harley brothers and sisters just rolled over within their graves hearing this electric Harley news. There was massive apoplexy when the V-Rod came out, and now this. As is said, “that is the final straw.”

[C8-wannabe]

I'm an avid biker, and follow more bike forums than autos - they are ripping this price announcement to shreds, as deserved.

They should've made at least 2 versions of the LiveWire. Way overpriced, and not even Level 2 charging. A complete fail.

[Milliwatt Rob]

How do you put straight pipes on a bike that has none? Does it come with a audio generator to simulate a V twin sound?

Biker bars better start installing recharging stations.

I heard somewhere that BMW is working on a riderless motorcycle. I can see it now. You are out on a motorcycle ride, and an unexpected rain storm develops. You send your riderless motorcycle back home by itself, and summons your driverless car to come pick you up.

[John]

I HAVE NO WORDS! That does not happen very often!

Understatement Dave. And funny too. You and I do have words 99.99% of the time.

[John]

How do you put straight pipes on a bike that has none? Does it come with a audio generator to simulate a V twin sound?

Biker bars better start installing recharging stations.

I heard somewhere that BMW is working on a riderless motorcycle. I can see it now. You are out on a motorcycle ride, and an unexpected rain storm develops. You send your riderless motorcycle back home by itself, and summons your driverless car to come pick you up.

Riderless motorcycles.... Hmm. What is this world coming to. Craziness?

What is truly sad is that this kind of H-D craziness could mean that the Harley becomes extinct within the next decade. We all sure hope not....

[Ssscooter66]

Here's 3 other bikes that are being made in India / Kansas City . Ive been to alot of dealers since 2014 and I've still never seen one ..

[whl3]

I wonder how many Harley brothers and sisters just rolled over within their graves hearing this electric Harley news. There was massive apoplexy when the V-Rod came out, and now this. As is said, “that is the final straw.”

Marty and I were in Sturgis in 2001 when the V-Rod was introduced. HD always has a static display of their bikes in the Rapid City Convention Center. I'll never forget seeing a young woman go up to the V-Rod rear fender and "ping it" with her fingers and turning around and saying, "Oooh, it's plastic!" I signed up for a demo ride one morning. I was the only rider that didn't look like Willie Nelson and, god forbid, had a full face helmet! The ride leader asked me if I had ever ridden a Harley before? "Yeah, left hand left turn signal; right hand right turn signal!" He went on to explain to those of us waiting for the demo ride that the the brakes on the V-Rod "Really worked!" and that the "Clutch didn't feel like it was working but that it was!" If the V-Rod was a mistake in marketing, the Livewire will exceed those failed expectations!

Bill