The future is electric – apparently…

Text: Jan Sigurd Aarberg

Electric motors… They work well in toothbrushes and drills, but now these soulless, buzzing things have also crept into the domestic car fleet. First with small, Norwegian Think, then with Tesla, which suddenly forced all the other car manufacturers to follow. Even the acclaimed Ford has now produced a buzzing model that they have wasted the strongest brand name they have - Mustang - on. The El-Mustang is not even a sports car, but designed as a fairly ordinary family car. Everything to keep up with the electric race.

Now I have my strong doubts that electrifying the car fleet makes the planet a better place to be, but it seems that the political agenda is currently governed by petty hysterical, laugh-out-loud hipsters from Grünerløkka, and "climate scientists" with their own agenda. The authorities are pouring billions into electrification of car fleets and wind turbines, without knowing exactly what they are doing. Not to mention the Acer cables to the continent, which this winter seem to secure the average Norwegian citizen a couple of thousand kroner extra in electricity costs. In the month!

The lukewarm extremist attitude of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and the communist movement that ravaged our universities in the 1970s that all other opinions should be eradicated has also returned. Oil workers in the city of Stavanger are threatened with beatings. In Sweden, petrol-powered cars are being tagged down. Credible scientific communities are trying to tell us that the globe will not boil over the next ten years, and that there is in fact no reason to panic, but will be silenced by a red-green press. It is climate hysteria that sells.

Enough politics

Over to - the love for big, rumbling engines, in all shapes and sizes, big V8s in American muscle cars, Macks with engine boxes like a medium barn and double chimneys in chrome up behind the wheelhouse, but first and foremost: Harley-Davidson's legendary V-twin. The forty-five degree design with the uneven ignition sequence gives it a completely different sound. In 1994, Harley actually tried to trademark its bouldering, but since the Japanese had imitated their classic V-engine since the 1980s, the application was rejected.

For me, it does not matter how a Honda is constructed, but the feeling of kicking off my faithful old Evochopper, with an engine bolted directly into the frame, take it out on the road, and feel the engine, gears, primary transmission… gives a feeling different everything else. And nothing beats it.

And you, Brute?

When I first saw the picture of The Motor Company's electric motorcycle, it was like being stabbed in the back. What the hell, Harley-Davidson? You are the champion of tradition and history, with proud roots well over 100 years ago, and with an engine package that has not changed significantly in appearance in the last seventy years - you have even (almost) managed to steer clear of water cooling! And then you have suddenly decided to take the lead on electric motorcycles?

At the same time, it's easy for us die-hards to forget that The Motor Company is a company with a bottom line and shareholders, like any other listed company. One should at least have a certain (reluctant) understanding that business and strategic measures are being taken to ensure one's own profitability and future, even survival. And with an icy, green wind blowing against everything fossil-fueled, with hysteria in the casts, it is perhaps no wonder that Harley has looked into the crystal ball and found that "The future - is electric".

And it's not just about the Milwaukee guys. Indian has also started looking at electricity as a driving source - they already have an electrically powered dirt bike for children in the market, and last year began a ten-year collaboration with the electricity producer Zero. Sigh.

The first meeting - in the test bench

The name "Livewire" at least gives positive vibes - I do not know if it is intentional, but we all know the classic AC / DC song with happy Bon Scott. In November 2019, I saw the bike live for the first time, at the International Motorcycle Show in Long Beach, LA. I was about to a couple of bikes were set up on a roller coaster at Harley's voluminous stand, but decided to give it a try. The test did not convince.

The speedometer bounced fast upwards, but there were no vibrations, no sound to speak of - just a faint hum. And no leverage. Should this be the future? Thank the hell for the internal combustion engine. At the same time, I had to admit that setting up two motorcycles where the primary (and possibly only!) Fun factor is acceleration, in ROLLERBENK, may not have been the world's craziest idea. But it would have been fun to test it out on the road….

About a year and a half later, I got the chance. My local H-D dealer LazyBoyz in Oslo kindly made a copy available on a slightly humid Saturday in September 2021.

Hmmm…. skeptical!

The bike was charging when I arrived on my neither completely silent nor vibration-free long fork, and it occurred to me that the transition would be significant, to say the least. However, I was given a conscientious introduction and patient answers to all my strange questions. For someone who is used to speedometers with hands, sometimes matching tachometers, as well as an oil lamp, the rather ugly display (imagine a slightly large, oval iPhone across) contained a lot of information. And Bluetooth, so you can connect it all to your phone via "H-D Connect". It gives you a full overview of charging status and tire pressure, as well as tracking if someone should find a way to speed up the bike. Free the first year, then as a subscription scheme. The display also has a Norwegian language, always a nice surprise for us who live in this small country in the Arctic Circle, and give you friendly messages - such as "lift the side support" and "press start", with illustrations. Jo, jo… ..

Livewire has four standard modes, plus three you can program yourself. The four are Sport, Road, Range and Rain, and control kW output, engine brake, anti-spin etcetera. I was advised to start in Road mode until I got used to the bike, and then switch to Sport - where I had to test full throttle from a standstill! The latter was delivered with a wide grin, and it occurred to me that just that experience could be quite fun.

Pressing the start button also gives a strange feeling. Nothing happens. Not a shit. No thump-thump-thump from the absent exhaust spots, no shaking in the bike…. It just stands there, calm and quiet, the only indication that it is operational is in the display. I turned the gas gently. A faint buzz was heard, and then the bike began to move out of LazyBoyz.

Road testing

On the highway north from Oslo, I found an empty stretch, slowed down to 30-40 and nipped quite heavily in the gas. Huhei, where did it go! Again, the strange feeling that nothing happened - other than a faint hum, and of course the fact that the speed increased. Quickly.

Up at Lillestrømkanten I turned off on a deserted country road, pressed the display so Sport mode appeared, took a firm grip on the levers, and turned. Hahaha! The bike spun away, literally, I thought the anti-spin function would ruin this, but it did not - not completely! I felt an idiotic grin spread under the helmet. Slow down. Stationary. Full throttle. Huuuuiiiii !!

I must admit that I repeated this exercise quite a few times, without getting very bored. The torque of an electric motor is of course not dependent on speed, so here all the more than a hundred horses come eagerly galloping from the moment you turn on the throttle. Fun!

Control in six axes

According to the advertisement, Livewire can offer "Tracking direction across 6 axes" which "LiveWire monitors, measures, and anticipates change, while you simply enjoy the ride." Ooookay…. I'm not quite sure what all that entails, and at least I'm not sure if I need it; I really enjoy the rides on my very analog and mechanical bikes.

It also has ABS, which in practice has become standard on motorcycles today. It's been a few years since I last panicked and locked the rear wheel (thankfully with no consequences other than a noticeable increase in heart rate), but I see the benefit of ABS. At the same time - the more complicated a bike is, the more it is to maintain - and the more it can fail. "Keep it simple, stupid!" is an extremely durable mouthpiece, even in biker circles.

Men .but how long is the range?

The answer to that is 235 kilometers for city driving, I guess somewhat shorter at higher speeds. If you are going from Oslo to Trondheim, you must therefore charge at least three times along the way. This is the specified specification, under given conditions. How far you get on a 5-10 year old bike on a cool morning in October, with eager gassing in Sport mode, remains to be seen.

However, full charging of the battery pack is done in one hour, and if you are in a hurry, 80% capacity is charged in 40 minutes. Note, however, that this is with a fast charger, so you are dependent on a charging station that has this. The charging cable and plug for a more ordinary socket are otherwise neatly rolled up in the «petrol tank». Fiffig. My test trip was limited to a couple of hours, so I did not get to check how the charging worked in practice.

What is negative?

Veeel…. this review is not objective. The author of the article probably thinks at first that the motorcycle evolution could well have stopped a little over the mid-eighties, like that right after Harley launched his truly amazing Evomotor, but just before they removed the four-speed gearbox with kickstart (shame on them, they should !!). The undersigned therefore admits that he did not exactly show up for this test drive with an open mind, ready to be enchanted by the blessings of electricity.

The instrument panel contains a lot of information, but is not very integrated and not exactly beautiful. Definitely room for improvement here. Plus for full control of battery status via mobile phone, on a bike where the current range obviously means a lot.

The design is probably like a modern street bike, the electric motor is relatively small and sits at the bottom, while the battery pack is a fairly extensive and unsightly draft between the motor and the 'tank'. (At the same time, there are many modern water-cooled engines that do not look particularly good either.) The large lump above the rear wheel that facilitates signs, taillights and turn signals is so ugly - and in such stark contrast to the rest of the bike - that I suspect Harley for to have placed it there only to satisfy the regulations. Here it is certainly possible to install far more fortunate solutions. Plus for belt drive.

The absence of sound and webracing is for me completely destructive - it's probably a matter of habit, but apart from the acceleration, I experienced the bike as quite soulless.

The range challenge (and dependence on charging stations) is a far more objective challenge, and an obvious minus with all electric motorcycles - at the same time as the charging stations increase in number in line with the replacement of the car fleet to electricity.

The "automatic gearbox" is another showstopper for me - although it must be admitted that the acceleration is experienced as several notches sharper when you do not have to waste time squeezing the clutch lever and tilting the gear lever up in the register.

Price. Despite a certainly generous support scheme (the authorities throw out money to those who buy Teslas and other battery cars), the Livewire bike is not cheap; from 311,900 riksdaler. At the same time, it is roughly in line with Harley's petrol-powered bikes - for example, a Street Bob costs from 315,000. Then it remains to be seen how the resale value on Livewire stays.

On the positive side….

Sure, I actually have something good to say about this electrical outcast.

It is environmentally friendly. Of course, provided that the electricity is not supplied from coal power plants down in Europe, and that the battery pack (which primarily consists of environmental toxins) lasts a long time and is recycled in a responsible manner.

It is easy to drive. I'm mostly just used to old things (from before the last millennium and down to WW2), but the bike was well on the highway at decent speeds, very good in corners, and is perceived as easy to handle and well balanced.

A completely insane ax! And it was, as I said, crap. I get a little crazy about these super-sensible, well-adult BMW drivers in play suits and reflective vests, who claim they never drive over the speed limit. Motorcycles are fun. It's play. It is fun! Not necessarily to drive raw all the time, or pig drive, but to be able to accelerate, break down in the turns so you feel the adrenaline flowing, yes, just playing in an empty parking lot.

The engine brake was (somewhat surprisingly) very present, and - I experienced -

actually better and more cash than on a gasoline-powered motorcycle.

Good brakes (from Brembo) and damping (from Showa).

Easier maintenance. And here I meet myself a bit in the revolving door with "Keep it simple, stupid" - far fewer moving parts, no engine oil that needs to be changed, and, I would assume, a noticeably lower maintenance budget. Then it remains to be seen how an electric motorcycle can withstand its tenth anniversary. Or twenty, or thirty. The battery will probably have to be replaced after eight to ten years, most likely a significant expense item (ref. The experiences with, among others, Tesla). And how long does a motorcycle electric motor last, really….?

Fun fact -

This is not The Motor Company's only electric model. They have one more, but it is significantly lighter, and cheaper! Called the Serial 1, it is an electric pedal bike, with front and rear discs, stylish design and Harley's proven belt drive. It sets you back between 39,900 and 52,900 Norwegian kroner, slightly depending on equipment and range. The latter is stated to be between 6 and 16 miles, slightly depending on ride mode, terrain, temperature and not least own pedal effort.

Philosophical thoughts on the way home

The low evening sun had gently begun to peek out as I kicked off the go’chopper and sat down comfortably at a significantly lower seat height, trying to sum up the impression from the test ride. That the bike will be able to appeal to many? Undoubtedly. That it appeals to the Harley people? Doubtful - not even like a number two or triple bike. That's probably why The Motor Company will separate LiveWire as its own brand and no longer brand the bike as a Harley-Davidson.

New to the partner side is KYMCO, a Taiwanese player best known for its scooters and light motorcycles, several of which are electric, as well as the finance company ABIC. The plan in the short term is to launch electric bikes in most weight classes. But, until further notice, Livewire still has the bar & shield brand on the tank, and for 2022 LazyBoyz will sell this bike for 311,900, -. Electric vehicles are still in their infancy. Prices have fallen, performance is likely to increase. What the authorities do on the tax side, however, is an open question - "predictability" for motor vehicles seems to be a foreign word for those in Parliament.

I suddenly felt that I was glad that I had turned fifty by a fair margin and that there will probably still be petrol stations and workshops that turn on petrol engines, for the rest of my time on the road (I have planned to drive for a long time by the way !!). And as I rode into the sunset this early Saturday night on my own iron horse, where small but powerful explosions in the engine sent good sounds into the nickel-plated steel tubes and vibrations that propagated in both me and the bike and almost made us one common unit, I thought how wonderfully lucky I have been, who was born in the year of the Lord 1964. In the midst of the magical, forgotten age of the internal combustion engine.

Many thanks to LazyBoyz H-D Oslo and Sales Manager Rolf Kåre Valderhaug for lending Livewire!