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Harley-Davidson... electric motorcycle ?

Absolutely gorgeous design. But will the buying public who would actually consider an electric bike trust that Harley can deliver a new technology well? I mean, they have a brand that is centered around nostalgia, lifestyle, and frankly are not known to be technological innovators. So, their current customer base IS NOT the market for this bike. Will customers who are currently outside their brand have the faith in HD's ability to deliver a tricky technology enough to plunk down decent sized bucks? Take the exact same bike, slap a BMW logo on it, and it'd sell like fans in Phoenix in August. Then again, HD has the marketing budget and ability to sell the concept. So if they go full force with it, it could really be a new direction for them. If they take their "Buell approach" to an innovative product - stuff it in a corner of the dealership, largely ignore it from a marketing perspective, and every salesperson in the country responds to inquiries with "why would you ask about one of those, let me show you a real bike" - then it's doomed.
 
Motorrad's as already released theirs into the wild, or Europe anyway. Knowing their market as well as HD knows theirs and already having a 200mph liter bike in the sport bike category, they went after a real big dog - Piaggio. With a range of 60 miles it's probably useless in Texas, but in Europe it may just be a good fit.
 
People who own modern Harley's already know that Harley knows a thing or two about technologically advanced motorcycles.

I know that sounds funny but go take a close look at the current full dress Harley and discover the level of cool gizmos they have.
They just need to get rid of the antiquated engine.


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I guess the ABC news article I posted earlier is no longer considered mainstream media?

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And Smith & Wesson's soon-to-be-announced line of yoga clothing will be perceived as adequate protection by riders of HD's electric bike.
 
Not so sure who they are calling "mainstream riders", but unless Harley-Davidson is some new tech speak for "completely recharges in seven minutes" this is destined to remain a novelty.

The .75-1 hour recharge time might just work for the bar-hopping rider if the bars offer charging stations. :lol2:

Otherwise, I can't see how the current (pun intended) electric bikes will ever make it with riders who consider 130 miles as "just getting started" on an afternoon ride.

Though the term "mainstream riders" does probably encompass those who log less than a hundred miles a month, as they may be the lion's share of bike owners on the books. For instance, does anyone else notice a seemingly disproportionate number of cars on the road with Harley stickers? To me this would indicate ownership/brand loyalty may be more important than actual use to many of these folks. An electric bike might be a good fit for these owners.

Thinking further along the lines of how to charge a battery more effectively/efficiently from the standpoint of riding cross-country, touring, iron-butt riders, etc. I cogitated a small diesel generator being a bolt-on accessory (or design as a hybrid) that runs automatically to charge the system, whether the bike is rolling or parked. This way it might only need a twenty minute charge to "top off the electron tank" at the next break point.

It does seem to be a well packaged design. It looks good and brings electric bikes to another segment of riderdom. Motards, sportbikes, and now cruisers are represented in the plug-in motorcycle marketplace.

The toes are in the water and it is just a matter of time before these designs are distilled into forms which will eventually drive nails into the coffin of what we have come to think of as the traditional motorcycle. Electrics have potential (another pun) to offer a lot of advantages, but the disadvantages of high purchase price and necessary recharge time will need to be overcome before they are much more than a novelty, as Meriden wrote, for riders who want these to replace our dino-juice powered steeds for long days in the saddle.

Kudos to HD for the time and effort they have put into this. It is nice to see them taking the reigns to position themselves as market leaders offering new technologies.
 
All kidding aside, this may actually be a great hedge for HD's future. They totally own the American Big Iron market; there's little possibility of growth, but their forecasts are probably suggesting that the cruiser market will begin to shrink as older generations hang up their doo rags and new generations come into the market with totally different ideas about riding.

To maintain market share over a long term, I think HD realizes they need to get well outside the cruiser market. The problem is - WHERE outside? It would be hard to break into specialty markets like sport bikes or adventure bikes that are already covered so well by the Japanese and the Germans.

On the other hand, the handwriting is on the wall about electric bikes. The direction in which F1 cars and exotic high-performance sports cars is developing indicates that all-electric or heavy-hybrid cars - and thus bikes - are in our future. Right now, that is a largely untapped market, particularly for bikes. So I think HD has a golden opportunity to move in an entirely new direction and perhaps grab a major share of an emerging market. I wish them success. And I hope electric Harley riders wear safety gear.
 
i think HD's own marketing that is their fan base is their own demise. they put so much into their V twin bad boy scheme, it wont allow for anything else. anything "new" they try to do is just shunned. it kinda looks just like the XR1200 to me and that didn't go over so well either. i don't see this going anywhere.
 
I think it's great that HD is doing this and I wish them the best of luck. Heck, I might even test ride one. I'd be more interested if the range was 125 miles.
 
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