“The Motor Company.” It’s motorcycle slang for Harley-Davidson, and the Milwaukee-based concern is lucky that “The Engine Company” didn’t wind up in the parlance, because it’d throw an identity wrench into their latest venture — an electric motorcycle.
Wisconsin, land of thowmping pushrod V-Twins, is about the last place you’d expect a mainline production e-bike to emerge from. And one hasn’t emerged yet, but H-D is seriously taking a look in that direction and they’re using Project LiveWire to do it.
They also seem to have cribbed the name from Mötley Crüe’s best song.
Project LiveWire isn’t a for-sale sort of thing. Instead, it’s a research-gathering roadshow wherein Harley brings the bike to various cities and lets folks take it for a spin, all in an effort gather impressions with an eye toward future production electric cycles.
We have to say, we like the look of the LiveWire. It’s a melding of Yankee face-punch and Italian-streetfighter sophistication. In fact, it recalls the work the company’s Buell division was doing before Harley shuttered it.
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The tour starts on June 24th in New York and moves to the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee from the 26th to the 29th. There’s an event in Boston from the 27th to the 29th, and then one in Philly July 17–19. Future dates will undoubtedly be added, but for right now, it looks like Left Coast e-bike enthusiasts will have to wait for future dates to be announced.
Oh, and on the LiveWire FAQ, HD does refer to the bike’s powerplant as “an electric engine,” which suggests there’s plenty of traditional thinking left in Milwaukee. So like, fear not, backpatch aficionados: your loud pipes will undoubtedly continue to preserve your lives for quite some time.
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