Trizzle's Take – The Acceptance of Electrics?

Troy Siahaan
by Troy Siahaan

Harley-Davidson's endorsement has suddenly made electrics acceptable.

Here at MO, we like to think of ourselves as early adopters of electric propulsion for motorcycles. We’ve published several road tests of e-bikes, even as far back as 1998 with the EMB Lectra Electric Motorcycle. Admittedly, that bike was more a toy than motorcycle, but even then, we understood it was a glimpse into the future. Fast forward 16 years to our most recent e-bike test, where we pit a Zero FX against a Suzuki DR-Z400SM and the e-bike actually beats its gasoline-powered counterpart. Talk about progress.

Electric motorcycles have come a long way, and while there are many sympathizers (evangelists?) for the cause, still, the general reaction we get from these stories (judging by the comments you, our readers, leave) is one of negativity, denial, and, well, sometimes downright hatred.

As far as I can tell, now that the might of Harley-Davidson is behind electric motorcycles with Project Livewire, acceptance of e-bikes has turned a new leaf.

However, I noticed a funny thing when we published the Harley-Davidson Project Livewire scoop, Dennis Chung and I collaborated on. Generally speaking, the response to The Motor Company embracing the future and adopting electrics has been surprisingly positive. Some of the responses I’ve seen are of people who might have been on the fence about electrics, or even motorcycling in general, who appear to have latched on to the Livewire as their entryway into ditching gas or getting on two wheels in the first place. Finally, a major manufacturer has designed a motorcycle that looks futuristic and sharp, and it just happens to run on batteries instead of dead dinosaurs. The Livewire appeals to a whole new group of riders, a group unlikely to have considered the brand in the past.

This was exactly the plan. The biggest group of detractors, naysayers, and overall haters of Project Livewire – as far as I could tell from social media – have been diehard gas-powered enthusiasts and H-D traditionalists, all of whom love the rumble of a V-Twin engine. Thing is, Harley’s core products aren’t going anywhere. What is going somewhere is Harley’s core customer base. You know where they’re going? Closer towards the grave. Father time hasn’t lost a battle yet, and every motorcycle manufacturer is well aware it needs to attract the younger generation if it plans to stay alive – now even more so than ever, in this internet, social media, video game, and otherwise electronically-connected world we live in.

As long as we’re on two wheels, who cares whether it’s gas or electric? Variety is the spice of life! Photo: Evans Brasfield

Electric motorcycles have their limitations – range, charge time and price chief among them – which seem to be the main thing keeping potential buyers at bay. All are understandable concerns, but who better to solve these issues than Harley-Davidson? With the kind of resources available to them, the potential for dramatically increased range without spending too much time plugged in is there.

Ultimately, if Livewire succeeds, other OEMs will be forced to jump in the race, accelerating e-bike advancement at a rate unheard of in the internal combustion age, thereby driving down cost. The beauty of this is that, no matter the potential success of e-bikes, our beloved gas bikes aren’t going anywhere. At least not for the foreseeable future. This could create an amazing amount of diversity in the market, which ultimately means more motorcycles on the roads. That’s a win, if you ask me.

Troy Siahaan
Troy Siahaan

Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.

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  • Joey Mink Joey Mink on Jun 24, 2014

    Electrics are awesome -- they allow more focus on riding and less on technological side-effects (I'd love to lose the noise, vibration, and need to set my foot for a shift as I'm decelerating into turn 5). But the price point is too high to compete with my Ninja 250. Anyone railing against electrics either enjoys the nostalgia or doesn't care for the operational benefits that come with a simpler user interface.

    As for Harley and their electric, I'm like WTF? They wouldn't maintain the XR1200 here in the states, but they think they'll make waves with this? I'm mostly confused. Maybe they are scared of Brammo/Mission/Zero the same way some of the auto manufacturers seem scared of Tesla?

    I don't get it, but I don't have to. I just need to get rich and mount a Mission RS!

  • Coma44 Coma44 on Jun 25, 2014

    You can keep you're "juice box" bikes. No engine no sale here.

    • TW200 TW200 on Jun 28, 2014

      'Juice box' bikes? Is that supposed to be pejorative? It sounds more like something a 12-year old would say in the schoolyard at recess.

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