Harley-Davidson has unveiled the Livewire in India. The American bikemaker has already launched its first electric bike overseas and is contemplating getting it to India. Here’s a lowdown on the new electric motorcycle with detailed images. In addition to the LiveWire, the other bike that took centre stage was the newly-launched Street 750 10th Anniversary special.
The LiveWire gets a naked roadster type body style. It has minimalistic body panels which are painted in bright colours like this orange shade here. It gets a body-coloured headlamp cowl as well.
The headlamp might look old-school but hides modern LED lighting. Its long turn indicators also are LED units.
Wondering why there are a fuel-filler cap and fuel tank on an electric motorcycle? Well, it is a dummy fuel tank and the fuel-filler cap hides a socket to plug your charger. Using the LiveWire’s standard DC fast charging you can charge upto 80 percent in 40 minutes. A 100 per cent charge takes just an hour!
The tyre-hugger mounted tailpiece has a slim LED tail lamp, unique vertically mounted turn indicators and a number plate.
The LiveWire impresses with the quality of its parts and fit and finish which are normally seen on exotic bikes.
We also love the way the instrument console has been mounted like a floating tablet.
This 4.3- inch colour TFT touchscreen unit gets Bluetooth which connects you to navigation, communication and music control.
Harley also offers the H-D Connect service which uses the bike’s telematics control unit to connect the bike to the cloud. It shows information related to the bike’s status, tamper alerts, vehicle tracking, service reminders and more.
You can toggle through the menu using switchgear-mounted joysticks. Switchgear and mirrors seem lifted from the Harley parts bin.
The battery pack and powertrain form a major bulk of the LiveWire's design. Its 15.5kWh lithium-ion battery has a claimed range up to 235km in the city. With stop-and-go traffic and highway riding, the range drops to 152km.
The water-cooled permanent magnet motor produces 106PS while116Nm of torque is available from zero rpm onwards! It goes from 0-96.5kmph in 3 seconds while 96.5kmph to 128.7kmph takes a scant 1.9 seconds! The motor has multiple rider modes: Sport, Road, Range, Rain and three custom modes (Custom A, B and C).
The LiveWire gets an electronics suite called “Reflex Defensive Rider Systems (RDRS)”. It includes cornering ABS, cornering enhanced traction control system with wheelie control, and Drag-Torque Slip Control System (DSCS). The DSCS works in conjunction with the ABS and prevents the rear wheel from locking up during regenerative braking.
The front end gets fully-adjustable Showa upside-down Separate Function Forks - Big Piston (SFF - BP). Braking is via dual 300mm discs with radially mounted Brembo calipers and 260mm rear disc.
At the back, you have fully-adjustable Showa Balance Free Rear Cushion Lite monoshock. The LiveWire come shod with Michelin Scorcher Sport tyres.
In the USA, the Harley-Davidson LiveWire costs $29,799, which roughly amounts to Rs 22 lakh (excluding Indian taxes and duties). In India, the bike is expected to cost close to Rs 45 lakh.
