TESTED: LiveWire by Harley Davidson
Posted: 10:15 am Jan 25 2023
LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES… or Something’s Missing Hear (Here - get it?)
One of the benefits of having cool friends is that you get to experience unique opportunities. Yesterday I had the opportunity to test a LiveWire by Harley-Davidson. This is the first non-dirt moto I’ve ridden and I have to admit it looked really cool.
The design is pretty trendy and it has huge double brake rotors, a low seat height, comfortable touring ergonomics and no big chrome pipes. Throwing a leg over the leather seat and standing it up you find that the weight is carried extremely low. The motor is way down on the deck and forward with the battery stacked above and between your knees. The bike actually feels surprisingly light.
With a claimed highway range of about 75 miles that recharges to 100% in about 60 minutes on a typical high rate charger (11 hours on 110volt), this machine would probably do for a commuter in a dry/warm climate. As a plaything it might be okay for someone new to motorcycling, but I think they would quickly outgrow it unless there is room to modify it’s performance. To me the tune felt fairly conservative, I imagine there are different available levels of performance tuning available by pushing buttons on it’s very cool looking iPad-like dash screen.
Starting it up is a non-event with no drama and no smoke or thunder. Unless you twist the throttle you don’t even know for sure that it’s even ready to go. No humming or whirring sounds, certainly no traditional Harley cacophony. No clutch, no gear shift - utterly befuddling to this two-stroke rider. Simply twist the throttle and hang on. The acceleration/deceleration is butter smooth with no hesitation or violence. The deceleration also recharges your batteries and reminds me of a four-stroke in how it slows the bike down rapidly. I barely used the very beefy brakes on my ride and then only when coming to a complete stop at intersections.
Passing people on the streets who are exercising or walking their dogs gets you curious glances as the only noise they hear is the wind being moved and maybe the crunch of gravel beneath the very wide, low-profile Michelin tires. You can say hello without even raising your voice. It’s like being on a bicycle without all the heavy breathing. This recreates the issue I often have on my bicycle where unless people are watching for you it’s easy to have cars suddenly pull out of parking spots or pedestrians crossing in front of you as there’s literally no sound warning anyone of your rapid approach. If you ride one in public, just assume that you are practically invisible. Animals have zero chance - which is actually good when you’re in a place with dogs guarding the street as you pass them before they realize you’re coming.
One major disappointment was the suspension. It was almost completely rigid. This is why my friend had it, the owner wants the bike transformed into more of a dual-sport machine. As it was, it even felt too rigid for track use. Standing on the pegs was comfortable enough for a 5’9” guy, might adjust somethings if I was going to backroads tour with it. Though with the limited range I’m not sure that would be a smart idea.
All in all it’s not an unpleasant experience. The execution of concept is neat and it is a very attractive package. Unfortunately though, many of the things I dig about motorcycles were engineered out of this one. As has always been said, “there’s a butt for every seat,” but I think my seat will continue to require pipes.
https://www.livewire.com/
- 4C723F73-151C-4954-A343-71E06B58E127.jpeg (811.73 KiB) Viewed 2536 times
The design is pretty trendy and it has huge double brake rotors, a low seat height, comfortable touring ergonomics and no big chrome pipes. Throwing a leg over the leather seat and standing it up you find that the weight is carried extremely low. The motor is way down on the deck and forward with the battery stacked above and between your knees. The bike actually feels surprisingly light.
With a claimed highway range of about 75 miles that recharges to 100% in about 60 minutes on a typical high rate charger (11 hours on 110volt), this machine would probably do for a commuter in a dry/warm climate. As a plaything it might be okay for someone new to motorcycling, but I think they would quickly outgrow it unless there is room to modify it’s performance. To me the tune felt fairly conservative, I imagine there are different available levels of performance tuning available by pushing buttons on it’s very cool looking iPad-like dash screen.
Starting it up is a non-event with no drama and no smoke or thunder. Unless you twist the throttle you don’t even know for sure that it’s even ready to go. No humming or whirring sounds, certainly no traditional Harley cacophony. No clutch, no gear shift - utterly befuddling to this two-stroke rider. Simply twist the throttle and hang on. The acceleration/deceleration is butter smooth with no hesitation or violence. The deceleration also recharges your batteries and reminds me of a four-stroke in how it slows the bike down rapidly. I barely used the very beefy brakes on my ride and then only when coming to a complete stop at intersections.
Passing people on the streets who are exercising or walking their dogs gets you curious glances as the only noise they hear is the wind being moved and maybe the crunch of gravel beneath the very wide, low-profile Michelin tires. You can say hello without even raising your voice. It’s like being on a bicycle without all the heavy breathing. This recreates the issue I often have on my bicycle where unless people are watching for you it’s easy to have cars suddenly pull out of parking spots or pedestrians crossing in front of you as there’s literally no sound warning anyone of your rapid approach. If you ride one in public, just assume that you are practically invisible. Animals have zero chance - which is actually good when you’re in a place with dogs guarding the street as you pass them before they realize you’re coming.
One major disappointment was the suspension. It was almost completely rigid. This is why my friend had it, the owner wants the bike transformed into more of a dual-sport machine. As it was, it even felt too rigid for track use. Standing on the pegs was comfortable enough for a 5’9” guy, might adjust somethings if I was going to backroads tour with it. Though with the limited range I’m not sure that would be a smart idea.
All in all it’s not an unpleasant experience. The execution of concept is neat and it is a very attractive package. Unfortunately though, many of the things I dig about motorcycles were engineered out of this one. As has always been said, “there’s a butt for every seat,” but I think my seat will continue to require pipes.
https://www.livewire.com/