Harley Davidson E Bike! PROJECT LIVEWIRE

This is one of the few Harleys I could see myself on.

I am not big on normal bikes, let alone this.  Loud pipes save lives?

I am not big on normal bikes, let alone this.  Loud pipes save lives?

Here I have to disagree with you in regards to noise, the one thing I have come to HATE about Harley is their open loud exhaust that is not needed and OFFENDS more ears than it pleases. Just because the company was building junk they got the gov to give them an exception to emissions rules and required mufflers that everyone else has to have. Not only are they way too loud on normal suburban streets but in the cities their noise bounces off the tall buildings creating even more NOISE POLLUTION.

While I have not heard these bikes, what Harley has released about them is that they do make a noticeable hum that I bet they have tuned to be a specific recognizable sound.

With Harley always having saddle bags, I can easily see this bike all over cities being used for delivery duties of small packages, letters, etc. I can also see this being very popular with the High-Tech crowd that wants a 21st Century bike to ride to and from work. Yes the old Viatname / Korean war crowd will not like it, but then they can keep the old out of date shaking to pieces noisy Harleys and the rest of us will welcome the 21st century E bike.

You are not going to hear the hum of those gears when this thing is in traffic.  See what I'm getting at?

Harleys do not come from the factory with no mufflers. Factory Harleys aren't very loud, but the culture of HDs has many owners immediately alter/change mufflers to let that Twin sound be heard. I have seen the sentiment blu posted for years & years on stickers, and have heard it expressed; MCs are much more dangerous WRT impacts & a much smaller footprint out on the road, where a bit of noise can make oblivious motorists take heed. I am of the camp that believes it IS a safety thing. That said- some go way beyond that sound level, but some of the import bikes do this too.

Having a silent MC is a real thought-provoker, that's for sure. 
So is having a bike that is the effective anti-thesis to the HD image. Will be interesting to watch.

The LiveWire is a surprisingly compelling vehicle from a company better known for two-wheeled lawn-tractors. I'm interested to see how the bike evolves and wouldn't mind having one in my garage after its release. From sound samples, the bike is akin to a 'pod-racer' from Star Wars, whic
 
'Loud Pipes' don't save lives because they don't indicate the rider's actual location on the road. All they do is cause motorists and the broader community to loathe motorcyclists, which potentially makes riding more dangerous for us yet. In the case of Harley's, many aftermarket pipes haven't even been accompanied with an ECM remap, so riders who think a louder bike is a more powerful one, are actually riding something that is less powerful than stock. 

I love the thought provoking discussion that is evolving on this thread. I felt strongly that this new product from Harley and their road show this summer will be one to watch and see how people respond.

So the road show will start in NY this week and by the end of the week be in Milwaukee and then onto Boston next week and then Philly. Seems they are rolling out 4 stops at a time on the web site but be interested to see if this makes it to the west coast or to at least cities where C&G members could ride it and check it out.

Awesome Video from Harley Davidson on their LiveWire E Bike!

Harley has an AWESOME new video!

Check out this AP video!

http://msnvideo.msn.com/?channelindex=2&from=en-us_msnhp#/video/6bbd9a24-a62c-2b68-5348-0403d409bbe1

http://msnvideo.msn.com/?videoid=6bbd9a24-a62c-2b68-5348-0403d409bbe1&src=v5:share:sharepermalink:&from=sharepermalink

http://www.bing.com/videos/browse?mkt=en-us&vid=11ef682e-57f7-a6e4-ab66-0cc6042a4a1f&from=sharepermalink&src=v5:share:sharepermalink:

These new video's are awesome and really show the potential for these new E Bikes!

Project Live Wire has Hit Washington. Pretty cool and being well received. Seattle times just posted this story about them. They are here through this weekend.

http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2024266130_harleyelectricxml.html

This is a current video of the sound of the electric bikes.

http://bcove.me/kglzih19

I'd want mine to make the sound of the lightcycles from the original Tron movie.