With electric motorcycles, it was never a question of whether they were fun, or rather: It was never an issue for people who tried them – of course, many complained blindly. The easily available boost is fun. As with the car, the operation of the drive train is simplified enormously by eliminating the clutch and gearshift. The big issue, however, has always been: How much fun do I get for how much money? And therein lies a big crux.

The conclusion in advance: About 32. 000 Euro acquisition costs are compared to a significantly limited area of ​​application. Therefore, this motorcycle can only find a small group of buyers. But let’s imagine that money doesn’t matter or Harley lowers the price by 15. 000 Euros, both of which will probably happen on Judgment Day at the earliest. How far do I drive then, completely relaxed, with Harley’s CCS fast charger, which has the 13, 6 kWh net of the battery with up to over 20 kW loads?

Driving into the blue means looking for pain First of all: We know all these articles, in which the writer drove into the blue, free of any suspicion, then went to a slow charger far too late, which then (big surprise) loaded slowly. If you plan to buy an electric drive (also for a car, by the way), I strongly recommend that you briefly familiarize yourself with the basics of the shop. With Livewire, these look good on paper and in practice are mixed.

Harleys Livewire

(Image: Clemens Gleich)

If you do not need it, you will find a compartment under the bench in which the loading tile with the Schuko plug is located. It’s nice that Harley thinks of a storage compartment, but the only useful use of the loading tile is to sleep somewhere where there are only Schuko plugs for destination charging. The brick usually charges with a meager 6 amperes, i.e. just under 1.4 kW gross. It allows a maximum of 8 amps (for 1.8 kW), but only under optimal conditions, which apparently did not exist for my test.

Harley-Davison Livewire: Details (15 Photos) Will probably have to prevail on motorcycles too: The CCS connector belongs with a big plus on the plus side of this Harley. (Image: Clemens Gleich)

A not inconsiderable part of this meager performance is still for charging losses and the circulation pump the coolant on it, which makes the motorcycle gurgling like an old electric auxiliary heater. What the brick loads in one hour flows in via a CCS station in under five minutes. The fact that it was placed so prominently on the motorcycle is a perfidious trap for the ignorant. You cannot use it sensibly to reload for a tour, but only over a (long!) Night. Worse still: The 1.8 or rather 1.4 kW, that is the maximum AC charging power of the vehicle. More is not possible even at the AC charging station.

Combined Clusterfuck Situation Therefore it is all the more important that the Livewire has a CCS connector. Now there are also typical combinations with electric cars that like to spin. However, the Livewire somehow doesn’t work with many newer CCS charging stations that are currently being rolled out more and more, which permanently spoils the CCS option. I could cite Harley’s excuses now, but I don’t want to, because the competition in Italy at Energica can do it – with a fraction of the manpower.

Age 50 – kW charger in Stuttgart on the gas boiler. Rule of thumb: If the old stickers peel off, it usually works with the new Harley.

(Image: Clemens Gleich)

Interested parties should wait here until Harley manages to finish writing the charging system software. So for my experiment I consciously looked for the old 50 kW stations where the stickers are peeling off. The Harley is talking to them. That fits anyway, because the maximum charging power at 0 percent SoC is 24 kW, the usual charging power between 15 and 20 kW.

Neutral iron pig And what a shame this situation is! Because this Harley is the best I’ve ever ridden. This is of course mainly due to the fact that I find cruisers boring and fortunately the Livewire is not one, but instead competes in the Naked / Roadster class. With 100 kg she belongs to the iron pigs, but drives much more neutral than the top-heavy, baggy ones Energicas and (calmly stones me) as the stubbornly deflecting Zero SR / S. Whether hanging, laying or pushing: The Livewire draws its arcs neutrally.

Much of the good driving experience depends on ergonomics. Harley sits you far back and stretches you over the CCS connector to a low handlebar. So you used to sit on the Ducati Monster, today you sit very well on the Livewire: optimally prepared for powerful steering impulses. Nothing fits an iron pig better. For me the Livewire is not only the best Harley (a largely irrelevant title), but also the best electric roadster. Likes to stone me again. I stick with it, despite the many Harley peculiarities to which I have to dedicate the following chapter.

Mia san mia in Milwaukee I drive over cobblestones. It rattles like a plastic, most of it from the loading brick compartment, as I find out later. I ride a mogul slope. The Harley takes off. I diagnose low suspension travel. Great ergonomics, Harley, a bit messed up by cruiser suspension travel. I stop at the traffic light. The motorcycle vibrates, no, wait: it pulsates at about 50 bpm (Bulse pro Minute). Tried with the brake system: The pulses come from the drive.

Safety feature Read it at home: Harley wants to show you that the drive is ready and lists this as a safety feature. Only those who suffered damage from cruiser tractor production can think like this. A gentle turn of the right handle tells me whether an electric drive is on at any time, more reliably than with a reciprocating engine, which I can still stall at the traffic light using the clutch. The pulses are a bit annoying. Unfortunately, it cannot be switched off. The customer will (have to) get used to it.

Unconventional motorcycle on idiosyncratic location (ex: Autonomes Kulturzentrum Würzburg, nuclear power plant, today less autonomous). You can tour with Livewire if you know what you are doing.

(Image: Clemens Gleich)

Typical for the Harley but also : You have recuperation immediately and always, even directly after reloading to 100 percent. The Livewire then recuperates in its accumulator lift reserves. Harley doesn’t have to explain to any buyer why the engine brake sometimes doesn’t work. The boost performance also remains fairly constant on the SoC display. So the Harley accelerates at full speed less impressively than the Zero. But that changes from about half the battery level.