Link to story here but will it get anyone to buy an Electric HD? Needles to say the back-up support trucks will be carrying fossil fuel generators to top up the bikes and first line support trucks... All a bit PR / flowery?
I love the idea of ‘leccy bikes for the masses, but one of these live-wire bikes is £30k+ before add ons. I can’t see them flying out of the show rooms at that price
Some years ago I was in the US and I had the opportunity to ride the V-Rod. I was somewhat surprised as it actually went quite well and felt like a modern bike. Needless to say, it was spurned by HD diehards as it was water cooled and a bit modern. I just can't see this bike being a commercial success...
Not many charging stations in the wilderness are there Ewan? Will this trip be along the M1/A1? Can just hear the (big brother) voiceover man now “dayyyyyyyyyyy 8 of the long way up and the lads are still stuck in Scotch corner because the charging station is broken, Mrs McGregor has just arrived to boost morale and Charlie has already reverted to trying to stab his eyes out with the plastic service station forks...“ Seriously: £30k for one bike? That’s more than my Golf GTI... £30k for a HD? £30k for how much range per charge? £30k for an asset that won’t hold much charge/value in 5yrs and the tech will most likely be obsolete by then too? Mick taking aside, these might work well for short journeys in San Francisco/London etc. where local pollution might be an issue, especially if you’re a loaded actor who has it as part of a fleet of bikes - but just can’t see it being great in Arizona/Oz/Africa/Canada with any extreme of temperatures, any decent long distance trip or much spirited riding. Will be interesting to see how they do - even with the inevitable support trucks. Here we go - S.America to LA - with these in tow View attachment 49880 https://motorbikewriter.com/charley-ewan-long-way-electric-bikes/ “150km highway range”. Google search says its 10,967km between Tierra del Fuego and LA = 74 days, if they can do 150km a day....
I have enjoyed their travelling across the world and Africa, but on HD, I'm unsure. I'd still watch it though to see what they get up to
Probably will bump up sales, only got to look back to when they did the original long way round and all of a sudden you had loads of GS's riding around, complete with the full BMW officially licenced grey adventure clothing, the mandatory skip hire sized skid plates and cargo container panniers, all going on massive adventures to tescos nation wide. Harley will have factored this in, even if it's not bikes per se then sales of official HD assless chaps and vests will sky rocket as the general public will want to be just like their hero's.
I think you’ve about hit the nail on the head. HD is all about the accessories catalogue and I bet when this show airs that cash till won’t stop!
Reducing their range even further. I expect the HD support vehicle will have a charging facility though.
God, that's a lot of gear just so two guys can ride motorbikes. Oh, to be rich, famous, and eco-friendly.
The support trucks to charge the bikes are also electric, where are they going to charge up in the middle of nowhere. Maybe they have support trucks for the support trucks, all very eco-friendly.
That's exactly what they have....it mentions it very briefly in the article, that on a couple on long stretches ( in Bolivia, I think) they need a bit of extra support because of the mileage involved....there's a couple of larger trucks to keep everyone moving. I get that....it's a big undertaking, but not much of a stretch from a race-team really.
Oh dear, this really will be a “long way” trip now... looks like Ewan and Charley will need to make sure they either re-route the trip via a Harley dealer ever 100kms or take a dealership on the back of their eco truck... Harley-Davidson puts the brakes on electric bike https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50053785
