ElectricMotorcycleForum.com
Makes And Models => Harley LiveWire Forum => Topic started by: Richard230 on July 18, 2020, 04:17:34 AM
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I haven't heard much about the Livewire lately. Are they still selling, or are their owners just not posting here? The way things are going at H-D right now I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the production of the Livewire has been suspended for a while. ???
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There was a story of a Livewire rider who rode from the Mexican border to Canada along the West Coast on a Livewire. That's fairly impressive. But as for how they're selling? No clue. I haven't seen one on the road yet (but then I've only seen one other Zero besides mine on the road here too).
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I haven't heard much about the Livewire lately. Are they still selling, or are their owners just not posting here? The way things are going at H-D right now I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the production of the Livewire has been suspended for a while. ???
I saw a guy just leaving to test ride a LW at the Reno Harley shop yesterday when I was picking up an oil filter for my Harley. I have no idea if the guy decided to buy the LW, he was still out riding it when I got out of the shop around ten minutes later. But I hear both Reno and the Rocklin, CA shop has sold several LWs. Reno had three LWs in stock for sale the last time I was in there before yesterday and yesterday I didn't see any in the store, I only saw the one being test ridden.
I was there on my Energica. But the LW rider didn't even notice it.
I would expect more LW owners to be in the forum here. (https://www.hdlivewireforum.com/)
-Don- Reno, NV
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There was a story of a Livewire rider who rode from the Mexican border to Canada along the West Coast on a Livewire. That's fairly impressive.
I would be more impressed to see an electric motorcycle to get to SusanVille, CA from here in Reno. Or from here in Reno to Salt Lake City. Or from here in Reno to Bridgeport, CA.
It's not so much the distance, it's more the charge station locations that we are dependent on.
-Don- Reno, NV
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Well, I just saw a Livewire ad on The Daily Show.
-Crissa
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My local Harley dealer had sold none when I took a test ride on one a few weeks ago (Seacoast NH area). They had two in the showroom. It's a really, really nice bike. It's a harder sell in this area without a 6KW level 2 (the only DC charging station that would be close to me would be the Harley dealer).
Steve
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I haven't heard much about the Livewire lately. Are they still selling, or are their owners just not posting here? The way things are going at H-D right now I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the production of the Livewire has been suspended for a while. ???
I saw a guy just leaving to test ride a LW at the Reno Harley shop yesterday when I was picking up an oil filter for my Harley. I have no idea if the guy decided to buy the LW, he was still out riding it when I got out of the shop around ten minutes later. But I hear both Reno and the Rocklin, CA shop has sold several LWs. Reno had three LWs in stock for sale the last time I was in there before yesterday and yesterday I didn't see any in the store, I only saw the one being test ridden.
I was there on my Energica. But the LW rider didn't even notice it.
I would expect more LW owners to be in the forum here. (https://www.hdlivewireforum.com/)
-Don- Reno, NV
Well, that forum has 944 members so far. Not bad for a specialized motorcycle that has only been on sale for a few months and in the middle of a pandemic, too boot.
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Well, that forum has 944 members so far. Not bad for a specialized motorcycle that has only been on sale for a few months and in the middle of a pandemic, too boot.
Yeah, HD sold a lot more LWs than I expected at 30K$ considering its mickey-mouse charging system, especially for level two.
-Don- Reno, NV
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My local Harley dealer had sold none when I took a test ride on one a few weeks ago (Seacoast NH area). They had two in the showroom. It's a really, really nice bike. It's a harder sell in this area without a 6KW level 2 (the only DC charging station that would be close to me would be the Harley dealer).
Steve
And fast charging near home is useless. You want CCS chargers around 50 miles away from you in every direction if you normally charge at home as do most people.
Here in Reno, only north on hwy 395 is a problem for that 50 miles. Nothing up that way from here. But for more than 50 miles, I can only go west into CA, but that works best for me anyway.
-Don- Reno, NV
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My local Harley dealer had sold none when I took a test ride on one a few weeks ago (Seacoast NH area). They had two in the showroom. It's a really, really nice bike. It's a harder sell in this area without a 6KW level 2 (the only DC charging station that would be close to me would be the Harley dealer).
Steve
And fast charging near home is useless. You want CCS chargers around 50 miles away from you in every direction if you normally charge at home as do most people.
Here in Reno, only north on hwy 395 is a problem for that 50 miles. Nothing up that way from here. But for more than 50 miles, I can only go west into CA, but that works best for me anyway.
-Don- Reno, NV
True enough Don, I really should have said that DC fast charging is nowhere near my office (50 miles from my home). There are many Level 2 stations in the parking lot there. I am mainly concerned with my commute, but being able to Level 2 in my garage is also a plus.
Steve
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Hey!
I'm new to ALL of this (the chat, the electric scene, HD) but have to jump in because I am thinking about jumping in...to all of it.
1. I've never had a Harley (just Hondas) but always wanted one.
2. I've never had an electric anything, but always wanted one.
3. I have been fantasizing about Livewire off and on for years but really hard lately
4. I recently came in to EXACTLY $30k with the message 'Do something that brings you happiness' so...
5. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT ONE, I live in Rhode Island and commute FIFTY miles, one way, mostly on the freeway to work
Am I crazy for thinking plugging this in at night and again at work when needed will work?
Am I crazy for dropping this kind of money on an EV HD in a pandemic?
Follow your heart?
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Maintenance is cheep. Well worth it in my opinion.
You can buy a Chevy bolt cheaper, but not nearly as fun.
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Maintenance is a great point that I had not even considered to be honest-thank you!
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Hey!
I'm new to ALL of this (the chat, the electric scene, HD) but have to jump in because I am thinking about jumping in...to all of it.
1. I've never had a Harley (just Hondas) but always wanted one.
2. I've never had an electric anything, but always wanted one.
3. I have been fantasizing about Livewire off and on for years but really hard lately
4. I recently came in to EXACTLY $30k with the message 'Do something that brings you happiness' so...
5. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT ONE, I live in Rhode Island and commute FIFTY miles, one way, mostly on the freeway to work
Am I crazy for thinking plugging this in at night and again at work when needed will work?
Am I crazy for dropping this kind of money on an EV HD in a pandemic?
Follow your heart?
I also have a 50 mile one way commute (80% highway, 20% backroads). I do it regularly with my SR/F (similar range). I have Level 2 at work and at home and charge when I get there. Even with Level 1 charging on AC (simple plug in to an external outlet), I was able to recover the 50 miles in a few hours (and I work longer than that). Charging on both ends works well for me. That's where Level 2 is nice though (6KW) since DC chargers are probably still rare in office parks, where Level 2's are pretty plentiful, but not a deal breaker by any means. With Level 2 I recover the 50 miles in a little over an hour.
Steve
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I have not seen a LiveWire recognizably on the road here in Wisconsin. I did pull into a ChargePoint and the App indicated the previous vehicle was a LiveWire.
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Hi Oldmanbythesea, welcome aboard.
If you can charge for 7-8 hours your golden with almost any electric motorcycle.
I'd say the biggest thing to think about is do you love to ride motorcycles in general and be SURE and take a nice long test ride to see if the riding position works for you. If you love putting miles on bikes then these things are great. If your in the go for a 200 mile weekend ride 3 times a summer and your good, crowd (nothing wrong with that but) then these aren't the bikes for you.
The torque is wonderful on all of them and the smooth ride and ease of use at slower speed will make you wish you'd had it years ago.
By all accounts the Livewire is a very well make bike and has very powerful 0-60 as in very powerful. I don't know if your familiar with the different types of charging but for bikes it's basically 1,2 or3.
Level 1 is a wall outlet like in any US home it'll charges at about 1.3kWs per hour. Level 2 or J1772 plugs go at about 6-7 kWs at most stations. Level 3 which is mostly CCS uses DC current to charge the battery at around 20-26kWs per hour.
The Harley has Level 1 and level 3 charging only. You can plug into a level 2 but it only pulls 1.3kWs like a level 1 plug.
Zeros have level 1 and full speed level 2 charging but no level 3
Energica has up to 3kW level 1 or 2 charging and also level 3
Just to make it easy to compare. ;) I would say test ride as many of them as you can as some people find one issue or another to be a deal breaker for different models, just a personal choice.
Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do.
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For all intents and purposes, only Emergica allows you to fully exploit Level 1, Level 2 and DCFC (but their Level2 is only half the rate of Zero's; still 3X faster than the Livewire).
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Just seeing a couple replies in here to something I wrote and apologies if I am replying incorrectly!
Love the feedback and am more confident than ever that I'll get a LW soon...I'll be back with results next week!
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Sorry again! Forgot to mention I got offers from two different dealers in my area and neither would go below $30k for a cash buy...
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Their sales must be good if they won't budge for cash!
-Crissa
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Their sales must be good if they won't budge for cash!
-Crissa
They are more likely to budge if you finance. See here (http://www.realcartips.com/cardealers/105-paying-for-a-car-in-cash.shtml) for the reasons why.
-Don- Auburn, CA
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That's not been my experience, but kickbacks are a thing, it's true. They're not legal everywhere, either.
-Crissa
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The Harley has Level 1 and level 3 charging only. You can plug into a level 2 but it only pulls 1.3kWs like a level 1 plug.
Zeros have level 1 and full speed level 2 charging but no level 3
Energica has up to 3kW level 1 or 2 charging and also level 3
Yep, and AFAIK, there is no way to add level two external chargers to the LW. And this is a big deal in some locations.
In fact, I recently decided my Energica should stay here in Auburn as there are countless CCS chargers around here in every direction. You can see my recent check-in entries on Plugshare for Yuba City, CA and Strawberry, CA on US 50 in the last couple of days for CCS charging.
In Reno, I decided it makes more sense to have my Zero SR stay there. More J-1772 and Tesla Destination chargers, as well as 240 VAC outlets, all of these I can use with my SR. I can charge it at 6.3 KW while on the road when I take my Elcons. That is more than twice as fast as my Energica on L2. IMO, even 3.0 KW is too slow for charging. I can tolerate the 6.3 KW better. And at home, I can charge it at 8.3 KW (but that is too much to take for the road).
I rode my Energica here, but I will ride my Zero SR back to Reno in a few days, on Hwy 20. I can tolerate 6 KW charging on the road, but not so well at 3KW as the Energica has. The 1.5 KW charger of the LW is totally worthless away from home, IMO, unless you have a full day to wait for a full charge. 13 PMHC rate. Ten hours to wait for 130 miles in locations where there are no CCS chargers. And on a 30K$ bike? At 6KW, it's more like 52 miles added per hour of charge which is reasonable.
If they can squeeze a 6 kw charger into the LW, it would be a decent bike, IMO.
I expect they will have such in the LW in couple of years. Making the demand of the older LWs rather low, in at least most areas. In this part of CA, the CCS is all that is needed for the road. But this area is the exception compared to most.
-Don- Auburn, CA
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That's not been my experience, but kickbacks are a thing, it's true. They're not legal everywhere, either.
-Crissa
A mark-up and kick-back are two different things.
A kick-back happens after the transaction. A markup is in advance.
If they didn't allow markups, nobody would be allowed to make a profit.
-Don- Auburn, CA
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A hidden markup inside a financing procedure is a kick-back.
-Crissa
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IMO the LiveWire is a bad idea for a 50-mile one way daily commute. If the real-life range lived up to Harley's claim of 146 miles, I'd be saying absolutely to go for it. But it does not.
From browsing threads like this on the HD forum (https://www.hdlivewireforum.com/threads/real-life-maximum-range-from-livewire-owners.4519/), one can expect to get 80-90 miles at freeway speeds. One guy gets 95 miles riding at 55 MPH in ECO mode. That's cutting too close even if it's not all highway or one doesn't mind riding slower than surrounding traffic. There's also the possibility the range will drop over time.
Unless you have an extreme level of patience, you really don't want to screw around plugging in at work. Chargers will be in use, charge spots will be blocked by ICE cars, chargers will be broken, alternate chargers will be far away, charging will be expensive, etc. I would say you would be thrilled with an e-bike, but go for a long-range Energica or Zero model and charge at home.
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As long as you can charge it both ways or the route isn't freeway, you're fine.
A 50-mile one-way commute is really far tho. Waaaaay over the median American commute.
-Crissa
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All you need at work is a 110 volt outlet.
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IMO the LiveWire is a bad idea for a 50-mile one way daily commute. If the real-life range lived up to Harley's claim of 146 miles, I'd be saying absolutely to go for it. But it does not.
From browsing threads like this on the HD forum (http://"https://www.hdlivewireforum.com/threads/real-life-maximum-range-from-livewire-owners.4519/"), one can expect to get 80-90 miles at freeway speeds. One guy gets 95 miles riding at 55 MPH in ECO mode. That's cutting too close even if it's not all highway or one doesn't mind riding slower than surrounding traffic. There's also the possibility the range will drop over time.
Your link isn't working, but here it is.
(https://www.hdlivewireforum.com/threads/real-life-maximum-range-from-livewire-owners.4519/)
-Don- Reno, NV
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Your link isn't working, but here it is.
(https://www.hdlivewireforum.com/threads/real-life-maximum-range-from-livewire-owners.4519/)
-Don- Reno, NV
Thanks, fixed. This forum software is so archaic.