<story><title>Harley Davidson’s EV debut could electrify the motorcycle industry</title><url>https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/22/harley-davidsons-ev-debut-could-electrify-the-motorcycle-industry/?utm_source=tcfbpage&amp;sr_share=facebook</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>nugi</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ll say it.&lt;p&gt;This will fail.&lt;p&gt;1. Harley demographic is entrenched, hard to pivot. Most associate with wealthy boomers and &amp;#x27;lowlifes&amp;#x27;, or working class murica. Not things as popular today. Other, better, performance ebikes exist, and outside this restrictive submarket, but are not thriving. And I will casually remind readers of Southparks opinion. That said, they do have diehard fans that would buy anything they made.&lt;p&gt;2. Motorcycles are all about freedom. Range issues, or even the idea of them, robs confidence. This will change, but gas is way more energy dense and on a bike it matters even more than cars. Going into the mountains is not when you want to wonder if your range will halve going up hills with gusto, or screwing it on for the corners.&lt;p&gt;3. Price perception. The electric will be awesome. Torque is so fun on bikes. But to harley riders, I think it will fell like a &amp;#x27;toy&amp;#x27;. And for the price point, its gonna be a tough sell.&lt;p&gt;4. Tinkering. You do not buy a harley as an intelligent person without ever expecting to work on it. Hell, that is part of the classical appeal of them. There are more than a few explorations of life and motorcycle maintance in print. Maybe this is just my bias, but the connection with the machine is part of what makes motorcycling so intimate.&lt;p&gt;I very much welcome being incorrect. I shopped for an ebike and bought another used sportbike instead.</text></comment>
<story><title>Harley Davidson’s EV debut could electrify the motorcycle industry</title><url>https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/22/harley-davidsons-ev-debut-could-electrify-the-motorcycle-industry/?utm_source=tcfbpage&amp;sr_share=facebook</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>ph33t</author><text>One thing to understand, my Harley riding brethren, Harley &lt;i&gt;cannot&lt;/i&gt; be targetting you. They are clearly targetting new riders. The combustion engine is a hobby as much as anything for 1&amp;#x2F;2 the riders I know; for them, it&amp;#x27;s the fun of owning a bike. Unless you have a lot of money, the only way to fix an oft-broken motorcycle is by doing yourself. I&amp;#x27;ve owned a similar (not Harley) bike for a number of years. Parts are always vibrating off off the damn thing. It is loud; I do believe it helps make you visible. Yes, that is anecdotal, but I have ridden bikes with all types of pipes and I find it 100% true. I am much safer (heard) with my La Chopper&amp;#x27;s Curvedd pipes than the very quiet stock pipes; meaning, many fewer close calls.&lt;p&gt;So, they are looking for riders that don&amp;#x27;t care that their machines will (ostensibly) be more reliable (less vibration), saves money on fuel, and is quiet and efficient. I care about none of those things, BUT I want Harley to stay in business, and if they can do that while attracting new riders, I fully support them.&lt;p&gt;A side note, gas sport-bikes accelerate insanely fast now ... imagine how fast they will with an electric engine ... scary!</text></comment>