Silent Hogs?……
What’s the most recognized motorcycle in the World? – By design and sound – Harley Davidson, correct?…..  The famous Harley sound and design has been copied by all the top motorcycle manufacturers…..  Well, H-D’s going in a new direction – ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLES – Yep, the only thing you hear is the slight whine of the transmission…..  Well, maybe the burning of rubber from the rear tire as, not only is the new Harley Electric Cycle  electric – It’s a Rocket too!…..  0 to 60 in 4 seconds!…..  Right now it’s a prototype and in the testing phase, but, if it proves out, it may soon be at your local Harley dealer…..  Maybe they’ll offer a digital sound system with lots of bottom to replicate the rumbling sound of the gas “Hogs”.…..  Who knows – The World’s a ‘changin’……
June 30th, 2014 at 8:52 am
I saw this. Interesting. I don’t see the usual HD demographic (who balk at high technology like liquid cooling) buying into this, but who knows. 0-60 in 4 seconds is very average for a motorcycle — maybe a little on the slow side. My ancient Honda VFR will do that easily. Electric motorcycles should have awesome amounts of torque and should excel in that sort of contest.
June 30th, 2014 at 11:10 am
I agree with you, HS, that the “hardcore” biker type would not buy into an electric motorcycle….. I mean, how intimidating is a silent motorcycle?…… I may have been wrong on the 0-60 speed as they acted like it was exceptionally fast in the news report I seen….. It may have been less than 4 seconds, but, that’s what I thought I heard….. It’s been many – too many – years since I had my HD Sportsters (a ’71 900 cc and then a ’73 1000 cc), and I do miss having a bike, but, I did get rear-ended once by a no-driving driver at a stop light, and, I think the drivers of today pay less attention to motorcycles than they did way back then…… Alas, I couldn’t afford one anyway….. Well, maybe the Bike, but not the insurance……. (Ha!)…..
July 2nd, 2014 at 8:30 pm
Hmmm…. don’t forget the MTT Y2K jet bike they created a while back…. pretty much screams “I’d like to die, please!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxvKuFtHKDs
Sounds loud as hell to me, the throttle response is not like a normal bike, and theoretically no one knows the actual top-end. Saw a speed test where the rider wisely (OK, belatedly) chickened-out at 242mph.
July 4th, 2014 at 9:59 am
Ooooh, fun. Bonneville Flats motorcycle.
July 5th, 2014 at 11:41 pm
But the underlying issue here is that HD Corporate has taken the “Harley” product and ran as far from the “Biker” world as they can. As far as I am concerned and as a former Harley owner/Rider HD went the way of the DoDo (pun/spelling intended) when they started making Belt driven bikes. Harley’s are supposed to Rumble, Rock, Leak oil, etc. They are called “Hogs” for a reason. And the 1st time that I saw some yuppie looking investment banker type riding a Harley one day downtown I mourned the death of Harley.
OK That being said, The idea of a electro bike intrigues me. I just thought someone like Honda or one of those would be the 1st to develop one. Hey, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits just made the 1st 300MPH pass with a totally Electric Dragster the other day. So I say Plug in the Horsepower and “Get your Battery chargin’, Head out on the Highway, Lookin’ for adventure, and what ever comes our way”
July 9th, 2014 at 10:17 am
The investment banker crowd riding HDs… that’s because they’re the only ones that can afford one. But belt drives are awesome and virtually maintenance free compared to chain. The only downside is that you can’t really play around with sprocket sizes/gearing like you can with a chain, but that’s a pretty small tradeoff. I think HDs are much more reliable than they used to be, and they don’t leak nearly as much oil.
(Disclaimer: I don’t get the whole HD thing.)
July 9th, 2014 at 2:59 pm
Yep, HS, they did leak oil – and for no apparent reason – I think they designed them that way….. In my life, I’ve owned owned 3 different HD’s….. The design was one of the reasons – They just looked like what your sub-consiscious thought they should….. I had a little 250cc HD Sprint – That was a Hellva dirt bike….. I kept it, but, also moved up to a ’71 Sportster….. That was a MACHINE!….. I bought it in ’71 and it only had 400 miles on it….. It was only 900cc, but ran like a bat outta Hell and then some!….. Well, DUMMY ME, I decided I wanted a new one in ’73 – So, here I go down to the Harley shop and buy a BRAND-NEW ’73…… I sold my ’71 to a friend, and, boy, was that a mistake!…..Not His – MINE!…… Harley had re-designed a bunch of stuff and increased the cc’s up to 1000…… Well, somethin’ didn’t work right – That ’71 would run circles around the ’73…… Oh, well, I guess I never learn!…… I do have a pic with a 2 year Jek sitting on the ’73….. Wonder if I can get an blackmail money out of him for it?????……