This one, we’ve been looking forward to riding for a while- the Harley-Davidson LiveWire. First off, we are fans of the name. It is cool and Harleys are cool if nothing else. One may bash it one side from another but you can’t fault a brand for being a cultural icon for a very long time. So when Harley-Davidson had to break out of that shell in pursuit of a noble cause to be a part of the future, it took stones. An electric Harley-Davidson? Any purist might find something very wrong with that statement and not the typo kind.

But once one moves past the obvious, the LiveWire is a, how do we put it… a pretty darn rad motorcycle. Expletives might have done a better job here but we have kids looking up to us. First of all, more than the electric bits, it is the motorcycle itself. A naked sport from Harley-Davidson is enough to ruffle more than a few feathers. Add a 105 bhp and 116 Nm motor to it and what you have is a proper heretic. Again, move past the obvious, hastily so, and you’ll find that there’s a lot to love about the LiveWire.

Starting with the design, we believe that it looks really good. Despite the streetfighter intentions and some electric bits, it still manages to look like a Harley-Davidson. For example, take a look at the battery pack and the motor. Folks at Harley knew that this was going to be the focal point of the design and it had to look the most Harley. And it does. The fins on the aluminium casing for the battery pack harken to the air-cooling heritage of Harley-Davidson. Moreover, the liquid cooling setup for the electric motor is cleverly hidden away too.

Another thing you notice is the fit and finish. It is excellent and does a great job of presenting the LiveWire as a premium offering. We also loved how Harley-Davidson incorporated a ‘fuel tank’ in the design… that right there is sticking to your roots and using everything you have on hand in the best possible way. The panels and therefore, colour, are scarce and that too goes a long way in projecting the LiveWire as a streetfighter full of intent. The cowl surrounding the full-LED headlamp and the ‘fuel tank’ have colours and the rest of it is minimalist. Despite its compact appearance though, it is fairly roomy.

How does it ride? Like a hoot. Well, in range mode, the throttle response seems smooth but a little laggy. It pulls cleanly but in a much-relaxed manner. That is not what we were there for. So, we
switched the mode to Road and that makes things much more interesting. Twist the throttle and this time you feel that electric-vehicle-signature-acceleration. All 116 torques available right from the get-go and zing! No noise, no drama, just pure and brutal acceleration. You expect it to wear off after hitting triple digits but it doesn’t. It just keeps going on and on and on till you hit the speed limiter.

So the LiveWire still has the grunt part down pat. At 249 kg, it is not the lightest motorcycle around but it never feels that way. Dynamically, it is a proper streetfighter. The chassis is unique in the sense that it is modular; bolted and not welded. This will not only help it be a platform for different models in the future but also make it full of feel. Combined with adjustable USD forks and monoshock, it makes the LiveWire a motorcycle that likes corners. At least till it gets to the 45-degree cornering clearance anyway.

Now, one needs to re-calibrate to accommodate the lack of gears and clutch so corner entries can be scary in the beginning. But you realize quite quickly that an aggressive mode of regen braking makes it easy to shed some speed by rolling off the throttle a bit. The brakes are more than decent and help shave off speed in a decent manner. A little more bite behind that lever would have been welcome though. Then, the IMU-based traction control and ABS provide a good enough safety blanket as well.

The Acer Swift 5 packs a very sophisticated cooling solution in its compact body to minimize thermal throttling and maintain peak performance for longer.

So a Harley-Davidson with streetfighter genes, tons of grunt, great handling and braking, and a moderately aggressive riding stance- pretty rad, right? Of course. The LiveWire is one of the best Harleys we have ever ridden. But its real power is that of change. And that it has dollops of!