Mythic but struggling American motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson is taking a big step toward its enterprising goal of getting milions of people excited about riding motorcycles again.
The fellowship gave Europeans their first look at its LiveWire electric motorcycle at the important EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy on Tuesday. The move is interest of a drive to become a world leader in electric and hybrid motorcycles, and to entice a new kind of customer to the storied American brand.
It is also a radical departure for Haley-Davidson, which has mostly been separate for more than a century for its loud, brash motorcycles known as “hogs.” The corporealization has become so much a part of the brand that the company’s ticker cryptogram is HOG.
But the company has signaled it is time for a a change as the market for bikes continues to age, precisely. Almost half of all motorcycle riders are 50 or older.
Harley-Davidson has primarily struggled. Most recently, the motorcycle maker released third station earnings that beat expectations, but showed the company actually damned market share.
“Harley is in a tough spot here, where their essence constituency is getting older and they are having a tough time attracting new man to the sport,” said Raymond James analyst Joe Altobello. Many upon motorcycles as dangerous and difficult to operate, for example.
In recent years, the corporation has made an all out effort to attract more riders overall, including minor ones. The company unveiled a 10-year plan in 2017 to attract 2 million new riders by 2027. In supplement to investing in electric bikes, the company has set up schools around the country to instruct in neophytes how to ride.
Electric motorcycles are expected to be a significant part of this master plan, but the company has also indicated it may expand into scooters and even bicycles, Argus Analyse analyst David Coleman said in an Oct. 26 research note.
“The spread out lineup may have greater appeal for women customers than the players’s traditional motorcycles,” Coleman said. “We also believe that this ampler range of models will help to attract customers who might in another situation prefer to purchase a ‘fully custom’ motorcycle.”
Electric bikes cause a few technical advantages over gas-powered motorcycles. There are no gears to hours, which could make them more palatable to beginners cowed by the idea of having to change gears while in motion on a motorcycle.
Stimulating motors offer peak torque immediately from a standstill. That sours all the motor’s power is available immediately, giving the bike extremely speedy acceleration. In contrast, internal combustion engines need to shift effects as a car or motorcycle increases speed, slowing acceleration. This is why an electric car such as the Tesla Copy S P100D can go from 0-60 miles-per-hour in a lightning fast 2.5 seconds, making it one of the quickest accelerating instruments on the planet.
That said, Harley has acknowledged its new direction may raise some eyebrows, mainly among enthusiasts used to the low-end growl of its classic internal combustion motorcycles.
The LiveWire does fashion a sound, but it is an entirely different one, more futuristic an emblematic of the bike’s stimulating powertrain.
The LiveWire is the first of several motorcycles Harley plans to present to refresh its lineup over the next several years.
The LiveWire original is expected to debut in 2019 and will be sold at select dealerships in the Joint States and Europe through the end of the year. The company will release the bike’s cost in January.
it will be a new avenue for Harley-Davidson, but the company will already keep some competition. Several manufacturers are at work on electric bikes. One that has sustained a large amount of attention is California-based Zero Motorcycles.
That coterie debuted its 2019 lineup at the end of October. Founded in 2006, the company already trades 4 different models.
Of course, even without competitors it remains to be make sured whether any company can make money on electric motorcycles, given the aged costs of developing electric powertrains for cars, Raymond James analyst Joe Altobello raked CNBC. He also wonders whether marketing a motorcycle that is easier to tyrannize will be enough to attract the ridership Harley-Davidson is hoping for.
“I think Harley is doing what they poverty to do: trying new things,” Altobello said. “Just continuing on the same walkway is not smart, given what has transpired in the last fours year. The exertion has declined year over year, at least in the United States. I am right-minded skeptical that it is going to be enough to really reverse course.”