Not sure if this has been posted or if anybody noticed.. but there is a quiet HD on the planet. instead of the vtwin, it uses good old fashioned electricity to run.
Funny thing is.. I was telling a workmate of mine who rides a HD about this. he walked away holding his hands over his ears saying that he didn't want to know. So I guess if it goes into production, the faithful will not be riding it
Project Livewire
I sell H-D's...and the initial response from the rank-and-file has been overwhelmingly positive. If they bring it out at a reasonable price point, everyone will be riding it. A few of my colleagues at the dealership got the chance to ride one, and they all are giggly when they talk about it.
wae
HalfDork
7/25/14 9:38 a.m.
Hoe. Lee. E36 M3.
That thing sounds like a freakin' spaceship in the videos they have on that site. I'm curious about price point and range, but damn, I want one!
T.J.
PowerDork
7/25/14 9:55 a.m.
I was looking at the Zero SR site a couple weeks ago. They are hiring if you like motorcycles, live in the Bay Area and have some engineering skills.
The HD version, being a HD, was designed to produce a distinctive sound for distinctive sound sake.
Leafy
Reader
7/25/14 10:08 a.m.
But how will the HD drivers be able to ride through the neighborhood in the middle of the night or early morning at wide open throttle and wake everyone up with one of those?
And how will they blip the throttle with the clutch in while coming to a stop without actually downshifting to let everyone think they actually know how to ride a motorcycle?
I rode one of these on the rollers. Like TJ said, it was designed to make noise, for the sake of making noise. I would NOT be interested, at all, in one of these, unless they get rid of the artificial, unnecessary, engineered, fake, manufactured, ridiculous, whiny noise.
And I'm a Harley Davidson faithful!
Leafy
Reader
7/25/14 11:27 a.m.
All the powerful e-bikes I've seen make whining noise under power. Like that MTB with the 28hp motor at leguna seca racing with the normal motorcycles. It screams pretty loud, like a car with a roots blower and stock exhaust.
It's all in how they market it. If I were in branding or product marketing at HD here's roughly how I would present it.
"For over a century we've provided weapons for the street that produce shock and awe, the time has come for us to bring to market precision stealth weaponry that will instill a new type of fear into our competitors.
Gear noise is more noticeable on EVs, of course you can control how much with the gear design...
Previous discussion on this topic: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/sprockets/electric-tractor/87909/page1/
In reply to Leafy:
Yes, I understand that E-machines will make gear whine. The noise that Livewire makes, however, is intentionally exaggerated.
Leafy
Reader
7/25/14 1:24 p.m.
RealMiniDriver wrote:
In reply to Leafy:
Yes, I understand that E-machines will make gear whine. The noise that Livewire makes, however, is intentionally exaggerated.
Not just gear whine, wine from the electric motor. The example I was using is a bike with a direct drive motor onto a chain drive.