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Leaked: First Photos of the Harley-Davidson Livewire

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The folks in Milwaukee didn’t invite Asphalt & Rubber to the Harley-Davidson Project Livewire launch and subsequent press embargo, so I’m not going to lose too much sleep over publishing the latest find from our Bothan spy network (for the record, A&R has never broken a press embargo that we were invited to).

That all being said, here are the first official photos of the Harley-Davidson Livewire electric motorcycle — the Bar & Shield brand’s foray into electric motorcycle scene — for your viewing pleasure.

Details are still spotty of course (update: you can read the tech specs here), so we will leave that bit of journalism to the publications that Harley-Davidson deemed worthy (maybe it was something we said?). For our part though, we can see a full-glass dash though, which is another first for Harley-Davidson, as well as an LED headlight.

The big kickers will be the price and range, of course. South of $20,000 and north of 100 miles would really make Project Livewire a strong contender on the market. It will remain to be seen if Harley-Davidson can get under/above those two metrics, respectively, though.

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Bikes

Harley-Davidson Livewire Teaser Site Setup

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Three Harley-Davidson posts on Asphalt & Rubber in a single day? Surely the gods must be crazy. But like a Coke bottle to the head, things are about to get pretty out of control in the American motorcycle landscape in a big way. Setting up a dedicated launch site for its first electric motorcycle, Harley-Davidson isn’t tipping its hands too much officially, though in 11 hours we should know a lot more.

Usually with marketing lingo, you can see the hyperbole for what it is, but in the case of the Harley-Davidson Livewire, the Bar & Shield brand’s statement seems more like an honest assessment, rather than typical industry grandstanding:

“There are milestones that change history – those pivotal moments where the future is defined. This is one of them. Just like this country, Harley-Davidson has reinvented itself many times in our 111 years. This is the next chapter of our journey. Whether you’re a rider or not, we’re inviting you to take part in the experience, and be there for this historic ride forward.”

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Bikes

Electric Harley-Davidson “Livewire” to Debut Tomorrow

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Harley-Davidson has just posted a video to its YouTube, which teases a new model coming tomorrow, June 19th, 2014. The video itself is devoid of any information, with a sole blurred motorcycle jetting past a Route 66 sign. The only hint we have on what to expect is the unmistakable sound of an electric drivetrain at full-tilt.

We first broke the news about Harley’s electric motorcycle two years ago, and we have already caught the electric Harley-Davidson on the Avengers: Age of Ultron film set, looking pretty much ready for production, including DOT reflectors, so this revelation isn’t completely out of left field.

A quick stroll through Harley-Davidson’s trademark filings shows the “Livewire” name being registered with the USPTO back in November 2012. The name can also be spotted on the side of the motorcycle that was seen on the Avengers set.

After our story broke last week, our spies reported that a launch of that machine was said to be coming later this week. With this announcement, all the pieces of the puzzle now seem to fit.

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Bikes

Harley-Davidson XR1200TT by Shaw Speed & Custom

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While we collectively take a ponder on what to do with the electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle that will be in the next Avengers movie, here’s another interesting twist involving the Bar & Shield brand.

We’re not usually ones for cruisers, but the Harley-Davidson XR1200TT from Shaw Speed & Custom tickles our racing inclinations the right way, and makes us remember when Harley-Davidson’s name was synonymous with road racing.

As the name implies, the project started from a Harley-Davidson XR1200. SS&C then added its own custom-built exhaust, along with a Screamin’ Eagle tuner and breather — good for roughly 100hp at the rear wheel.

Completing the look is suspension from Öhlins, wheels from Dymag, brakes from Brembo, while the bodywork is a conversion from SS&C’s own Bonneville streamliner design. Add a custom tail and seat, and you have the XR1200TT.

It all sounds rather simple, but the finished product deceives the time and energy that Shaw Speed & Custom put into the design. This bike looks like it could have rolled right out of Milwaukee, and it puzzles us as to why Harley-Davidson recently stopped selling the XR1200, let alone never built upon the model’s popularity after its debut.

We will keep pondering all that, but in the meantime, enjoy photos of the Harley-Davidson XR1200TT by Shaw Speed & Custom. It might be a Harley we’d have to have in our own garage.

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Rumors

An Electric Harley-Davidson Spotted on a Hollywood Set?

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It’s not our cup of tea, but we can see how hardcore cinephiles can get easily worked up about behind the scenes photos of movies that are still in production — it’s likely not too dissimilar from how we feel when we catch a glimpse of an upcoming motorcycle before its release. It’s not our thing, but we can understand it.

What is a lot easier to understand though is when an actual motorcycle gets caught by these Hollywood spy cameras, as is the case here. On the set of the next Avengers movie, the eagles eyes of the linkbaity Daily Mail caught photos of what is clearly an electric Harley-Davidson motorcycle — piquing our interest, of course.

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News

Freedom Files: Harley-Davidson Denies Rider’s Warranty Claim Because of Flags Mounted to His Motorcycle

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According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal, there is trouble a brewing in the Bar & Shield crowd this week, as Dave Zien was denied a powertrain warranty claim on his 2014 model year Harley-Davidson trike.

For those not in the know, Zien is a former Marine as well as a former Wisconsin State Senator, but he his best known in the two-wheeled community as the man who has logged the most documented miles on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle (~2.5 million), as well as putting over a million miles on his 1991 Harley-Davidson, which now sits in the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame.

All those miles aside, Zien’s issue with Harley-Davidson stems from the flags mounted on his trike, and the fact that Zien can often be found bombing around on his trike, with his flags waiving not only during rallies and parades, but also at highway speeds.

Saying that while flags at parade speeds are of course just one of the many ways Harley-Davidson owners can customize their machine, the Bar & Shield brand contends that the aerodynamic forces of two large flags (Zien has seven flags in total mounted on his trike) puts an undue stress on the machine, and thus Harley-Davidson cannot cover Zien’s warranty claim.

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News

Women Enjoy Motorcycles & Other Obvious Conclusions

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Months ago, while bouldering with my friend Erica, I asked her if she ever wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle; she did a little shoulder dance, scrunched her face and exclaimed: “@#$& yeah, I’ve always wanted to dress up in leathers and be a badass chick on a bike.”

I laughed at the time, thinking her sentiments sounded more performative than substantive, but a recently released report on research conducted by Kelton and commissioned by Harley-Davidson suggests that motorcycling could indeed be a critical lifestyle palliative (or amphetamine?) for women.

Boring statistics first: women now make up 12% of the riding population in the United States — up 30% over the previous decade.

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News

Who Has the Best Dealer Network in the USA? Ducati

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The Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) has become the motorcycle industry’s gold standard on dealer assessment, especially between brands. Scoring on the PSI is done by a combination of industry sales, as well as mystery shopper experiences, which Pied Piper itself conducts.

Tallying scores for their 2014 report now, Pied Piper has announced that Ducati has come out on top in the Prospect Satisfaction Index rankings, followed by Harley-Davidson (2nd) and Can-Am (3rd). Overall though, motorcycles dealers across all brands improved on their scores from 2012, with 12 of the 17 measured brands getting higher scores than last year.

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News

US Motorcycle Q1 2014 Sales Flatlined

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How Is that rebounding economy treating you? If you work in the motorcycle industry, probably not so well according to the Motorcycle Industry Council’s latest sales report, which highlights sales from the first-quarter of 2014. Down 0.2% (or 118 units) from Q1 2013, the slight decline over last year’s numbers are primarily due to a 10.7% sales drop in scooter sales.

Dual-sport motorcycles were up 3.9% (7,644 units), with on-road bikes holding at 0.9% growth (65,301 units). Dirt bike sales were down 2.7% during the same three-month time period (16,597 units).

In total, 94,524 two-wheel vehicles were sold in the US (94,772 units were sold in Q1 2013) according to the MIC, which tracks Can-Am, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Piaggio Group, Victory, Suzuki, Triumph, and Yamaha.

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Bikes

Harley-Davidson Powered Prius Found on eBay

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The guys and gals over at Autoblog never cease to disappoint when it comes to finding some of the most outrageous automotive concoctions on the internet, and today is no exception.

Someone had the audacity/genius, to completely rip out the guts of a 2008 Toyota Prius, and stuff in a Harley Davidson motor from 1986.

While some will be cringing in terror and anger after seeing the Captain Planet mobile so horribly butchered, remember that the “Toyohog”, as the team calls it, was built to compete in the 24 Hours of LeMons, and maybe win the “Albert Gore Jr. Carbon Neutral Cup”, one of the many LeMons season prizes.

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