Harley Davidson
Harley-Davidson LiveWire Buyers to Get Free Charging
Harley-Davidson is betting big on a future beyond the Baby Boomers, and its new LiveWire electric motorcycle is leading the charge (see what I did there?). Whether or not the bike will be a commercial success is something that remains to be seen, of course– but it just got a big boost in the form of a partnership with Electrify America that will give electric Harley buyers something pretty cool: free charging. “At Harley-Davidson, we are taking significant steps to lead in the electrification of motorcycling, including supporting the development of global charging infrastructure … including having access to complimentary charging on Electrify America’s growing network.” says Luke Mansfield, vice president and chief strategy officer for Harley-Davidson. That “g...
Video: Harley LiveWire and the Sound of Silence
The embattled Harley-Davidson motorcycle company has been pushing hard to reinvent itself in recent years, with sporty new products and new marketing campaigns that target a younger, more more modern, more genteel demographic. Its most publicized and expensive attempt to get people to think of Harley as a modern company, though, is undoubtedly the LiveWire electric motorcycle. It is massively important, and its success represents nothing less than the survival of an independent HD– which begs the important question: how does the LiveWire sound? Yes, I know it’s silly to talk about how important an electric motorcycle’s sound is. Still, this is Harley-Davidson we’re talking about. Remember that, “for decades, the sound of a Harley-Davidson was at least as impor...
Report: Record Number of Households Own a Motorcycle
A new report from the Motorcycle Industry Council found that 8% of US households had a motorcycle in 2018, according to their polling data. That’s big news for motorcyclists, because it’s the highest percentage ever recorded by the MIC. The household penetration numbers have always been among the most important figures to us,” said MIC President and CEO Tim Buche. “We’re certainly happy to see more homes that have a motorcycle. Riders who talk about motorcycling to friends and neighbors help to inspire people who don’t yet ride.” The is even more good news for the industry in the report. The total number of motorcycle owners seems to have reached record levels, too, with 13,158,100 motorcycles currently registered in the US. That number reflects an is an increase of roughly 2.5...
Harley is in Trouble — Buyers are Getting Too Old to Ride
Harley-Davidson is in trouble. If you don’t understand how much trouble it’s in, consider that the company just launched– to much fanfare!– an all-electric motorcycle that offers less power and half the range of its nearest competitor, yet is priced 300% higher. Next, realize that that is Harley’s best hope for the future. What happened? Well, we could talk about Harley’s carefully crafted, corporate-sponsored cult following. We could talk about a culture of denigrating women and promoting a toxic brand of masculinity that toyed with a number of repressed, homoerotic themes. We could even skip all that, and just talk about the fact that Harley has always built kinda shitty bikes– but the problem isn’t any of those things. Not obviously, anywa...
5 New VEHICLES We’re Looking Forward to in 2019
2018 has brought us a ton of great green car action, from a wild Formula 1 season that saw Ferrari– finally!– put up a legitimate challenge to Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes to the CEO of a multi-billion dollar EV company calling a British rescue diver a pedophile on a public forum. It’s been an awesome year, and the green car revolution keeps soldiering on, but some aspects of that march are more exciting than others. To that end, here are five of the new vehicles set to debut in the coming year that we’re most excited about here at Gas 2. Check out the list, then let us know what new cars or bikes you’re most looking forward to most in the comments section at the bottom of the page. The New Lynk & Co. 01 You’ve likely heard the phrase, “...
Royal Enfield 650 Twins Force Harley to Drop Prices by 30%
The new Royal Enfield 650 Twin is a beautiful thing. Sure, the air-cooled parallel-twin engined bikes aren’t exactly high-tech. Then again, neither is Harley-Davidson, Enfield’s main competitor in Indian and Southeast Asia– and demand for the new Royal Enfield is strong enough that it’s driven Harley’s price down. Down by nearly 30%!! In India– arguably Harley’s home market, these days— the Royal Enfield 650 Twins are direct rivals to the Harley-Davidson Street models. Where the Street 750s are priced at about Rs 5.3 lakh Rupees (approx. 7330USD), the Royal Enfield 650 Twin is priced from just Rs 2.3 lakh Rupees (approx. 3180USD, as I type this). That puts the Harley at more than twice the price of the Enfield. For that high price, though, yo...
Alta Motorcycles has Shut Down Operations
Despite having signed on more than 40 dealerships and pulled off a national level race win, Alta Motors shut down its business operations earlier this week. The shuttering of the company means the company’s staff is looking for work as the electric motorcycle manufacturer looks for future funding. This isn’t how it was supposed to go for Alta. The bikes were fast, seemed well-built, and– critically– were set to be the basis for the next generation of electric Harley Davidson motorcycles. It’s that last bit, though, that fell through and eventually led to the company’s demise. That was back in August, and it marked the end of both the R&D project AND Harley’s continued investment in Alta. From that point forward, Alta Motors has been in talks w...
Trump Trade War Hits Harley Davidson, Wisconsin
This week marks the first in which American motorcycle icon Harley-Davidson has to face stiff trade tariffs in EU markets. It’s a move that’s being called a retaliation to Trump administration tariffs on European aluminum and steel that sees a 25% import tariff on large motorcycles coming from the US. “Large”, in this case, references motorcycles whose engines displace 500cc or more. That means the new 25% tax will hit both Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycles, but won’t impact electric brands like Zero. To quote Asphalt and Rubber, “the (EU) is adding the 25% tariff to the goods that fall under HS code 87114000 & 87115000 on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System,” which state: 87114000: Motorcycles, incl. mopeds, with...
State of the Industry 2018: Electric Motorcycles
While many electric motorcycles have come and gone, some elmoto manufacturers have remained in business and even grown. We’ll look at the state of two-wheeled electrification, big and small, slow and fast in 2018.
Quick Drive: The Harley-Davidson LiveWire
Susanna Schick got to ride Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric concept bike, getting a firsthand look at Harley's first electric vehicle. Would you buy it?
Brammo Now Available at Hollywood Electrics
Hollywood Electrics, the world's leading electric motorcycle dealership, takes on Brammo and announces a grand opening party to be held August 16th.