Harley-Davidson Livewire: First Test

When the news broke last week that Harley-Davidson – that American bastion of tradition, big cubes, petrol and iron – had a ready-to-ride all-electric naked roaster waiting in the wings, we were as stunned as the next man.

A little Internet research revealed that the Americans don’t celebrate April Fool’s Day in June, so we jumped on a plane to New York for the world unveiling of LiveWire, and the opportunity to to do what very few in the world have had a chance to do: ride it.

A full ride review is in the June 25 edition of the paper, where first impressions from MCN’s Andy Downes have been resoundly positive,

‘It feels fast, and there’s absolutely no question that it’ll have the measure of any conventionally powered motorcycle in urban use’.

To tide you over until the full review in tomorrow’s paper, we snapped some behind-the-scenes photos at the launch party late last night in New York. These should offer a closer look at the LiveWire and show quite clearly that the LiveWire is visibly production-ready with every detail honed and refined.