Harley-Davidson
A breathtaking sunrise, but back pain as well: a trip with the Harley-Davidson Livewire brought both - because it ended in an excruciatingly long night at a charging station. The driver, he was stranded in a parking lot in Wittenburg (Mecklenburg).
On the way there, the machine had already failed at several fast charging stations - in contrast to the e-cars that tapped electricity there. Instead of sliding back to Hamburg, she charged from midnight to seven in the morning at a snail's pace next to the closed ski hall. The night in the parking lot had little to do with the freedom of motorcycling.
Harley-Davidson likes to cultivate this feeling, albeit in an almost old-fashioned way. If you pick up your machine, you can expect a barbecue snack in the courtyard at the dealer, a brick facade, eagle motifs made of rusty metal and many chrome-decorated motorbikes, whose buyers probably saw Franz Beckenbauer still playing football. In the ambience of the Harley showroom, the livewire, which is simply constructed around the battery, looks like a foreign body.
A motorcycle made for the Tesla store
Ironically, the brand that seems to cling to the past like no other has brought this electric motorcycle onto the market. So that there are no misunderstandings: It's a really good one. Those who enjoy the ride on it will hardly suspect that recharging with electricity can rob you of sleep - and why that is so.
This is mainly due to the engine, baptized with the name "Revelation" (revelation). In fact, it does what its name promises. Regardless of the situation, the engine delivers. In sport mode, the 116 Newton meters of torque and 78 kilowatts of peak power - 106 HP in old currency - shoot the bike and rider into another dimension in the first few meters. The permanent magnet synchronous motor pushes so that the eyeballs feel against the back wall of the skull.
From almost 100 to almost 130 km / h in 1.9 seconds
The Revelation engine also drives powerfully between 80 and 130 km / h. The factory specification of 1.9 seconds for the intermediate sprint from 60 miles per hour (96.6 km / h) to 80 miles (approx. 129 km / h) seems credible. The numerous assistance systems including acceleration and yaw rate sensors keep the machine in check without patronizing the driver. In sport mode, the Livewire becomes an overtaking machine.
As much fun as this setting is, after a few kilometers the Ecomodus turns out to be the driving mode of choice - the driver senses how valuable every bit of energy can be at the end of the day. This economy setting is also sufficient for overtaking on the country road, only the distance on the acceleration handle is longer. You can glide more relaxed on the avenues of Mecklenburg. That changing the driving modes can be a bit fiddly: for free.
200 kilometers are easy to cover
In city traffic, the Harley can easily manage more than 200 kilometers. On the highway, however, one kilometer of range on the display corresponds to only around 500 meters of driving distance, there it is no more than 110 kilometers. With a 50:50 mix of city traffic and country roads, on the other hand, 200 kilometers are no problem with relaxed driving, even in pairs.
But riding with a pillion or pillion reveals an annoying weakness of the Livewire. As good and sporty as the driver's seating position is designed, the machine is difficult to use with two people. The footrests for driver and passenger are too close together for that, even with shoe sizes 43 and 39, heels and toes constantly collide. At the same time, the passenger has to cling to the driver. Because instead of a fixed handle at the rear, the sporty E-Harley only offers a leather strap that is stretched across the seat in front of the passenger. The strap may be useful as a handle in rodeo, but it is not a solution for many kilometers.
Playful electric driving fun
As annoying as such weaknesses are - as soon as the Livewire is running, it is downright unbeatable. The bike can be easily leaned into curves, even the next roundabout brings anticipation. Showa suspension components swallow bumps. The driver doesn't have to do without sound for a second. The machine is clearly audible up to 100 km / h - and still appears comparatively quiet.
However, this successful motorcycle also contains another form of revelation: the apocalypse. Because while Harley-Davidson did everything right in terms of design, engine and driving experience, charging with electricity turns out to be the biggest weakness of Livewire. The bottom line is that both the type 2 connection that is standard in cars and the CCS fast charging function work terribly badly.
The first variant has a serious disadvantage: the Livewire's internal charger provides a maximum charging power of 1.4 kilowatts. It takes about twelve hours for the 15.5 kilowatt hour battery to be full. The supplied charger also only fits into normal Schuko sockets, which are not available on many public pillars.
Fast charging is not possible everywhere
There is also a second option for longer tours: the integrated CCS connection. It takes an hour for the battery to be full - provided you find a fast charging station that is compatible with the machine.
If not, you fall by the wayside. Therefore the trip from Hamburg to Wismar ended in a charging odyssey. There are CCS charging stations from various providers in Wismar. With most electric cars you would be on the safe side there. Both of them acknowledged every attempt to charge with error messages. The motorcycle and charging station were not compatible. So there was only the endlessly slow recharge via the type 2 connection to get to Wittenburg, 60 kilometers away, where CCS columns from three other providers are located.
Twelve instead of three hours drive home
The first turned out to be defective after several attempts and a call to the provider, the second was in maintenance mode. And the third one didn't want the livewire to fast-load either. So the excruciatingly slow Type 2 connection had to work. After all, it prevented the worst-case scenario with a remaining range of nine kilometers. Instead of three hours, the drive home took twelve hours due to the extremely long charging break, including the night in the ghostly empty parking lot.
The next day, the Livewire demonstrated on another column that it can be charged quickly - but then it didn't matter anymore. There is no real transparency where fast charging works with the exception of the columns at Harley dealers - the associated app does not help either.
According to the manufacturer, the fast charging problem is a teething problem. The company is working flat out to make the motorcycle compatible with other charging stations.
Until that is successful, there are probably only two options left: book hotels on the go or wait until more fast charging stations are compatible with the machine. In the meantime, the touring radius of the machine is limited to around 90 kilometers in some places.
However, the LiveWire is perfect for short country road exits and a stop at the ice cream parlor. Because she not only drives extremely well, the lack of sound draws her a lot of attention - and rather unusual contact with the police. An officer at the traffic light lowered the window to chat about the machine, only to ask a few more questions at the next traffic light.
A total of eleven people started talking about the motorcycle over three days; counting interested glances would be a hopeless undertaking. At the end of the day, everyone has to know for themselves whether this attention, the sensational driving experience and the perfect appearance at the ice cream parlor are worth 32,165 euros and the hassle at the charging station to date.
Icon: The mirror