Harley-Davidson is pouring sponsorship dollars into the Formula 1 electric category ahead of the release of their first electric motorcycle, the LiveWire.
Just because Harley is sponsoring leading Formula E team Envision Virgin Racing does not necessarily mean the iconic American company will produce electric cars in future.
After all, Harley has previously sponsored other car racing categories, including several of the Australian Supercars drivers, and has not yet released a four-wheeler.
However, never say never, right?
The sponsorship deal is more to do with the incoming wave of electric mobility and raising its profile in Europe where the company is facing hefty retaliatory tariffs in the wake of President Trump’s trade wars.
Trump responded by saying the European tariff hike on Harleys and other American products was “unfair to the US” and that “we will reciprocate”.
However, the tariff hike is in response to Trump’s tariff hike on European steel and uranium which also increased raw material costs for Harley.
When Harley announced last year that they were closing a Missouri factory and opening on in Thailand, Trump called for a boycott on Harley for moving production offshore, even though they had already been making bikes in Brazil and India for some years.
On Saturday morning, March 23, motorcycle industry professionals, riders, and custom bike enthusiasts around the world learned of the passing of industry luminary Arlen Ness, who died peacefully in his home the night before surrounded by family and loved ones. First and foremost, Ness was a loving husband, father, and grandfather, but to motorcyclists around the globe he was a visionary, leader, and considered by many to be the godfather of the modern custom motorcycle.
Arlen Ness’ motorcycle empire started with a single bike, a 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead that he purchased with the winnings from his semi-professional bowling league. By the late 1960s, choppers had taken over the streets of California, and although Ness was primarily into four-wheeled hot rods, he couldn’t escape the bug. The ’47 Knuck was given what would now be referred to as the “Ness treatment” in the family garage in San Leandro, California. It didn’t take long for his first custom to catch the eyes of magazine photographers and the public fell in love with Ness’ fresh take on the American chopper. The paintwork on the Knuck alone led to his taking custom painting work and eventually opening a storefront and painting motorcycles full time.
With a family to support and a burgeoning business to grow, there was no money for new motorcycles to show every year. Ness continuously built and rebuilt his original ’47 every year in order to stay competitive at local shows and keep his work in the public eye. In doing so, he made the discovery that there wasn’t much variety in terms of parts available to customizers.
Ness took it upon himself to provide that necessary variety to the custom motorcycle market by selling chromed rims and handlebars of his own design. His shelf stock continued to grow, with painting still the primary business, and the local biker community supported both of Ness’ ventures. Before long, word of his custom parts had spread outside of the local area and calls came in from all over from customers looking to add that unique Ness touch to their bikes. To support his long-distance customers, his wife (now of 57 years) Beverly typed up the company’s first “catalog,” which was a simple list of parts and prices.
The business grew, and although it remained in his ownership, the ’47 Knuck, named “Untouchable,” retired from show duty and now he could afford to purchase more bikes and take customizing even further. Choppers may have ruled the road in the late ’60s, but long, low, and lean diggers were on the horizon and were championed by none other than Arlen Ness himself. This general style would go on to be one of the hallmarks of a Ness build through to present times.
For decades, every Arlen Ness build somehow managed to outdo the previous one with Untouchable being one-upped by “Two Bad,” a dual-engine Sportster that used a car-style hub front wheel. Later bikes capitalized on the Ness reputation like the classically styled “Ness-Tique,” the Chevy Bel Air-inspired “Ness-Stalgia,” the modern hypercar-inspired “Smooth-Ness,” and one of his most popular builds, “Mach-Ness,” which used a jet helicopter engine rather than the usual V-twin.
The custom motorcycle world grew bigger and bigger, and Arlen Ness became one of the first parts manufacturers to use CNC machining to produce high-quality, show-ready components that individuals could easily bolt onto their Harleys or customs. The nearly unlimited manufacturing potential allowed Ness to develop a thick catalog of parts, which today stretches across several hundred pages and a website. Along the way, every custom bike Arlen built was saved, and today the museum at the company’s 70,000-square-foot Dublin, California, headquarters is home to dozens of his builds.
In nearly all of his tributes, the word “legacy” is used at least once, and rare it is that a legacy like Arlen Ness’ is seen in this world. He not only left a mark on the custom bike industry, but is in large part responsible for what it is today. His mail-order business with a real-world build background set the standard for dozens of custom parts manufacturers today. He also leaves behind a strong legacy in the Ness name, with son Cory having been a major part of his dad’s company for more than 30 years, and grandson Zach, who started building custom bikes in high school and has become one of the industry’s top builders in his own right. Undoubtedly, Arlen Ness, the brand, has a strong future of pushing boundaries and setting standards in the custom world under their leadership.
A celebration of life for Arlen Ness will be held Saturday, April 27, at 10:30 a.m. at CrossWinds Church in Livermore, California, which will be followed by a group ride to the Arlen Ness dealership in Dublin.
Half of all new Harley-Davidson motorcycles are bought by riders aged up to 34 years, female and ethnically diverse, says CEO and president Matt Levatich.
His claims came in the announcement of the 2019 first-quarter results which show global sales down 3.8% to 49,151. Revenue was down $US1.38b (10.2%) and net income down $US127.9m.
Matt says of the 278,000 new buyers of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the US last year, half were either under 34, female or ethnically diverse.
“This group is the most diverse across age, ethnicity and gender in all the years we’ve tracked this data,” he says.
“These results continued into 2019. Of the total U.S. new retail sales in Q1, the mix of 18 to 34-year olds was up 2.6 percentage points and the number of young people participating in Riding Academy and taking test rides was also up over last year.”
Harley’s Riding Academy
He also says “young adults” also comprise a quarter of the “initial interest” in the electric LiveWire which is due in September in the US and Europe at $US29,990 (about $A42,500).
It will arrive in Australia late next year.
Harley-Davidson Livewire
Trade wars
Matt says the company faced several sales hurdles in the past year, “including the impact of the ongoing trade wars”.
The trade wars started when President Donald Trump erroneously complained about 100% tariffs on Harleys into India.
It has since escalated into hiked tariffs on Harleys into Europe and China and higher US tariffs on imported steel and aluminium. Harley has not put a figure on the increased cost of raw materials but Polaris last year said it cost them $30m.
“The tariff mitigation we realised allowed more competitive pricing and access to more customers,” Matt says.
“As a result, we saw Q1 retail sales in emerging ASEAN markets increase by 126%.
“We plan to supply China from Thailand by the end of the year, further leveraging the value of this aspect of our strategy.”
The 10 ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Harley-Davidson Australia spokesman Keith Waddell says the company has confirmed to them that “motorcycles for Australia will not be assembled in Thailand”.
Good times flow freely in Milwaukee. Millions of hangovers owe their existence to Brewtown, as do countless decibels of V-twin fun. It stands to reason that Harley-Davidson’s birthplace also has one of the oldest motorcycle police units in America.
The Milwaukee Police Motorcycle Unit formed in 1910, just seven years after H-D’s founding. Its first Harley had one cylinder, displaced 30ci, and had white rubber tires. They must have liked it. Today, 109 years later, nothing but Harleys have rumbled underneath motor-unit officers. What would it take to switch to another bike?
“An act of God,” officer Dave Lemanczyk says.
Someone floated the idea 20 years ago, albeit briefly. The motor unit tested a BMW, but when city hall found out, the idea was quickly quashed. The fate of the test bike is unknown.
Today the 55-bike fleet calls a facility on West Vliet Street home. It shares space with the SWAT unit. The building dates to the early 1900s and is the oldest functioning police building in Milwaukee. Prohibition-era arrestees were dropped off and processed here. Notable alumni? Try John Dillinger.
The Milwaukee Police Motorcycle Unit counts 44 officers in its ranks, including one current female officer. Some are second-generation. Officer John Kulmann’s father was a motor-unit officer in Milwaukee, while Sgt. Roberto Colon’s uncle was a motor-unit officer in Puerto Rico. Kulmann vividly remembers the sight of his dad’s bike in the garage.
“It was just something you were born and raised with,” he says.
Kulmann’s father backed up one of Colon’s first foot chases, and Colon still remembers the thundering Harley as it cornered the suspect in a south-side alley. He entered the motor-unit program shortly thereafter.
Remarkably, officers are responsible for all motorcycle maintenance, and some repairs are even done by officers, led by Lemanczyk. It’s partly for budget reasons. Less money spent on repairs means more money for safety gear. But it’s also the pride of ownership. Unlike picking a random Crown Vic from the station lot, each motorcycle belongs to an officer. Each is outfitted and optimized for an officer’s physique and taste. Do they lend their bikes out to other officers?
“We don’t like to do that,” Lemanczyk says.
Salt is a big problem. The bikes get routinely washed in the heated garage. Motor-unit bikes live on city streets, not highways, so wheel bearings are frequent victims of potholes and winter-scarred pavement. Not fork seals, though. The Harley units are good for about six years. Bikes are typically kept in service for about three to five years before being traded in for newer models. The 2012 models make up most of the fleet, but are due for replacement this year.
“Three or four years is the magic number. After that, they start eating through the budget,” Lemanczyk says.
Officers wire the bikes for police radios, sirens, and auxiliary power for laptops. They regularly devise their own systems for luggage hardware. Gear designers learn from the motor unit. The laptops in the trunk are attached with a “Milwaukee mount.” Other gear is timeless, with some sirens dating back to the 1950s.
“If they’re still good, we keep using them,” Lemanczyk says.
Winter duties are light for the motor unit, with officers reverting to cars, or “cages,” for duty. But even in winter, traffic detail for bigger events such as Bucks games put bikes on the road. Some enjoy time out of the saddle, but for others the itch to ride won’t wait till spring.
“In February I start getting requests to take bikes out on a daily basis,” Colon says. Californians, take note.
The garage is surgically clean, with a lone SWAT vehicle keeping the bikes company. A tiny office on the southwest corner of the building is where suspects were once unloaded from police vans. Now it’s an unofficial lounge. Government-issue furniture sits next to officers’ snapshots, souvenirs, and a framed photo of a 1968 riot arrest. These walls have absorbed thousands of stories from opposite sides of the law.
Milwaukee has more than its fair share of crime and challenges. But motor-unit officers see themselves as more than just cops. They also provide community outreach.
“You’re much more approachable,” Lemanczyk says. “You’ll be at a red light, and someone will roll their windows down and joke, ‘Hey, wanna trade?’ ”
Asked if the unit had a message for trouble-minded visitors, he simply smiles and says, “Go back to Chicago.”
Last April, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California debuted Custom Revolution, the first major museum exhibit focused on “Alternative Custom” motorcycles. Organized by the Motorcycle Arts Foundation (MAF), the exhibit had more than 325,000 visits and was so popular the Petersen asked MAF to organize a follow-up. Meet Electric Revolution, a successor that maintains the emphasis on quality workmanship but focuses on zero-emission drivetrains. It is the world’s first all-electric motorcycle exhibition.
MAF co-founder Paul d’Orleans (you may also know him as The Vintagent) was again asked to guest curate the exhibition, and he brought together 21 machines that encompass more than 40 years of technological progress. The oldest machine is Quicksilver by Mike Corbin, which was the first electric motorcycle to do the ton and eventually set a record of 161 mph at Bonneville.
The rest of the motorcycles offer up tremendous variety, including one-off racers, factory prototypes, customs built specifically for Electric Revolution, and production machines that you could put in your garage today. We attended the opening night reception and were impressed with the quality and variety of machines that were on display, particularly Mark Atkinson’s “Racer X” and Joey Ruiter’s “Moto Undone.”
Electric Revolution will be open to the public until November 24, 2019. You can purchase tickets at the Petersen Museum.
Tickets are now available for the Freak Show Festival of Motorcycles which is being run in conjunction with the return of the national Harley Owners Group (HOG) rally in Walcha, NSW, from November 15-17, 2019.
Founder David Rollins says those events have not been completely shelved, but they have given birth to this new event.
“We developed a good relationship with the people of Walcha in that time, we’ve earned their trust and now we want to repay it,” he says.
“The town is providing us with first-class facilities so that we can stage an event to remember.
“We’ve had a lot of interest in pre-launch registrations.”
Among the attractions for the weekend will be a “Hell Climb” hillclimb, custom show, flat-track exhibition racing, stalls, music, outdoor cinema, trade show, globe of death, donuts and burnouts in a closed-off arena.
HOG will have guided rides and HOG members will lead off the Thunder Rally.
Punters will be invited to have a go at the flat track like Brisbane’s Dust Hustle event on a purpose-built track on vacant land next to the town’s racecourse.
“The Freak Show of Motorcycles will be like the Summernats for motorcycles,” David says.
“We’re expecting about 5000 attendees a day for the three days of the event.”
HOGs and more
Thunder Run at the last National HOG Rally in Tamworth
HOG members may be glad to see the final return of their national rally.
It was last held in 2015 at Tamworth and followed by open Harley Days rallies at Wollongong in 2016 and 2017.
HOG members were unhappy with the open format so there was no 2018 national rally.
Now the national HOG rally will return at Walcha to run as an open event alongside the Freak Show which is described as a festival of motorcycles of all types.
Harley-Davidson Australia customer experience manager Gaz Luxmore says the partnership between the Freak Show Festival of Motorcycles and Harley-Davidson is “a perfect way of bringing together different riding communities and incorporating the national HOG Rally”.
“The lovely, motorcycle friendly town of Walcha and the fantastic roads of central NSW will create a magnificent backdrop for a truly unique and spectacular event,” he says.
Walcha crossroads
Walcha was chosen for the event because it sits at the crossroads of some of the best motorcycling routes in NSW taking in the Oxley Highway, New England Highway, Waterfall Way and Thunderbolts Way.
Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson says Walcha is “known for being popular with motorcycle tourists”.
The rally will be held in the Walcha racecourse and sale yards with various levels of camping right up to five-star “glamping”.
“All accommodation has been booked out in Walcha already, but there is still heaps in Armidale and Tamworth. Plus we will have on-site camping options from standard tents to Lawrence of Arabia style,” David says.
Shuttle buses to and from events, accommodation and the town centre will be provided.
Harley Owners Group spokesman Andrew Kidd says Walcha is a “reasonable size town with good facilities”.
“Much like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the surrounding towns will be more than able to handle the volume of riders coming to the event,” he says.
“The local roads are renowned as some of the best riding roads in the country so come along and enjoy a great event and some fantastic roads.”
Riders in Walcha at the Royal Cafe
David says the one ticket will gain access to all areas and sites that Freak Show Festival of Motorcycles has to offer.
Tickets go on sale at the end of March and David says they will be “competitively priced”.
David says they have major sponsorship support from Harley-Davidson Australia and the NSW Government’s major events agency, Destination NSW.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events and Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall says the motorcycle event will deliver more than $1.7 million in visitor expenditure to the region.
The spate of trademark filings in the US and Europe have got the industry buzzing about a possible model assault from a company which has been fairly steady in its lineup for a few years.
This is in stark contrast to their American colleagues, Harley-Davidson, who are on a plan to release 100 new models in 10 years, including electric bikes and an adventure bike.
Could Indian also be considering an electric or something totally out of the box like Harley’s Pan America adventure bike?
Harley Pan America
The trademarks are for the names Indian Raven, Indian Renegade and Indian Challenger for use on “motorcycles and structural parts therefor” plus “clothing namely shirts, jackets, hats and gloves”.
The use of the name “Indian Challenger” is probably to avoid any trademark infringement on the Dodge Challenger pony car.
Harley-Davidson has employed its first brand president as the company moves to protect its valuable trademark, even challenging a charity’s use of its logo.
Neil Grimmer joins the company after 20 years of building brands including founding Habit, the world’s first personalised nutrition life science company.
He will be responsible for all aspects of the Harley-Davidson brand including product planning, marketing, retail, apparel and communications.
Valuable brand
Neil will also be responsible for protecting the brand which has been valued as a $5 billion asset.
Harley-Davidson’s name, trademark, and bar-and-shield and bald eagle logos are among the world’s most recognised.
In the late 1990s, the company even tried to trademark their distinctive “potato-potato” exhaust noise, but failed in US courts.
Now the Milwaukee company is opposing a trademark application by Panache Social Club which collects and distributes food, clothing, toiletries and school supplies for the homeless, less fortunate kids and people in need.
Harley told the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that the Panache trademark features a bar and shield logo that is identical to theirs.
Panache logo
“Applicants are consumers of Harley-Davidson’s goods and services, particularly given the depiction of a motorcycle image within applicants’ logo,” Harley claims.
Harley is also concerned that Panache, which organises social clubs, also encroaches on the trademarks used by the Harley Owners Group, one of the largest manufacturer-sponsored motorcycle riding clubs in the world.
“When applicants’ claimed trademark is applied to their social services, there is a strong likelihood of confusion, mistake, or deception that the ordinary consumer will erroneously believe that applicants’ services either originate from or are sponsored, approved, or licensed by Harley-Davidson,” the company told the appeal board.
Pivotal time
Harley boss Matt Levatich says the appointment of their first brand president comes at a “pivotal time”.
“The addition of Neil Grimmer to our seasoned group of leaders, enhances our capabilities and will sharpen our focus on strategic and long-term growth opportunities to ensure our future success,” he says.
“We have a clear vision, and the leadership team and organisation are aligned and energised around it.”
Neil recognises that Harley-Davidson “is an iconic American brand recognised around the world as a symbol of personal expression and individual freedom”.
“It is nothing short of an honour and a privilege to work with Matt and the amazing team at Harley to bring the strategy to life and excite the next generation of riders, ushering in the next chapter of the storied legacy of Harley-Davidson.”
Thailand has become one of the powerhouses in the automotive world, manufacturing motorcycle brands as diverse as BMW, Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Triumph and Royal Enfield.
It’s now the largest automotive manufacturer in South East Asia and the 12th in the world, thanks to protective tariffs, corporate tax breaks and a central location wth several ports for export.
Powerhouse
Every dual-cab ute and Honda car, plus small Mazdas, Fords and MG sold into Australia are made in Thailand.
There are also more than 1800 automotive parts manufacturers in Thailand including the premium Swedish Ohlins suspension and BMW batteries for electric cars, scooters and future motorcycles.
BMW’s Thai EV battery factory
Motorcycle manufacture is also growing in leaps and bounds with Royal Enfield the eighth to announce it will open a factory in the country.
In 2015, Thailand made 1.8 motorcycles, with domestic sales of 1.6 million and exports of 350,000 units.
At the moment, the only motorcycles exported to Australia from Thailand are 80% of the Triumph range and some small- and medium-capacity Japanese bikes and scooters.
“As we explained when we announced this project in 2017, we intend to utilise it to make more of our products accessible to customers and targeted international market,” he says.
However, Harley-Davidson Australia spokesman Keith Waddell says the company has confirmed to them that “motorcycles for Australia will not be assembled in Thailand”.
That could change in years to come.
Thailand skeptics
Troy Bayliss tours the Ducati factory in Thailand (Image: Ultimate Motorcycle
When Honda announced it would be importing most of its cars from a new factory just outside Bangkok about a decade ago, there was some skepticism among Australian motoring journalists that they would be accepted by Aussie motorists.
So Honda Australia organised a tour of their factory which I attended.
I was surprised to find a state-of-the-art facility built on a greenfield site with supervisors walking around wearing white gloves and a floor so clean you could eat your dinner off it.
One supervisor told me the quality was strictly controlled, but the humid environment actually cured plastics and rubber better for a longer life than in vehicles made in Japan.
However, another manufacturer told me the humidity destroys some rubber very quickly.
To Aussie drivers, there now seems no problem with Thai-made cars. In fact, our top-four-selling vehicles are all Thai made.
The vehicles are good quality and the Thai-Australian free trade agreement makes them good value.
Likewise, there should be little concern with Thai bikes.
However, some say the recall problems Triumph has suffered in recent years are a result of Thai production.
Rather than a lack of quality production facilities, it’s more likely the rush to get new models on to the market as is the case with most motorcycle manufacturers.
Harley-Davidson has now provided more detailed specs for its LiveWire electric motorcycle, together with plans for fast-charging devices at dealerships.
We rode the first incarnation of the LiveWire in LA in 2014 and inspected the production model at Milwaukee last year.
While some of the bike’s specs were provided, range was still a vague figure that seemed to vary from about 100-160km depending on whom you spoke to at HD.
Now Harley-Davidson has announced the final production-verified performance figures for LiveWire:
225km (140 miles) of city range or 142km (88 miles) of combined stop-and-go and highway range as measured using the MIC City and MIC Combined (70mph) tests;
Standard DC Fast Charge technology which provides a 0-80% of battery charge in 40 minutes or 0-100% in 60 minutes;
Top speed is 177km/h (110mph); and
0 to 100km/h in 3 seconds and 100-130km/h in 1.9 seconds.
The range figures are interesting because most companies just state one figure which is useless as range varies substantially on a number of factors. Click here for more details.
LiveWire will be available for sale in North America in August at $29,790, but is already taking orders. It will be available late this year in Europe and Canada with orders open from April.
Charging points on the LIveWire are under the “fuel” cap.
That’s a handy service and we expect it might even be free or, at least, very cheap.
It’s also a good sales tactic as it would guarantee riders called into dealerships more often.
Riders would not only be able to charge their LiveWire electric motorcycle, but also the new children’s Harley-branded electric bicycles.
Harley also plans a range of e-bikes, electric scooters and smaller urban electric motorcycles than the LiveWire.
Harley electric scooter
Electric bicycle
More LiveWire specs
Familiar switchgear
LiveWire has a twist-and-go electric powertrain with no clutch or gear shifting, just like most scooters and many other electric motorcycles.
Braking effect of the power regeneration mode adds charge to the battery, especially in stop-and-go urban traffic.
Central to the technology driving the LiveWire is an Electronic Chassis Control (ECC) system.
It uses cornering ABS, traction control and Drag-Torque Slip Control System to “monitor and manage front and rear brake torque as well as motor torque to the rear wheel to enhance rider control and balance vehicle performance across diverse riding environments”.
In other words, it keeps the wheels on the ground and prevents slides.
In some markets, the LiveWire has the H-D Connect mobile app that uses an LTE-enabled Telematics Control Unit and cloud services to collect data and provide the rider with information about their bike such as battery charge status and available range, so long as you have mobile signal. It will also show riders where they can recharge and guide them there.
Touchscreen instruments
The app includes alerts riders if someone is trying to steal their bike and uses GPS to track it if it has been taken.
Riders will also get service reminders and other vehicle care notifications.
LiveWire has a fully adjustable Showa Balanced Free Rear Cushion-lite mono rear shock and Showa Separate Function Big Piston forks.
Fully adjustable Showa rear shock
It comes with Brembo monoblock front brake calipers on dual 300mm discs.
