Harley sub-brand Livewire reveals second electric motorcycle

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The promises made by Harley-Davidson ever since it spun its first electric bike, the Livewire, into a completely separate sub-brand have been ambitious. Three new models available within the next few years, a complete focus on battery-powered bikes, and, seemingly most ambitious of all, 100,000 sales by 2026, this last made all the more zealous by the fact the global market for all brands of full-sized electric motorcycles — i.e. not including scooters — is probably less than 10,000 a year.

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The first salvo will be the new S2 Del Mar. Styled very much in the tracker motif, Harley says the Del Mar weighs but 200 kilograms and rides on dual-sport-tire compatible 19-inch wheels. Horsepower is said to peak at 80 hp — good enough for a 3.5-second sprint to 96 kilometres an hour — and, though the company has not yet released battery specs outside of its using 2170 cylindrical cells, the S2 is said to be good for 160 kilometres of range in the city.

No highway range has yet been specified but, if the Livewire One is any judge, you might get 100 kilometres between charges when cruising the super-slab.

Said cruising range may prove an issue. Though 160 kilometres is more than enough to satisfy an urban commuter, the S2’s projected highway range really does mean its use will probably be restricted to inner cities and near-flung suburban areas. A city bike, then.

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That may make the S2’s base price of US$15,000 seem a ZEV too far. That’s about the same price as the new Nightster S, for instance, and it retails for over 18-large here in the Great White Frozen North. There will also be a limited edition — as in, they’re already sold out — with a custom hand-painted finish that Milwaukee says takes five days(!) to execute. It will cost US$17,699, almost the same as the base version of Harley’s incredibly popular Pan America 1250, which costs $21,599 here.

Is there a market for such expensive city bikes? I don’t know, but if anyone can do it, it’s Harley-Davidson. Uhm, I mean Livewire.