Harley-Davidson Just Slashed Nearly $16,000 Off Its Most Controversial Motorcycle
Harley-Davidson has built some seriously expensive motorcycles, but one machine asked buyers to swallow a price tag that was difficult to defend from day one. It was fast, futuristic and unlike anything the company had produced before, yet even its clever hardware could not stop riders from choking when they saw what Harley wanted for it.
Harley’s $30,000 Electric Experiment Now Costs $13,999
The original LiveWire arrived before most established motorcycle companies were willing to touch a serious electric bike. Harley deserves credit for taking that gamble, especially considering its customer base generally prefers large V-Twin engines. Unfortunately, that brave thinking came with a $29,799 starting price. Riders could buy several outrageously fast gasoline-powered motorcycles for less money, and those bikes could be refueled in five minutes without locating a charger behind a strip mall. Harley later spun LiveWire into its own electric motorcycle brand, and the original machine was renamed the LiveWire ONE. Its price initially dropped to $21,999, but LiveWire has now gone much further by cutting it to $13,999. That represents a total reduction of $15,800 from the original 2019 price, or slightly more than 53 percent. The bike has not suddenly become cheap, but it now costs less than half what Harley originally wanted. Apparently, the future of motorcycling needed to spend a few years sitting on the clearance rack before becoming affordable.
This Silent Harley Is Still Stupidly Quick
The lower price does not transform the LiveWire ONE into some watered-down motorcycle wearing yesterday’s premium badge. Its electric motor still produces 100 hp and 84 lb-ft of torque, and can launch the motorcycle from 0-60 mph in 3 seconds. That is fast enough to make its missing exhaust note seem considerably less important.
Top speed is 110 mph, while the 15.4-kWh battery provides a claimed 146 miles of city range. The combined range at 55 mph drops to 95 miles, which means this is still better suited to urban blasting and shorter adventures than disappearing across three states with a bedroll tied to the back. Unlike LiveWire’s newer and cheaper S2 motorcycles, the ONE supports DC fast charging. It can recharge from zero to 80 percent in approximately 40 minutes or reach 100 percent in an hour. Level 1 charging is considerably slower, while connecting it to a Level 2 charger provides no additional speed because the bike charges at the same rate as Level 1.
The ONE also gets Brembo brakes, Showa suspension, cornering ABS, traction control, multiple riding modes and a 4.3-inch touchscreen. It weighs a chunky 562 lbs, so nobody will mistake it for a dainty electric bicycle after dropping it in the driveway.
Does The LiveWire ONE Finally Make Sense?
At $13,999, the ONE sits surprisingly close to the rest of LiveWire’s lineup. The S2 Del Mar starts at $11,999, the S2 Mulholland costs the same and the S2 Alpinista begins at $12,999. Spending another $1,000 to $2,000 gets buyers more power, greater city range and DC fast charging. The catch is that the ONE is now based on seven-year-old technology. LiveWire’s newer S2 bikes are lighter, support proper Level 2 charging and offer features such as over-the-air updates and assisted reverse. The ONE remains the heavier old bruiser of the family, but it is also the fastest-charging and most powerful option. Still, the new price completely changes the argument. At $13,999, it becomes a brutally quick, premium electric motorcycle with real personality.
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