by Elena Gorgan from https://www.autoevolution.com
Electrification is coming to motorcycles slowly, slower than it seems to be happening on the automotive market. the Harley-Davidson LiveWire, the first all-electric bike from the iconic American manufacturer, is a good example in this sense.
While certain riders will vouch for the LiveWire and its awesomeness in terms of rideability and performance, many still can’t get past the $30,000 price point – which, they believe, is simply too high for the kind of range it offers. Assuming money is not the issue, range anxiety can also not be a problem, as the first border-to-border trip across the U.S. on a LiveWire can attest.
Diego is a long-time Harley rider and an early adopter of EVs. He owns a LiveWire and, to mark his 50th birthday, he decided to use it to show the world that long-distance trips can (and should) be made on an all-electric motorcycle. With careful planning, backup plans crafted ahead of time, and patience, the experience can be an extremely beautiful and satisfying one. Bring your family along and you’ve got yourself an awesome road trip, one that will create memories to last a lifetime.
That’s what Diego did. He documented it all on social media (Harley-Davidson LiveWire Rider on Facebook): nearly one week and a half on the road, covering more than 1,300 miles (2,092 km) from the U.S.-Mexico border to the U.S.-Canada one and passing through California, Oregon and Washington. The trip was not rushed, so he wasn’t aiming for a certain number of miles to be covered daily.
The key to making it work on the LiveWire’s mixed city / highway range of 95 miles (153 km) was, of course, careful planning. He used the Plugshare app and only Charge Point and Electrify America stations. He would make sure to arrive to a station with a few miles of range left, which allowed him to travel to a second, backup station in case the first one was broken. When no charging station was available, he stopped for the night at a hotel.
His wife and daughter trailed behind in a Ford C-Max, and the daughter occasionally rode on the back of the LiveWire. They made tourist stops along the way and, though the bike never had any mechanical issues that required attention, he did lose his keyfob at a charging station when his wife fainted from heatstroke. The three had then to go back to search for the key, which they didn’t find, and wait until a spare shipped by FedEx. In total, the setback added some 200 miles (321 km) to their trip.
Reaching final destination was thrilling – a very satisfying outcome to a sometimes-hard but always fun ride.
“We made a 1400 all EV trip from the Mexican border to the Canadian border,” Diego says. “And it all ended the day of my birthday! Thanks to the manny people who we met in this journey to be the 1st #harleydavidson #livewire to do this and no one will take it from me.”
