KIWI RIDER 02 2019 VOL.2 | Page 98

NEW ELECTRIC HARLEY BREAKS COVER ast seen as a sketch in 2018, Harley- Davidson has debuted its latest electric motorcycle project at the X-GAMES in Aspen with Gold Medalist Jacko Strong. The as yet unnamed bike blends the world’s of motorcycle and mountain bike in a similar way to how Stealth Bikes approached the electric bike segment. With a large (for a mountain bike) tubular frame with battery pack and electric motor built into the crank, the concept transfers power to the rear wheel in typical Harley fashion with a belt drive, and from the video it looks like a seriously capable cross country machine despite the obvious limitations of its final drive system. While the Harley-Davidson Electric Concept is still just a prototype, and as such no specifications have been released, it does look remarkably close to potentially going into production. With Harley-Davidson’s CEO Matt Levatich promising 100 new high-impact Harley- Davidson models in 10 years back in 2017, the clock is ticking for the Bar and Shield to start pumping out some truly new products - not just rehashes of previous models as we have seen so far. With the production version of 2014’s Project Livewire due to head to New Zealand next year after an American debut this year and over 75 new models still to be announced, the clock ticks on…