As part of its yearly financial reporting, Harley-Davidson has disclosed the LiveWire brand, which it launched in 2019 with an electric motorcycle of the same name, made $41.3 million from children’s e-bicycle sales across 2019, 2020, and the first three quarters of 2021.
With a push toward e-mobility, Harley-Davidson also has an e-bike spin-off called Serial 1. Importantly, Serial 1 is a serious undertaking, not a brand licensing exercise, with bikes showing distinct Harley design styling, and power coming from Brose motors.
Launched into U.K. dealers in September/October, the four-bike range delivers a maximum of 250W with a range up to 105 miles. In short, everything you’d expect of an e-bike from a leading cycling brand.
The move to e-mobility is something which Harley-Davidson is well placed to make – the brands story starts in 1903 with the founders fitting motors into bicycle frames.
As auto manufacturers of the four-wheeled variety show serious interest in the future of e-mobility, it raises the question: “How long before we see e-bikes from auto and motorcycle manufactures sold alongside pure cycling brands, in specialist e-mobility retailers?”
The first signs of this may come in the more subtle form of auto industry OEM suppliers, such as Valeo, with their motor and 7 speed gearbox, launching ancillaries for traditional bicycle brands to use in their own e-bike products.
