Harley-Davidson to launch electric motorcycles in Japan around 2024

I' ve bought 2 Harleys here in Japan. Once you have the best nothing else stacks up.

I can imagine them teaming up with audio, speaker makers, along programmers and you could program the thing to sound like any bike. engine. I guess we dinosaurs will have to change.

@samuraivunyl

The comment has no content.

It will be probably be built in India too which raises qc worries. ( Royal enfield , ktm, Vespa and lambretta are / were made in India I know but…. )

It really depends on the quality control of the manufacturer and most well known brands manufactur in those countries so that you and all happy people can use the technology.

On topic.

Harley is equal to engine sound which makes it famous. I wonder how this will impact people to choose Harley.

A Harley that sounds like a hairdryer?

Please bring me my medicine, nurse. I have entered the twilight Zone.

Easy Rider has left the building!

That rumble under your feet, felt from the next prefecture, the low growl of that iconic Harley V Twin....

That resonant sound replaced by a limp wristed Kenwood food mixer.

I am going to lie down.

Without that distinctive V-twin throaty sound.....it ain't no Harley. A whining whirrrr just doesn't cut it. I hear it's a hell of a performer though.

Still, I think I've seen more Harleys on the road in Japan where they are absurdly popular than in the U.S.

Everything Harley Davidson signifies, is true classic America on two wheels.

The open road perched on a steel arm chair.

The CVO Street Glide 

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/motorcycles/cvo-street-glide.html

Oh yes

The purr of a cat instead of a lion.

No. Just, no. I'm all for electric vehicles, but the whole point of some vehicles is the classic sound - like a hog has.

Is the future upon us yet?

The environment impact of the combustion engine, could spell the end of an era.

Grab what today has to offer, tomorrow represents a different world, no doubt for all the right reasons at heart.

However wrapped in cotton wool.

the whole point of some vehicles is the classic sound

I'm sure people said the same thing about the clattering of hooves on cobblestone.

The same was said about Ferrari.

Ferrari SF90 Stradale, first series production PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle): V8 turbo, 1000cv maximum power, weight power ratio of 1.57 kgcv.

Owned a HD almost all the times, People buy Harley for it's status, look, exhaust and engine sounds, simplicity, parts availability and the ultimate riding experience especially when touring, it just feels right.

Yes Japanese bikes, BMW, and many others are very good too, but they are NOT a Harley Davidson.

As for Electrical HD I am all for it for as long as it continues to sound and feel like a HD.

Triumph fan here.

but in Japan, you have to be a rich man with a small lower part to own a Harley. In my youth, to own such a bike, you had to be a street fighter. In Japan they are like very, very expensive toy poodles.

Harley Davidson were making their future plans to be an expansinon in the growing Chinese market.

They were a real status symbol there on par with Ferrari (don't laugh).

The Electric motorcycle was specifically designed (a bit smaller than usual with a fairly short range) for that market.

Then a guy with yellow hair became president, said a few things that the Chinese didn't like, passed an few laws and decrees that they Really didn't like ( removed privilege postage rates etc) and American stand out products became a big No No in China. Harley were THE BIG STAND OUT American product.

Sales went down the drain along with the Electric bike.

Only to be resuscitated later in Japan.

Best of Luck.

They will need it.

gary

Overrated brand..

Better Japanese all the way..

No thanks..

No thanks… have been riding for 35 years and have never and would never ride a Harley. Japanese and European brands a way way better 

This is from a life long BMW Motorrad rider; ride the Harley Pan America dual sport. It's incredible. Way better than any dual sport bike from Asia and fully competitive with the best from BMW and KTM. Put your shoulder chip away long enough to ride one.

Btw, once you see the ridiculously difficult and expensive oil change on a KTM then notice the new Harley engine, a high revving 150 hp DOHC 60 degree V-Twin has hydraulic lifters and the Harley's electronic suspension lowers itself 50mm when you come to a stop to facilitate flat footed stops you really begin to appreciate all the thought that went into that bike.

Just ride one.

The Electric motorcycle was specifically designed (a bit smaller than usual with a fairly short range) for that market.

It was designed for the US and European markets where electric bikes are becoming increasingly popular.

In China one cannot ride a motorcycle on a freeway and large motorcycles of all descriptions do not have the appeal to the Chinese that they have in the west or in Japan. I have in all my visits to China only seen two large motorcycles ever. One was a foreign registered BMW R-1200GS, some European maybe a diplomat, I don't know, and some local emergency services organization in Shanghai was using a big Honda Gold Wing. Other than that even the police bikes in China are small to medium displacement bikes. A Live Wire is a big bike by Chinese standards, not something you are going to ride in the scooter lane with all the electric scooters.

Everything Harley Davidson signifies, is true classic America on two wheels.

The open road perched on a steel arm chair.

Lol. I have one of Harley-Davidson's V-Rod series, a model called the Street Rod. It's the sportiest of the several different flavors of the V-Rod line with a very normal riding position, feet under your butt and lowish narrow handlebars much like an old BMW R100S. It has a unique to that model frame that is taller, has more suspension at both ends and near sport bike cornering clearance. It has a wonderful liquid cooled engine that is built like a car engine. I've seen one apart and the components look like something out of a German car in size and construction, not what one sees in most motorcycle engines. 100 horses at the rear wheel and it's happiest spinning 5,000 rpm or higher, about where one of their air cooled twins signs off.

I can't tell you how many times the "real Harley riders" have sneered my bike "isn't American" ( it was manufactured in Kansas City ), "isn't a real Harley" (it was manufactured in a Harley Davidson plant ) and "it's just a crotch rocket".

he whole point of some vehicles is the classic sound

I'm sure people said the same thing about the clattering of hooves on cobblestone.

I was thinking the sound of steam locomotives, but yeah.

There are news reports of very poor sales in the States. Despite claims of higher numbers, users are reporting less than a 100 miles to a charge. Also, only certain dealers can store them due to the risk of fire and explosions. I think I'll stick to my gas powered dinosaur.

Well, it's about time. Japanese and European bikes are just cheap imitations of the far superior American bikes. Harley has amazing designs, gas mileage and engineering. I predict Harley will capture 90% of the motorcycle market share. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki better up their games. It's just a matter of time before HD buys out Triumph, BMW and all the Japanese bike makers.

Rolling Thunder becomes Rolling Rustle.

Marc Lowe

Well, it's about time. Japanese and European bikes are just cheap imitations of the far superior American bikes. Harley has amazing designs, gas mileage and engineering. I predict Harley will capture 90% of the motorcycle market share. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki better up their games.

You need to re-read the headline *"Harley-Davidson Inc will launch electric motorcycles in Japan..."*

Harley is already available here with their traditionally-powered models, and have been for many years. I see them on the roads all the time. Based on my own observations, I'd say they've captured maybe 10% of the J-market, with the J brands capturing that 90%.

It's just a matter of time before HD buys out Triumph, BMW and all the Japanese bike makers.

You can't be serious. Highly doubtful. Those brands don't really compete with HD in the Cruiser space. Sure, the J brands have a few models. But, the majority of their sales are in other segments.

TokyoLiving

Overrated brand..

Better Japanese all the way..

No thanks..

Weird how most of the JP riders I see on cruisers are riding Harleys. Of course, cruisers are in the minority here. But, those who choose cruisers seem to prefer Harleys over those "better" JP brand cruisers.

factchecker

...the whole point of some vehicles is the classic sound - like a hog has.

♫potato potato potato♫

Aren't Harley riders just older blokes with tattoos and memories of Vietnam?

Seriously, all the HD's I've seen are huge, two wheeled armchairs with more rumble than a stag night after all you can eat curries. I find Triumphs and Royal Enfields to be more elegant, less ostentatious

I’ll definitely have an electric bike in a few years

The post office in Japan are transitioning to them right now

Weird how most of the JP riders I see on cruisers are riding Harleys. 

I think the big four Japanese motorcycle manufacturers would be embarrassed to sell their cruisers in their home market O_O

Well, it's about time. Japanese and European bikes are just cheap imitations of the far superior American bikes. Harley has amazing designs, gas mileage and engineering.

How to unpack that? BMW, Aprilia, KTM are cheap imitations? Imitations of what? Certainly not imitations of Harley's. Put the chip away for a second, ok?

Go to Europe sometime and bring your Harley with you. You will very quickly discover why European bikes (and Cars btw) are set up the way they are and just how slow and clumsy a big Harley is ( and most American cars) on European roads. In Germany it is not uncommon to be in heavy traffic on a six lane Autobahn with the flow of traffic going 110 mph. I have ridden Electra Glides, Road Glides, Low Riders, owned a couple of Sportsters over the years and have a very fast and very capable but also very modified VRSCR Street Rod sharing space in my garage with several BMWs. A big bagger is not happy at typical European highway speeds and I never saw one on any Autobahn, Autoroute, Autostrada, Motorway, etc. Even my K100RS, which tops out at an indicated 147 mph on a German Autobahn is not fast enough to keep up with the fast traffic over there. I have had Mercedes blow right by me at that speed. Fat old guy with slicked back gray hair wearing a suit driving a big black S Class coupe passed me like I was parked on the shoulder but I was doing 147 mph indicated. That is Europe. You come back from a trip like that and you get on a US freeway and it feels like you could jump off the bike and skip alongside. Oh yeah and those Autobahns have curves that would have you dragging floorboards and the primary at the kinds of speeds typical out there. Want to drag hard parts at 110 mph in traffic?

And in town filtering, lane splitting is the rule. In London all the bikes ride down the center line of the street meeting nose on then swerving into a gap in the cars to pass. In Paris I saw big dual sport bikes doing wheelies between cars crossing cobble stone intersections. Much of Europe is mountainous, roads are narrow, twisty and sometimes quite steep. A big Harley bagger is the wrong tool for the job. Ride in Europe and you understand that European bikes are built to a specific need and are copies of nothing else.