This new motorcycle may come from the Harley-Davidson family, but it's not a loud, gas-burning chopper. It's a whisper-silent electric motorcycle built around a 10.5-kilowatt-hour battery that, according to Electrek, can propel the bike 120 miles on a single charge, charge in only 1 hour and 20 minutes, and reach 60 miles per hour from a dead stop in three seconds.
It's the S2 Alpinista from LiveWire, an electric motorcycle brand spin-off from Harley-Davidson.
This is the third model LiveWire has released. All three are built on the brand's proprietary Arrow platform, which allows LiveWire to tweak model designs for specific applications while using the same underlying chassis architecture. The modular system drastically reduces cost and time to build.
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Cost 💰 The Alpinista is a sporty bike with 17-inch wheels for a reduced, closer-to-the-road ride height (which increases the sensation of speed). It includes "cornering-enhanced antilock braking" and "cornering-enhanced traction control systems," according to Electrek.
That braking and cornering performance comes from a six-axis Inertial Measurement Unit in the bike. That's essentially a kind of gyroscope and accelerometer-reading brain that can sense speed and direction and adjust the braking and engine power accordingly. This is meant to eliminate excessive wheel spin or too much torque, sending the bike into a wheelie.
Its top speed is electronically limited to 99 miles per hour, which will feel like well more than enough speed on a lively sportbike that's made to produce a thrilling ride on curvy open roads and a quick, muscular feel in compacted city traffic.
For $15,999, you get a sprightly, versatile, and capable motorcycle that's fun to ride. Oh, and it's electric, so it's dead silent and doesn't emit planet-warming carbon dioxide like a gas motorcycle does. Bikes like these have the potential to reduce car trips if people see just how much more pleasant it is to be on a zippy, pollution-free motorcycle than it is driving inside a car, especially in a city.
Just because transportation is efficient, quiet, and emissions-free doesn't mean it needs to be boring.
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