Harley-Davidson’s electric spin-off, LiveWire, is reportedly working on yet another battery bike to be released soon. The bike’s name is “Alpinista.” But once it’s released, will anyone even care?
LiveWire teased the Alpinista on its website in late December, but didn’t tell us much about the bike. Despite the snooty-sounding name that hints at fun in the mountains of Italy (or Austria, or France), the marketing actually shows a bike at a pull-over in the mountains of California, it looks like. Which makes sense, because a bike with limited battery range is much better-suited for scoots close to home on the west coast, rather than all-day romps in the Alps.
And that will be the Alpinista’s biggest challenge. It’s going to have the same limited battery range as the other LiveWire models, and that will ultimately mean the same limited sales, especially if the MSRP doesn’t come down. Indeed, LiveWire’s marketing spiel says “Designed for personalization, practicality, and mastery, Alpinista is essential for commuting and performance. It sets the standard for urban riding and beyond, so make every second count.” More talk about urban riding equals another bike that isn’t designed to go far past city limits. We’ll know for sure when the bike launches mid-January.
It makes you wonder how long the LiveWire experiment will continue, as there have been many millions sunk into this project with very few sales to show for it. The US government recently gave Harley-Davidson $89M USD to convert the York, Pennsylvania factory from Sportster/Pan America production to battery bike manufacturing, but LiveWire’s sales hardly reflect a need for expansion—just the opposite. LiveWire’s sales have not come remotely close to matching their hype when they were looking for investors, and it seems unlikely a re-styling of their current platform will bring new interest.
No no one will care…all garbage no one can afford. Just like the watersports industry the motorcycle industry has lost its way.