Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire S2 Del Mar Is A Gorgeous Electric Motorcycle Available Soon For $15,499 - The Autopian (2024)

Harley-Davidson’s spinoff electric motorcycle brand, LiveWire, is primed and ready to release its second motorcycle. The LiveWire S2 is a hot flat-tracker racer-inspired electric motorcycle and it releases this summer for $15,499. After a rocky start in the electric motorcycle world, this one is looking promising for Harley-Davidson and riders alike.

The first time I rode an electric motorcycle was back in 2019 during a launch event for the Harley-Davidson LiveWire. That motorcycle was a riot. The LiveWire has helpful settings to limit power output and to use traction control in an effort to keep the shiny side up and you off of the ground. Harley’s representatives said that the bike’s full 86 lb-ft torque was available from the twist of the throttle and the 105 HP of the electric motor will be right there too.

I saw that as a threat and turned the power up to max and turned off all of the rider aids. At one point in the ride, I cranked the throttle from a dead stop. The surge of power threw me back and I found myself doing a small wheelie as the rear tire left a black mark on the pavement behind me.

The LiveWire was also more than just brute force. It rode and felt like the Buells I love so much. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that Harley still had Erik on the payroll and told him to make an electric Firebolt. It was that fun and satisfying to ride. From the looks of things, the S2 Del Mar (below) is a ball.

It’s Been A Long Road

Unfortunately for all of the riders enamored by the ride, the Harley-Davidson LiveWire was priced at a heartbreaking $29,799. Unsurprisingly, it has been a rough road selling the machines. In 2021, the LiveWire saw a steep drop in price to $21,999. A year later, Harley’s EV division was spun off into its own brand called LiveWire and the motorcycle itself was renamed the One (not The One like the Curtiss bike from earlier this week). LiveWire sold 597 motorcycles in 2022, beating its own expectation of 500 motorcycles. Yet, Q4 2022 was slow, selling just 69 units to Q4 2021’s 186 units.

Part of LiveWire’s plan to sell more bikes is to offer a second, less expensive motorcycle. This motorcycle is the LiveWire S2 Del Mar, and I think it’s one of Harley’s best modern designs.

The LiveWire S2 Del Mar

In 2022, I attended a virtual investor conference from LiveWire. Back then, the brand announced plans to build a lineup of new electric motorcycles, all riding on the company’s new Arrow modular architecture. The first bike to debut with it is the S2 Del Mar. This electric flat track-inspired machine is a street bike meant to handle pavement and dirt and after a lot of waiting, buyers are going to see the motorcycle this summer.

The Del Mar is the first motorcycle to use LiveWire’s Arrow-based S2 middleweight platform. LiveWire says that its Arrow architecture comes with a lot of advantages over Harley’s previous electric effort. The battery and motor unit are now structural elements, not unlike what you’d see in a modern internal combustion motorcycle.

The Arrow architecture is scalable, allowing LiveWire to build a larger S1 and a smaller S3 motorcycle, all on the Arrow platform. Thanks to the platform’s simplified construction, LiveWire says this bike will take 44 percent less time to build than the LiveWire One. Like the One, the S2 Del Mar will also be built alongside internal-combustion Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

The LiveWire S2 Del Mar platform gets some fresh upgrades over the older LiveWire One as well. It’s expected to have a 10.5 kWh lithium battery consisting of 21700 cells. LiveWire says that these cells offer better energy density than the 18650 cells found in the LiveWire One. Those 21700 cells can also be found in Teslas.

Also new is the motor, which is expected to be a proprietary unit making 80 HP and 184 lb-ft torque. The completed machine weighs 431 pounds and is capable of hitting 60 mph in 3.1 seconds. In other words, it has fewer horses in the stable, but it’s just as fast as the LiveWire One. It also rides on 19-inch wheels wrapped in Dunlop DT1 dirt tires and has a city range of 110 miles. Sadly, LiveWire says that there isn’t any fast charging. The best it can do is charge from 20 percent to 80 percent in 75 minutes on a Level 2 charger.

More Coming This Summer

These are all of the specs that LiveWire is willing to provide for now. The company says that full performance and specifications will be published in June, a month before the first customers will be getting them in June.

The price for it? $15,499. That’s still a lot of money for a maximum city range of 110 miles, but at least LiveWire’s prices are trending in the right direction. Harley-Davidson has been working on its electric motorcycle experiment since 2014. Back then, the Motor Company wasn’t even sure if electric motorcycles were viable, now it’s pouring tens of millions into an electric future. I’m rooting for Harley’s success here. I love what the brand has been doing with its new designs.

If you’re enamored with the LiveWire S2 Del Mar, the company is still taking $100 deposits. Hopefully, I’ll get to swing a leg over one and tell you all about it.

(Images: Manufacturer, unless otherwise noted.)

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