Electric ADV
The Harley-Davidson LiveWires that were used in Long Way Up were a long way from stock LiveWires, so don’t think you can just take your $30,000 electric machine off-road without issues.
According to RideApart, the underpinnings of the motorcycle remained the same, but the bike was heavily reworked to make the trip possible. Ewan McGregor reached out to Harley long before doing the run while the LiveWire was still in prototype form and Harley worked with the production team to make a bike that would do everything that was needed.
“(…) the engineering team combined the dynamically capable on-road performance of the LiveWire model with adjusted geometry and suspension based on the upcoming Pan America adventure touring model to shred dirt roads, single track, and desert trails while maintaining its on-road handling prowess,” Harley’s PR manager Paul James wrote in a statement regarding the company’s involvement in the project.
RideApart actually reached out to Harley-Davidson to see if there was an electric ADV bike in the works. The response the publication got should not surprise you. It was typical of Harley.
The PR person for Harley, Jennifer Hoyer, said she couldn’t comment on future product options. That, however, is not a denial. And she made a point of saying that the parts came from existing prototypes (most likely the Pan America).
Still, the point stands that Harley has done it before for the show, and could probably do it again if there was a serious call for an electric ADV from buyers.