(calm music)
- Bikes are really hot right now.
Everyone's looking for a safe
and socially distance way to get around,
and in particular e-bikes are really high.
So a lot of non-bike companies
are trying to get in on the trend,
and along comes Harley Davidson
with some of the most interesting,
impressive and sleek looking electric bikes,
that I think I've seen in a long time.
The company is obviously more known for its motorcycles,
but it has been trying to stake out a name for itself
in electric vehicles as well.
The latest example of that
is the Serial 1 lineup of e-bikes.
The name Serial 1 is a reference to serial number one
which was the nickname that Harley had
for its first ever prototype built in 1903.
The company teased us with a prototype e-bike
that was meant to harken back to that very first bike
built 120 years ago.
But that was just a design exercise.
The bikes the company actually intends to sell
are much more modern looking.
The first four models will go on sale
in U.S and Germany starting in the spring of 2021.
And they are pedal-assist city bikes
with mid-drive motors, integrated batteries,
and a design that is unmistakably Harley Davidson.
There'll be four bikes to start out.
The brand names are Mosh City, Rush City,
with the latter coming in three variants,
Step-Thru, Speed and Regular,
ranging in price from $3,400 to $5,000.
Not exactly cheap, but you actually get a lot
for that price.
Each comes with a motor capable of generating
at least 250 Watts of continuous power.
And I say at least because it will definitely
get more than that at times,
and hitting top speeds of 20 miles per hour.
Now, one of the models, the Rush City Speed
is a class three e-bike
meaning it can get up to 28 miles per hour.
The Mosh City is the cheapest model.
It's a single speed city bike
that lacks a lot of the amenities of the other bikes.
The mid-drive motors are by Brose,
110 year old German company.
And when engaged, they put out 90 Newton meters
and 60 foot pounds of torque
which is more than enough to power you up most hills
or fly along any straightaway.
Much like Bosch and other major e-bikes suppliers,
the Brose motors enabled four power levels;
eco, tour, sport and boost.
The Onviolo automatic gear-shifting transmission
is sure to make for an extra smooth ride.
That's an auto shifting CBT
that stands for a Continuous Variable Transmission hub.
Now, what that means is there's no gears to shift.
Ultimately, this is a bike that feels
like it's always in the perfect gear.
So right now I'm going about 25 miles per hour
which is a pretty decent speed,
especially going up hill is actually pretty impressive.
The automatic shifter has kicked in and it's lowered it up
moving the gears for me, make it a little bit of an easier
and more natural cadence, that's it.
I just feel like I'm definitely still put it in
a little bit of work too.
So it's not completely without the need to
do your own pedaling , which I appreciate.
So here's some of my initial impressions
about the Harley bikes.
They're beautiful.
The fact that all of the wiring is internal
makes for one of the cleanest-looking e-bikes
I've seen out there in a long time.
All of that wiring is internal in the frame,
you don't get any of that rat's nest look.
Second impression, the Onviolo automatic shifter
takes a little getting used to.
It's not something that I think you could hop
from a normal bike with a normal gear shifter
onto this bike, and just be able to ride
without any problem.
Riding the bike, how does that feel?
Great, it really felt smooth, natural.
The automatic gear shifter,
although it took a little getting used to,
when it kicks in,
you really feel that power turning in that mid-drive motor.
It feels perfectly balanced, which is not something
that I would say about most e-bikes.
The mid-drive motor just is perfectly situated
in that low center of the bike.
So giving you that really low center of gravity
and it really just felt perfect riding it.
It's a cool looking bike, it made me feel cool to ride it.
There could be a lot of e-bikes out there
that kind of make me feel like a dork
when I'm riding it to be honest.
I didn't feel that with this bike.
I felt like this is an expensive bike that I'm riding.
That said, that's not necessarily something
that a lot of people are gonna be interested in.
but I do feel like there's gonna be an obvious marketplace
for this bike,
people are gonna be snatching these things up.
Another really cool thing about these bikes
is that Harley Davidson is a motorcycle company.
So they have dealerships all over the country
and across the world.
If you would need to get one of these bikes serviced,
or you want to actually go in and test ride one of them
before you actually make the purchase, you can do that.
Which is not something that a lot of these
direct-to-consumer e-bike companies have the option to do.
Now, I know what you're thinking,
$5,000 is a lot to spend on a bike, is this the right price?
Well, that's a question you have to answer for yourself.
But if you look at the spec sheet
and the parts that Harley has used,
it's clear that these are very well-crafted machines.
Now these are obviously more expensive
than other e-bike companies like VanMoof and Rad Power.
I see these as being more competitive
with some of the top line bike companies in the world,
and you know what?
It's got a Harley badge on it
and that is a definite premium with some people.
The bikes go on sale, spring 2021 in U.S and Germany.
These are the first bikes from Serial 1,
but Harley has said that they expect to
more of them in the future.
So there should be other lineups as well.