American cruiser motorcycle giant Harley-Davidson made its entry into the electric vehicle market with the international launch of the Harley-Davidson LiveWire a fully electric motorcycle with a claimed range of 235 km on a single charge. The Harley-Davidson LiveWire was built grounds up with a lightweight aluminium frame, adjustable mono suspension on the rear, an upside-down fork set up on the front, 10.9-cm touchscreen instruments console and customisation options.
Now, the brand has filed a new design patent and the images have been circulating the internet which appears to have the chassis and bodywork of the Harley-Davidson LiveWire but employs an internal combustion engine. The Harley-Davidson LiveWire is equipped with a ‘Harley-Davidson Revelation’ electric powertrain which comes with a permanent-magnet electric motor that makes 98 hp of power and 109.8 Nm of torque sending power to the rear wheel via a belt drive and the LiveWire can sprint from a standstill to 100 kmph in 3 seconds.
But on the leaked patent images, the powertrain design appears similar to the brand’s upcoming ‘Harley-Davidson Revolution Max’ liquid-cooled 60-degree V-Twin mill with internal balancing that will feature on the upcoming Harley-Davidson ‘Pan America’ adventure touring motorcycle with a 1250cc displacement engine and on the Harley-Davidson ‘Bronx’ streetfighter motorcycle which will get a 975cc version of the Revolution Max engine family.
The Revolution Max engine can be identified in the patent design because of the radiator on the front that is required for the liquid-cooled engine and also from the left side engine cover unique to the Revolution Max engine design. The patents also show a high mounted exhaust on the bike and the brand could be developing a café racer or a flat tracker or both.
The 975cc Revolution Max engine on the Bronx streetfighter makes 115 hp of power and 95 Nm of torque while the larger 1250cc mill found on the Pan America adventurer tourer produces 145 hp of power and 122 Nm of torque.
Now which size engine will the brand employ on the new motorcycle is still in question, but speculations are that the new petrol-powered LiveWire is likely to get the larger 1250cc engine.