Owners of Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire electric motorcycle could be in for a bit of a shock (figuratively speaking) if their bike is one of the 1,012 that is being recalled for a problem with the onboard charging system.
According to a filing Oct. 8 with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), some owners could experience a situation where their LiveWire suddenly loses power and can’t be restarted. If the bike is standing still, this would not be very pleasant. If the motorcycle is leaned over in a corner, it could be dangerous.
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Luckily, the recall should involve a relatively simple fix that will see dealers updating the onboard charger’s software. That’s it. Easy peasy. Notifications have started to go out to owners of affected
Harley-Davidson(NYSE:HOG) is recalling over 1,000 of its 2020 LiveWire motorcycles after it discovered a software problem that could cause the electric bike’s powertrain to shut down without warning.
Although the bike maker expects just 1% of the motorcycles will actually have the malfunction, it is recalling all of the models within the particular production run to update the software.
Recharging a LiveWire motorcycle. Image source: Harley-Davidson.
Short-circuiting sales
This isn’t Harley’s first issue with the LiveWire. Just as it debuted the motorcycle, it discovered a problem with the onboard Level 1 charger that hooks up to a household outlet. That caused the company to shut down production for a week to resolve the issue.
Since its introduction last year, Harley hasn’t released any LiveWire production or sales data, leading analysts to estimate first-year production would be around 1,600 bikes.
The reception for the high-performance electric motorcycle has been uniformly
