As a new livewire one owner I thank you for actually providing us with useful information and backing up your points with actual data. As a lifelong motorcyclist I took the leap from a BMW GS to the livewire not because it was electric or as any kind of political statement but because after test riding it, I was blown away. I hadn’t smiled that much since my first 50cc bike when I was a kid! Isn’t that what it’s all about?
I am also an ex GS owner with a new Livewire. I've owned 20+ ICEs and this is my second EV, the first being the Zero FXE. I wouldn't say the Livewire is perfect, living in Paris (wet climate) the front mudguard sucks and sprays the water directly into your face, the tyres don't grip in cold wet conditions (changed to Michelin Road 4s), the indicator switch on the right doesn't make sense in urban riding, the seat could be a little plusher, etc. but that said it looks fantastic and, more importantly, is unique and timeless IMO and I always feel excited to ride it.
Certainly two guys on opposite ends of the spectrum of the argument. I fall somewhere in the middle of these schools of thought. I think Livewire is great but I stand by my questioning of the future of the company. I also agree it is the future but that statement alone agrees it isn’t the current. Buying an electric bike for long distance today WILL be a nightmare for many years in the future so it’s fair when people scoff at the idea of long distance touring. City riding and weekend rides, I don’t think you can find a better bike than Livewire One.
I am a big fan of your channel. It's something I aspire to. You may be interested to know that the 2022 LIveWire ONE you tested on your channel was VIN number 00001. You never noticed! I now own that bike. I'm never letting it go. I did a video about discovering it on my channel. Keep up the great work!...
I happened to see this guy and another one "Old Not Dead" in my recommendation page. They just see the dollar signs from being loud and dumb, it's really sad because I know some people who get fooled by those people and those people will believe it as gospel.
If Ben Dykes is doing his videos as his opinion, he is protected under free-speech, but if he puts out videos as fact, look for two things to happen, look for Ben to receive a cease and desist letter from Harley-Davidson after that, look for a lawsuit to be filed if he does not Stop, Harley will do this, just protect its stock holders. BTW love your channel, keep it up you’re doing great 👍
That's what I feel like will happen, especially since he is touting his opinions as facts. As a veteran myself, I hate to see someone represent the armed forces is such a way - doesn't take much critical thinking to see that he's not basing his information on anything factual. This has the potential to blow up in his face. However, I feel that if he is given a C&D, he'll make a video about that too. Also reading his replies, he doesn't answer people that challenge what he's saying, just reinforces people to 'hit that subscribe button for a vet!'
I have really enjoyed your videos and deeply appreciate your research and honesty. I saw Dykes Bud/Livewire hit piece and recognized it for the trash it was. It's embarrassing to someone who has always believed in traditional values of honor and integrity to have to listen to this vitriol from a "conservative". This is the crap that poisons any real meaning conservative ever had.
I don't disagree that Veteran Biker is a click bait conspiracy monger who caters to the MOCO haters, but your statement that we have to go electric to preserve the environment was hilarious, and at the same time really sad.
Blogs like his seem to attract folks who choose to bash things like the LiveWire because they will never be able to afford one. I will probably never own a Ferrari, but I still think that they are beautiful cars.
I am the source for Ben's claims that the Livewire can't be stored at a dealership, needs an explosion cage, and catches fire. He relayed accurately my experience at a non-livewire HD dealership, who gave those reasons when they refused to store my Livewire while I rented a Heritage from them. I had to take my Livewire home and return on my ICE bike to start the rental. It's crazy, but that's what happened to me.
I'm old! 76 and retired about a year electronic engineer. I've driven and ridden 60 years. Waited all my life to be here with electric coming into its own. Currently don't have a bike but hope to own.a Livewire One day.
The guy makes some valid points. His ridiculousness regarding bomb proof buildings or whatever because of exploding LiveWires is just insane, though. But, Jack has his own level of hyperbole. Gas engines aren't going anywhere right now or probably for the balance of my life (15 - 20 years). They aren't "dead ducks." When you can pump the equivalent of 400 miles of travel into a battery in a few minutes like with a gas engine, then talk to me. Oh, if a Costco recharging station capable of handling the volume of one of their gas stations needs its own nuclear power plant, then "dead ducks" is just an environmentalist's wet dream. Regarding this point, Toyota, the name in autos who was at the forefront of environmentally friendly actions, i.e. the prius, doesn't share Jack's analysis that there is no future without rechargeable battery based vehicles. Also, the government isn't going to get away with outlawing motorcycles any more than they are going to get away with outlawing guns. And does Jack really believe in the urgency for Harley to have done this to protect our freedom to ride when realistically Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, KTM, Indian, blah blah blah haven't seen fit to release anything remotely electric in the 4 years that Harley has been in the market? Jack is an environmental zealot (who doesn't consider the carbon impact necessary to build an electric vehicle) and is in the mindset that moving the tailpipe emission to a coal or gas powered plant is being a good environmentalist, all the while his state is shutting down their nuclear reactors which are environmentally friendly. That's good for Jack, I don't begrudge him of it, but he's equally a hyperbolic zealot like the man he's complaining about. Pot, kettle, black. A few points that Dykes makes that are valid are: 1. LiveWire has been a terrible business blunder. Total sales of 3000 units (give or take... shoot me if I am wrong) since 2019 after hundreds of millions of dollars of R&D and other costs is reflective of shear stupidity and ineptness. Irrespective of what Zietz says. Consider Zeitz made his mark by marketing logo'ed apparel for Puma. Tell me about all the logo'ed livewire clothing that he's created to go along with the other Harley clothing that is helping to fund and to market LiveWire. No, Zeitz is fueled by an agenda and not a desire to sell Harley Davidsons. He's milking his cash pigs -- the old rich white guys-- who are being asked to generate more and more profit on fewer and fewer HD sales so Zeitz can assist InBev/Bud push their pro trans agenda and associate drinking and driving motorcycles all for a profit as well as having the first EV motorcycle be the hill he dies on. He has taken no steps to make Livewire a success, specifically, and Harley in general. That's seems pretty clear. Oh, and we don't forget he's headlining Green Day known for their hit "American Idiot" at their 120th year aniversary bash. Tell me you have contempt for rich white guys without telling me you have contempt for rich white guys... 2. Can't ride a Livewire to Sturgis. Well, I can assure you that it was damned difficult to drive a livewire from Miami to Ormond beach. I took three attempts at it before I succeeded. This in large part is due to the fact that Harley Davidson no longer has working DC chargers at their dealerships. This is another blunder which shows the diametric difference between Harley and Tesla. Tesla put in the charging infrastructure that is the envy of everybody including GM and Ford who are moving to their charging protocol. Harley can't even support a single 20 kW charger at their dealerships for charging, not to mention helping to debug charging problems if the bike is brought in for repair. Secondly, LiveWire's incompatibilities with chargers makes the Sturgis trope more understandable. My 2017 Bolt has never had its charger firmware updated and I have never had an incompatibility with any DC charger I have ever connected to. This is because Harley is not Tesla and they didn't care if people could fast charge the bike after they bought it. This is reflected in the Del Mar not having DC charging. So, essentially, Dyke's is correct here. 3. ESG is communist manifesto. 100%. It is pure marxism and is directly in line with China's totalitarian social credit scores which limit all sorts of freedoms and civil rights. This is an interesting perspective from the left wing The Hill. thehill.com/opinion/international/3741884-the-political-nature-of-esg-is-playing-right-into-chinas-hands/ So, I am not going into the balance of it. It's clear that Jack is left wing and Dykes is right wing. Much of both their disagreements are rooted in their political differences. Regarding the LiveWire. It's probably the best engineered bike ever made. It is truly a groundbreaking machine. I couldn't be more head over heels in love with a machine than the LiveWire. How fortunate for me that a company was willing to put 1/4 to 1/2 billion into making me be one of the few of 3000 people who own this piece of equipment! However, if the effort ends up killing harley just because of Jack's and Jochen's ESG hard on, then it was just a stupid business decision in a country full of a long history of bad business decisions. And it will be the final nail in the coffin of Harley. Jack says a lot of good things and is an invaluable resource regarding LiveWire. I watched more of Dykes' videos since the brouhaha and in general he makes some good points, too. And sometimes both of them are saying the same thing about incompetent HD management... and they don't even know it.
Please research ESG it is not what I thought it was or what you think it is. Tobacco and oil companies have high ratings and it took until this year for Tesla to make the list.
The guys like a cancer, spreading misinformation and destroying everything he touches I watched his videos. Other people are buying into what he says. They’ve turned our motorcycle into part of the woke movement. The man is ignorant however, I believe he’s doing all of this on purpose after all, he rides a trike and a lot of people criticize three wheel riders so he should know what it feels like to be ostracized for riding something different. Every major manufacturer has either an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. Harley is no different a major manufacture with electric vehicle. Do you really think all of the 911 owners gave up on their cars when the manufacture created hybrid vehicles absolutely not. In fact, my dad bought my mother one and already had two 911’s
Zeitz has turned HD into part of the woke movement. They are stepping into the culture war like Garth Brooks just did. They just stepped into the line of fire and took a bullet for Bud Light, this is after having Green Day (the American Idiot band) headline the anniversary celebration, his EV advocacy and who knows what else. It's clear that Dykes hates electric motorcycles. I'd like to let him drive mine for an hour and see if he doesn't come away with an appreciation for it. He seems reasonable at times. When idiots like Biden tell us he's going to outlaw gas engines, this leads to a reactionary stance to hate EVs. I don't think anybody here with a LiveWire bought one to save the world (except for Jack). We all bought them because they are an awesome full fledged motorcycle that are unlike anything ever made before. They have their issues, but nonetheless are attractive enough to put down $32K or $22k or whatever to own one. And Jack, after being humbled by a LiveWire official for telling him "you mean well" and says that this will be one of the biggest accomplishments in his life, can't see Dykes with the same level of humility and charity. For example, Jack says that "loud pipes save lives" is a lie propagated by Dykes. That's zealotry on Jack's behalf. It may be misguided but it is a heartfelt enough fear that there is continuous talk about forcing electric cars to make noise... why? Presumably to save lives. Where's the charity you were just given for your attacks on LiveWire management with respect to Dykes? The more I listen to this podcast the more I am annoyed with Jack. Jack says that gas bikes are going away and mentions Kawasaki. Guess what, Jack, Kawi who introduced the KLR650 36 years ago deep sixed it last year due to emissions problems. Due to customer demand, they added EFI and brought it back again. There are many engineering solutions to keeping an EVO Sportster complaint for the next 30 years. However, Harley didn't deep six the sportster, they evolved it into a water cooled gas engine with variable valve timing. That will be around as long as the evo motor, if harley is still around. As harsh as you have been towards Harley management or LiveWire management they were charitable interpreting your motives. Jack, you are very hyperbolic with your analysis (gas bikes are dead ducks, loud pipes save lives is a lie) yet you call Dykes "diabolical" and "evil." Jack you are so full of yourself that you ignore the charity of Harley allowing you to test drive a del mar and totally abuse traffic law, endanger the public travelling on public roads and give motorcyclists a bad name all at the same time. Rules for thee and not for me... Give me a break.
I really appreciate your videos and I see what your saying about this nut case, no different then guys like Bannon where they spread lies and conspiracy bs and make money off these fools. It's like we are living in a society where the more lies you make up, the more hate you spread the more profitable it is. The saddest part is the minions that believe this fool! Keep up the great content and thank you for keeping it real.
There are a lot of motovloggers that spread misinformation about electric bikes end this one that attracts Trump voters, but you should not show his channel name or the title of one of his videos. Some of your own wachers will search him, some from curiosity, and others to debank him in the comments, but every click and every comment is helping his channel grow more.
As a new livewire one owner I thank you for actually providing us with useful information and backing up your points with actual data. As a lifelong motorcyclist I took the leap from a BMW GS to the livewire not because it was electric or as any kind of political statement but because after test riding it, I was blown away. I hadn’t smiled that much since my first 50cc bike when I was a kid! Isn’t that what it’s all about?
I am also an ex GS owner with a new Livewire. I've owned 20+ ICEs and this is my second EV, the first being the Zero FXE. I wouldn't say the Livewire is perfect, living in Paris (wet climate) the front mudguard sucks and sprays the water directly into your face, the tyres don't grip in cold wet conditions (changed to Michelin Road 4s), the indicator switch on the right doesn't make sense in urban riding, the seat could be a little plusher, etc. but that said it looks fantastic and, more importantly, is unique and timeless IMO and I always feel excited to ride it.
Certainly two guys on opposite ends of the spectrum of the argument. I fall somewhere in the middle of these schools of thought. I think Livewire is great but I stand by my questioning of the future of the company. I also agree it is the future but that statement alone agrees it isn’t the current. Buying an electric bike for long distance today WILL be a nightmare for many years in the future so it’s fair when people scoff at the idea of long distance touring. City riding and weekend rides, I don’t think you can find a better bike than Livewire One.
I am a big fan of your channel. It's something I aspire to. You may be interested to know that the 2022 LIveWire ONE you tested on your channel was VIN number 00001. You never noticed!
I now own that bike. I'm never letting it go. I did a video about discovering it on my channel.
Keep up the great work!...
I happened to see this guy and another one "Old Not Dead" in my recommendation page. They just see the dollar signs from being loud and dumb, it's really sad because I know some people who get fooled by those people and those people will believe it as gospel.
If Ben Dykes is doing his videos as his opinion, he is protected under free-speech, but if he puts out videos as fact, look for two things to happen, look for Ben to receive a cease and desist letter from Harley-Davidson after that, look for a lawsuit to be filed if he does not Stop, Harley will do this, just protect its stock holders.
BTW love your channel, keep it up you’re doing great 👍
That's what I feel like will happen, especially since he is touting his opinions as facts. As a veteran myself, I hate to see someone represent the armed forces is such a way - doesn't take much critical thinking to see that he's not basing his information on anything factual. This has the potential to blow up in his face. However, I feel that if he is given a C&D, he'll make a video about that too. Also reading his replies, he doesn't answer people that challenge what he's saying, just reinforces people to 'hit that subscribe button for a vet!'
it seems that he was contacted in a legal matter - some of his replies to comments in another video allude that he's had to seek legal council
I have really enjoyed your videos and deeply appreciate your research and honesty. I saw Dykes Bud/Livewire hit piece and recognized it for the trash it was. It's embarrassing to someone who has always believed in traditional values of honor and integrity to have to listen to this vitriol from a "conservative". This is the crap that poisons any real meaning conservative ever had.
I don't disagree that Veteran Biker is a click bait conspiracy monger who caters to the MOCO haters, but your statement that we have to go electric to preserve the environment was hilarious, and at the same time really sad.
Don’t believe propaganda. The future is electric . . .
Big ups from Australia, Jack
OK
Blogs like his seem to attract folks who choose to bash things like the LiveWire because they will never be able to afford one. I will probably never own a Ferrari, but I still think that they are beautiful cars.
I am the source for Ben's claims that the Livewire can't be stored at a dealership, needs an explosion cage, and catches fire. He relayed accurately my experience at a non-livewire HD dealership, who gave those reasons when they refused to store my Livewire while I rented a Heritage from them. I had to take my Livewire home and return on my ICE bike to start the rental. It's crazy, but that's what happened to me.
Sounds like the dealer was misinformed, and not necessarily steps that actually have to be made to store livewires
Or else they were just screwing around with me. I've gotten an anti-livewire vibe from some of the staff there in the past.
@@johnpokorski7024 I wouldn’t doubt that. There’s a lot of ignorance out there about EVs
I knew there was a kernal of information that led to such insane statements by Dykes.
I'm old! 76 and retired about a year electronic engineer. I've driven and ridden 60 years. Waited all my life to be here with electric coming into its own. Currently don't have a bike but hope to own.a Livewire One day.
Good video. Well written. Thanks for posting.
The guy makes some valid points. His ridiculousness regarding bomb proof buildings or whatever because of exploding LiveWires is just insane, though. But, Jack has his own level of hyperbole. Gas engines aren't going anywhere right now or probably for the balance of my life (15 - 20 years). They aren't "dead ducks." When you can pump the equivalent of 400 miles of travel into a battery in a few minutes like with a gas engine, then talk to me. Oh, if a Costco recharging station capable of handling the volume of one of their gas stations needs its own nuclear power plant, then "dead ducks" is just an environmentalist's wet dream.
Regarding this point, Toyota, the name in autos who was at the forefront of environmentally friendly actions, i.e. the prius, doesn't share Jack's analysis that there is no future without rechargeable battery based vehicles. Also, the government isn't going to get away with outlawing motorcycles any more than they are going to get away with outlawing guns. And does Jack really believe in the urgency for Harley to have done this to protect our freedom to ride when realistically Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, KTM, Indian, blah blah blah haven't seen fit to release anything remotely electric in the 4 years that Harley has been in the market?
Jack is an environmental zealot (who doesn't consider the carbon impact necessary to build an electric vehicle) and is in the mindset that moving the tailpipe emission to a coal or gas powered plant is being a good environmentalist, all the while his state is shutting down their nuclear reactors which are environmentally friendly. That's good for Jack, I don't begrudge him of it, but he's equally a hyperbolic zealot like the man he's complaining about. Pot, kettle, black.
A few points that Dykes makes that are valid are:
1. LiveWire has been a terrible business blunder. Total sales of 3000 units (give or take... shoot me if I am wrong) since 2019 after hundreds of millions of dollars of R&D and other costs is reflective of shear stupidity and ineptness. Irrespective of what Zietz says. Consider Zeitz made his mark by marketing logo'ed apparel for Puma. Tell me about all the logo'ed livewire clothing that he's created to go along with the other Harley clothing that is helping to fund and to market LiveWire. No, Zeitz is fueled by an agenda and not a desire to sell Harley Davidsons. He's milking his cash pigs -- the old rich white guys-- who are being asked to generate more and more profit on fewer and fewer HD sales so Zeitz can assist InBev/Bud push their pro trans agenda and associate drinking and driving motorcycles all for a profit as well as having the first EV motorcycle be the hill he dies on. He has taken no steps to make Livewire a success, specifically, and Harley in general. That's seems pretty clear. Oh, and we don't forget he's headlining Green Day known for their hit "American Idiot" at their 120th year aniversary bash. Tell me you have contempt for rich white guys without telling me you have contempt for rich white guys...
2. Can't ride a Livewire to Sturgis. Well, I can assure you that it was damned difficult to drive a livewire from Miami to Ormond beach. I took three attempts at it before I succeeded. This in large part is due to the fact that Harley Davidson no longer has working DC chargers at their dealerships. This is another blunder which shows the diametric difference between Harley and Tesla. Tesla put in the charging infrastructure that is the envy of everybody including GM and Ford who are moving to their charging protocol. Harley can't even support a single 20 kW charger at their dealerships for charging, not to mention helping to debug charging problems if the bike is brought in for repair. Secondly, LiveWire's incompatibilities with chargers makes the Sturgis trope more understandable. My 2017 Bolt has never had its charger firmware updated and I have never had an incompatibility with any DC charger I have ever connected to. This is because Harley is not Tesla and they didn't care if people could fast charge the bike after they bought it. This is reflected in the Del Mar not having DC charging. So, essentially, Dyke's is correct here.
3. ESG is communist manifesto. 100%. It is pure marxism and is directly in line with China's totalitarian social credit scores which limit all sorts of freedoms and civil rights. This is an interesting perspective from the left wing The Hill. thehill.com/opinion/international/3741884-the-political-nature-of-esg-is-playing-right-into-chinas-hands/
So, I am not going into the balance of it. It's clear that Jack is left wing and Dykes is right wing. Much of both their disagreements are rooted in their political differences.
Regarding the LiveWire. It's probably the best engineered bike ever made. It is truly a groundbreaking machine. I couldn't be more head over heels in love with a machine than the LiveWire. How fortunate for me that a company was willing to put 1/4 to 1/2 billion into making me be one of the few of 3000 people who own this piece of equipment!
However, if the effort ends up killing harley just because of Jack's and Jochen's ESG hard on, then it was just a stupid business decision in a country full of a long history of bad business decisions. And it will be the final nail in the coffin of Harley.
Jack says a lot of good things and is an invaluable resource regarding LiveWire. I watched more of Dykes' videos since the brouhaha and in general he makes some good points, too. And sometimes both of them are saying the same thing about incompetent HD management... and they don't even know it.
Great information, thank you.
Please research ESG it is not what I thought it was or what you think it is. Tobacco and oil companies have high ratings and it took until this year for Tesla to make the list.
Oh, yes, Ben Dykes, the Joe Rogan of RUclips. Just say woke and generate chicks. All that matters is clicks.
The guys like a cancer, spreading misinformation and destroying everything he touches I watched his videos. Other people are buying into what he says. They’ve turned our motorcycle into part of the woke movement. The man is ignorant however, I believe he’s doing all of this on purpose after all, he rides a trike and a lot of people criticize three wheel riders so he should know what it feels like to be ostracized for riding something different. Every major manufacturer has either an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle. Harley is no different a major manufacture with electric vehicle. Do you really think all of the 911 owners gave up on their cars when the manufacture created hybrid vehicles absolutely not. In fact, my dad bought my mother one and already had two 911’s
Zeitz has turned HD into part of the woke movement. They are stepping into the culture war like Garth Brooks just did. They just stepped into the line of fire and took a bullet for Bud Light, this is after having Green Day (the American Idiot band) headline the anniversary celebration, his EV advocacy and who knows what else. It's clear that Dykes hates electric motorcycles. I'd like to let him drive mine for an hour and see if he doesn't come away with an appreciation for it. He seems reasonable at times.
When idiots like Biden tell us he's going to outlaw gas engines, this leads to a reactionary stance to hate EVs. I don't think anybody here with a LiveWire bought one to save the world (except for Jack). We all bought them because they are an awesome full fledged motorcycle that are unlike anything ever made before. They have their issues, but nonetheless are attractive enough to put down $32K or $22k or whatever to own one.
And Jack, after being humbled by a LiveWire official for telling him "you mean well" and says that this will be one of the biggest accomplishments in his life, can't see Dykes with the same level of humility and charity. For example, Jack says that "loud pipes save lives" is a lie propagated by Dykes. That's zealotry on Jack's behalf. It may be misguided but it is a heartfelt enough fear that there is continuous talk about forcing electric cars to make noise... why? Presumably to save lives. Where's the charity you were just given for your attacks on LiveWire management with respect to Dykes?
The more I listen to this podcast the more I am annoyed with Jack. Jack says that gas bikes are going away and mentions Kawasaki. Guess what, Jack, Kawi who introduced the KLR650 36 years ago deep sixed it last year due to emissions problems. Due to customer demand, they added EFI and brought it back again. There are many engineering solutions to keeping an EVO Sportster complaint for the next 30 years.
However, Harley didn't deep six the sportster, they evolved it into a water cooled gas engine with variable valve timing. That will be around as long as the evo motor, if harley is still around.
As harsh as you have been towards Harley management or LiveWire management they were charitable interpreting your motives. Jack, you are very hyperbolic with your analysis (gas bikes are dead ducks, loud pipes save lives is a lie) yet you call Dykes "diabolical" and "evil."
Jack you are so full of yourself that you ignore the charity of Harley allowing you to test drive a del mar and totally abuse traffic law, endanger the public travelling on public roads and give motorcyclists a bad name all at the same time. Rules for thee and not for me... Give me a break.
I really appreciate your videos and I see what your saying about this nut case, no different then guys like Bannon where they spread lies and conspiracy bs and make money off these fools. It's like we are living in a society where the more lies you make up, the more hate you spread the more profitable it is. The saddest part is the minions that believe this fool! Keep up the great content and thank you for keeping it real.
There are a lot of motovloggers that spread misinformation about electric bikes end this one that attracts Trump voters, but you should not show his channel name or the title of one of his videos. Some of your own wachers will search him, some from curiosity, and others to debank him in the comments, but every click and every comment is helping his channel grow more.
Trump voter here. Grow up with your shaming tactics. Funny enough, we both share the same Livewire space. Be an adult.
@@LiveWire_Guy I edited my comment. We both like electrics so i didn't want to offend anyone.