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Did you say Harley Davidson electric bikes? What are they?
by Dominik Bärlocher
Serial 1 e-bikes: Harley-Davidson makes the strangest product launch of all time
17.11.2020
Translation: machine translated
They are here: the Serial 1 e-bikes, "powered by Harley-Davidson". The long-awaited product launch brings four bikes and many questions.
There are currently question marks hanging over the heads of e-bikers. Not only is their market developing rapidly with better motors, better battery performance and new models from all corners of the car and bicycle industry. There are also the new Serial 1 e-bikes. "Powered by Harley-Davidson".
The launch of the Serial 1 bikes is therefore not only news, but also a lesson in how a product launch should perhaps not be done.
#1: Show what you will sell
The Serial 1 bikes were announced a few weeks ago, with a bike that looks like it's fresh out of the early 20th century. From the time when William Harley, Arthur Davidson and his brothers first fitted a bike with a motor because they found pedalling too strenuous
The bike in the video didn't look anything like the bikes in last year's pre-announcement. But the white tyres are so cool that the 2019 designs have been forgotten.
Suddenly there will be an e-bike that doesn't look like any other. The white tyres give the bike a distinctive look on the road, the hardtail construction with the suspension saddle... Wow.
Then the presentation of the bikes with the names Rush/CTY, Rush/CTY Step-Thru, Rush/CTY Speed and Mosh/CTY. They all look like this plusminus this.
The disappointment is huge. Commentators on Instagram are talking about a "bait and switch" offer. Because they wanted the bike with the white tyres that looks like it came from the Davidson family's garden shed. Where Harley and Davidson - both workers in a bicycle factory, by the way - built their first "power cycle" back then.
#2: Make it clear what you are selling
So now there are four e-bikes to be sold to men, women and everyone in between. Cool YouTube videos, one of which features BMX talent Isiah Johnson riding the Mosh/CTY through the streets of Milwaukee
The Mosh is the bike that can be most easily distinguished from the others, as it has no pannier rack. The other bikes all look largely identical, have the exact same motor according to the website - a Brose S Mag that puts 90 Newton metres of power into the tar - and at first glance only differ in the software speed limit. Some go up to 32 kilometres per hour, others up to 45.
Even the videos of the Rush Bikes are identical. Always the video with the young people racing to get to the office.
Except for Rush Speed, where it's a man with a manbun who's whizzing through the city. It's clear: rush speed → speed. But what is the difference between a Rush and a Rush Step-Thru? Because both pages on the website show the same video. The tech specs are exactly the same. Is it that the Step-Thru is more like a women's bike? Is that it?
The prices vary between 3500 euros and 5000 euros. It's not entirely clear who pays what for what and why.
#3: Finalise your website before you want to sell anything
Harley-Davidson has a problem. And not just with e-bikes. Their website is pretty much the best thing that 1997 has ever produced. The web shop looks archaic, purchases can only be made under certain circumstances and the menu navigation feels 16 levels deep.
Serial1.com looks better at first glance. All the information in one place, everything nicely styled and with large images.
But
The website is not finished. If you want to find out what makes a Serial 1 bike, or what the difference is between Rush and Rush Step-Thru, you'll want to find a dealer.
Bad luck. The dealer search, i.e. the part where you actually sell your product in real life, is still provided with test data.
#4: Make it clear what exactly your slogan means
Serial 1 is important. The words "Powered by Harley-Davidson". For the bike with the white tyres, the bloodline would be clear. The line from the Davidson's mop of hair to the bike is clearly recognisable. The problem comes into play when the thing then looks like all the other e-bikes.
Then the heritage is not entirely recognisable. Especially if the parent company is still known for big engines and loud chugging. It becomes even more difficult when said chugging is so iconic that the parent company wanted to patent the sound in the 1990s.
Harley-Davidson is currently more or less reinventing itself and has launched an electric motorbike on the market with the Harley-Davidson LiveWire. Everyone who has ridden it is enthusiastic. So is the LiveWire motor installed in the e-bikes? No.
Source: Stephanie Tresch
So what does "Powered by Harley-Davidson" mean if the look isn't there and the technology differs from the e-motorbike pioneer? Serial 1 doesn't give us the answer.
#5: School your social media dudes and dudettes
Even if your product is a muddle of information and communication, sooner or later you have to present it to the public. In the highly competitive and idealistic field of e-bikes, you can also expect emotions to run high.
So if you have something that could possibly be labelled as a "bait and switch", then as a social media manager you have to assume that the accusation will come. Social media thrives on provocation, emotion and, in a corporate context, "hope for the best, be prepared for the worst".
Serial 1 does not respond to criticism.
If someone is critical on Instagram or in other comment columns, you can either counter with information and/or humour. Especially if you are responding to praise, responding to criticism is a must.
It is not yet entirely clear if and when the Serial 1 bikes will come to Switzerland. The whole launch is very reminiscent of the LiveWire. Something is coming along that nobody has been waiting for, that doesn't look as hoped for and has a price tag that seems astronomically high.
If history repeats itself, then the recipe for success is likely to be the same as with the electric motorbike: put people on it and let them go for a spin. Because nobody believed in the LiveWire until they had Füdli in the saddle. <p
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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