It hums, rattles and goes bang.
This is unusual for an electric vehicle, but for Matthias Meier it is a means of sales promotion.
The owner of the Harley Factory Group with branches in Frankfurt, Hanover, Wiesbaden and Wetzlar is never at a loss for ideas and offers the first sound module for an electric motorcycle - for the LiveWire from Harley-Davidson.
Walter Will
“Technology and Engine” editorial team
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Before trying it, we set out to find it questionable.
We found ourselves grinning under the helmet a number of times while trying it out, and afterwards it seemed like a smart idea.
Not for everyone, certainly, but something that could help boost electric motorcycle sales.
The LiveWire needs that.
The device is a box that is mounted under the seat of the motorcycle and occupies the space that is actually intended for the charging cable.
It is supplied by a Hanover-based company specializing in sound modules, and the associated smartphone app, which is used to control the system, comes from a software developer.
Various sound variants can be selected via this app, from six to eight to twelve cylinders, from classic cars to muscle cars to Trabi.
Idle speed and volume can also be varied, fake misfires can be installed and the extent of the howling at the simulated engine start can be determined.
According to Meier, the whole thing is in the testing phase.
"We're doing pioneering work." So far, standard software has been used, so the range of acoustics is limited to automobiles.
It is also planned to “deposit a typical motorcycle sound”, as Meier announces, possibly a classic Harley sound.
Then LiveWire owners could pull out their smartphones at the meeting point and, to the amusement of the audience, let the electric motorcycle rumble like historical knuckleheads or panheads.
Some customers, explains Meier, simply see the sound module as a safety gain, because pedestrians and cyclists would otherwise not hear the vehicle in city traffic.
We did a practice lap and were amazed: What a difference sound makes!
If the loudspeaker module rumbles under the seat, you get the feeling that petrol is being used, when in fact power is being drawn from the battery.
Even gear changes in an automatic transmission are simulated.
The volume is decent, outside of city traffic the listening experience evaporates in the increasing headwind.
Anyone who is bothered that the sound box loses the elegance of whispering electromobility can deactivate it.
Unfortunately, there is no switch on the handlebar for this;
to turn it on and off or to change modes, you have to stop and get your phone out each time.
The sound accessory is one component of a comprehensive concept with which Meier, who is also chairman of the European Harley dealer association, is trying to