In terms of their performance, the Livewire Mini Motos are equivalent to petrol powered 125 cc pit bikes
Harley-Davidson’s EV subsidiary LiveWire is looking to target young riders with a pair of great-looking mini motos. The two electric bikes introduced are the S4 Honcho Trail and the S4 Honcho Street. While the first is strictly for trail use, the second is a proper road-legal mini bike. A UK launch is planned for summer.
LiveWire Honcho Mini Moto – Key Features
Targeted at practical applications, the LiveWire Honcho Mini Bike’s design is simple and robust. From the images it appears that the S4 Honcho uses a tubular steel frame. It looks like the battery box is a stressed member of the chassis. Interestingly, the colorway of these bikes is defined by the color used on the tubular steel frame and rear swingarm.
Both the bikes have similar color options of Mossy Oat and Liquid Black. The front fender and rear underseat section have a bright white shade. The battery box is probably made of aluminum and has a metallic finish. The remaining surfaces are mostly black. The S4 Honcho Trail may look a little different, but it’s essentially a scaled-down version of the S4 Honcho Street.
Circular rear view mirror, instrument console, headlamp, turn indicators, rear fender and rear lighting elements are not available in it. The S4 Honcho Trail has off-road knobby tyres, while the street variant has road-biased tyres. Most other features of both the bikes are quite similar.
Performance, Specifications
Both the mini bikes have the same powertrain and largely similar specifications. They are equipped with dual 1.74 kWh removable battery packs. In normal riding conditions, the range is about 53 miles (about 85 km). If a constant speed of 20 mph is maintained, the bike can achieve a high range of 73 miles (about 117.5 km). The top speed of these bikes is 59 mph (95 km/h).
0 to 30 mph (0 to 48 km/h) can be achieved in approximately 3 seconds. The time to charge the battery from 20% to 80% is 2 hours. Since the S4 Honcho Trail is a stripped down version, it weighs 253 lb (114.7 kg) less. The street version weighs 266 lb (120.60 kg). Seat height is 736.6 mm for the Trail and 762 mm for the Street version. This makes both the bikes quite suitable for younger riders.
market conditions
Livewire has developed these bikes in partnership with Taiwan-based Kymco. The latter is a leading scooter manufacturer and is known for its advanced Ionex swappable battery ecosystem. In the UK, the LiveWire S4 Honcho Trail and S4 Honcho Street will be targeted at A1 license holders and new entrants to this category. This means that riders aged 17 and over with Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) certification and L-plates (learner plates) can use these bikes.
LiveWire is entering the entry-level electric bike segment for the first time. And there is good demand, as the segment recorded 62% market share in the UK last month. However, the LiveWire Mini Motos aren’t cheap. They are priced at £4,599 (Trail – Rs 5.88 lakh) and £4,999 (Street – Rs 6.39 lakh). It is almost £1000 (Rs 1.28 lakh) costlier than the petrol-powered Honda Dax 125.