Harley-Davidson’s Serial 1 e-bike brand is taking a Eurotrip as the electric two-wheelers ride across the continent.
The expansion follows Serial 1’s debut late last year, when we got a chance to take the first ride on the premium electric bicycles.
Now the electric bikes are showing up in Harley-Davidson dealerships across Europe this summer.
Countries welcoming the motorcycle manufacturer’s e-bike brand include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.
The European rollout is thanks to a new partnership with Harley-Davidson Europe. While Serial 1 technically became its own entity as an electric bicycle startup after being spun off as an internal Harley-Davidson project, H-D remains the electric bicycle company’s majority owner.
European prices of course won’t be cheap, with the models starting at €3,499 ($4,140).
But then again Harley doesn’t make just any ordinary electric bicycle. The three models include top-of-the-line parts such as automatic shifting. They also include features that we haven’t seen on any other electric bicycles, such as a glove box(?!) on an e-bike.
On the low end of the range, the Serial 1 MOSH/CTY is the brand’s urban playbike. The 20 mph (32 km/h) MOSH platform is robustly constructed while offering just a single speed to simplify the drivetrain and keep costs down. While it’s designed to tackle a commute, the company also put their test rider to work jumping it around a skate park and taking it down stairs to prove its ruggedness.
Europeans won’t get to enjoy its full speed though, as it will be limited to 15.5 mph (25 km/h) across the continent to conform to local regulations.
For a bit of a fancier option, Serial 1 offers the RUSH/CTY and the RUSH/CTY SPEED. The automatic electronic shifting from this models’ Enviolo continuously variable transmission means riders get the proper gear at the proper time, all without having to touch a shifter.
While all of the models use Brose’s latest S Mag mid-drive motor paired with a high-end Gates carbon belt drive, the RUSH/CTY Speed model ups the ante with a faster 28 mph (45 km/h) top speed. That makes it a class 3 e-bike in the US. It would be a speed-pedelec in much of Europe, though it isn’t clear if the higher speed model will actually make it to European shores.
All of the models also use H-D’s proprietary battery packs that glean from the R&D that went into Harley’s LiveWire electric motorcycle development. The battery packs are mounted lower in the frame than on nearly any other e-bike and help to reduce the bike’s center of gravity. The MOSH gets a 529 Wh battery while the higher spec RUSH gets a 706 Wh battery. Serial 1 says the batteries offer up to 104 mi (168 km) and 115 mi (185 km) of range, respectively. Those numbers seem a bit lofty from my riding, but even two-thirds of that range in real-world conditions is plenty for most riders.
What do you think of Serial 1’s e-bikes getting the Euro treatment? Let us know in the comments section below. And check out my own test ride of these premium e-bikes in the following video.
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