LiveWire, the all-electric motorcycle company spun out of Harley-Davidson’s electric motorcycle division, has just unveiled its latest electric motorcycle. The new LiveWire S2 Mulholland is the brand’s first cruiser electric motorcycle, and in fact the first cruiser of any major electric motorcycle maker.
It might not look quite like a typical H-D cruiser. Gone are the chrome pipes and leather bar tassels. Instead, LiveWire is calling the S2 Mulholland a “performance cruiser”, and it’s got the specs to back that up.
A 3.3 second 0-60 mph time adds sportiness to the laidback cruiser geometry with taller bars and a more relaxed-looking ride. The use of a 19-inch front wheel and 17-inch rear also gives the bike a squatter rear end.
There’s no cruiser frame, but that’s because there’s not really a frame at all. Instead, the S2 Mulholland uses the Arrow platform seen on the S2 Del Mar, which is centered around a structural battery that allows for multiple bikes to be built around a similar architecture.
When Harley-Davidson’s electric motorcycle brand LiveWire rolled out the S2 Del Mar on a versatile new platform two years ago, we knew it was likely the first of several bikes to share that Arrow setup. We speculated that the next bike could be a cruiser format, and now we’re finally getting a look at that very model in the S2 Mulholland.
Despite sharing the same foundation, the S2 Mulholland certainly carries a bold new design.
As the company explained, “Mulholland represents a shift in design at LiveWire as the company has reimagined the profile and silhouette of the motorcycle—traditionally informed by the gas tank—while also using sustainable materials in key components for the first time.”
That includes minimizing petroleum-based plastics wherever possible, such as in the seat, bodywork, and secondary plastic components.
Hemp bio-composites are used in the fenders, the radiator shrouds and wiring caddies are made from a type of nylon produced from recycled ocean fishing nets, and the seat is made of recyclable silicone instead of leather or vinyl.
On the powertrain side, the S2 Mulholland shares a considerable amount of hardware with the S2 Del Mar, including a 10.5 kWh battery with a 78-minute recharge time on Level 2 charging.
However, it sports a higher city range of 121 miles (194 km) compared to the S2 Del Mar’s 113 miles (181 km), perhaps indicating that they’ve found a way to make the 62 kW (84 hp) motor a bit more efficient.
That range turns into 73 miles (117 km) on the highway at 55 mph (88 km/h). For reference, I own a LiveWire S2 Del Mar and I find that I get around 1 mile per battery percent when I’m in the city and sticking to roads that are posted up to around 45 mph, with occasional sprints up to 55 mph. But it sounds like the S2 Mulholland should do slightly better than the S2 Del Mar on range.
A big part of the bike will likely be its customization options, which LiveWire sounds ready to support.
As the company added, “a range of S2 Mulholland accessories including passenger seats and pegs, windscreens, soft and hard bags, luggage racks, and cosmetic pieces will be launching to further add to the unique riding experience and visual appeal of S2 Mulholland.”
The bike is now available across LiveWire and Harley-Davidson dealerships in North America, where it carries a price of US $15,999 and CAD $21,999.
The S2 Del Mar expanded to Europe several months after its US launch, though international riders will need to wait until 2025 for the S2 Mulholland to enter international markets.
