Harley-Davidson Introducing Electric Motorcycles

Smaller bikes, electric engines, online sales, and urban storefronts: Harley-Davidson, we hardly knew you. The American motorcycle company, facing dwindling sales in its home market, said Monday that it will roll out some new products and stores to broaden its audience and invigorate sales, the AP reports. Harley, known for its car-alarm triggering engine rumble, will roll out an electric motorcycle called LiveWire next year, with no clutch and no gears. It's promising to expand that line over the next few years. It will also expand online sales and open smaller storefronts in urban areas to broaden its appeal; the Los Angeles Times says those will "differ dramatically" from the company's traditional suburban dealerships.

With sales rising in Asia and India, Harley-Davidson says it's developing smaller bikes with 250 to 500 cubic centimeter engines, to make them more accessible. The president and CEO described "lightweight, urban" transportation products that will draw in "young adults, globally, living in dense urban spaces," per the Times. Such products will compete with mopeds and electric scooters. The company has no plans to pull back on manufacturing its big bikes.

(More Harley-Davidson stories.)