Harley Dealership Adds Vectrix EV

In Sioux Falls, South Dakota — just up the road from this week’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally — one Harley-Davidson dealership has taken a bold step in the future of bikes. J&L Harley-Davidson has added Vectrix electric motorscooters to the mix on its showroom floor.

A recent story in the Argus Leader said Harley riders were open to the idea of an electric bike. The browsers quoted in the story didn’t say they were ready to give up their hardtails and ape-hangers for a 60-mph electric scooter, but they did like that the Vectrix was a zero-emissions vehicle.

Keep in mind, though, that Harleys are no slouch in the mileage department themselves. The 2009 Sportster 883 Low, to pick a model at random, gets 54 mpg in the city and 60 when you get your motor runnin’ and head out on the highway. But what comes out the other end, while hard to pin down with exact numbers, is apparently bad enough to warrant a California emissions fee of a couple hundred bucks.