curtiss motorcycles reveals electric psyche to take on harley davidson

curtiss motorcycles has revealed another design concept, this time taking a deliberate shot at harley davidson with its most affordable electric bike yet, the ‘psyche’. the company’s newest design is priced almost identically to the harley-davidson livewire, which is already available for sale at $29,799.

images courtesy of curtiss motorcycles

also dubbed ‘the lover’, curtiss named psyche after the greek goddess who was the wife of the god of love eros. it features a single seat design and many of the elements that make up curtiss’ signature style, including long, low proportions and a skeletal design.

the psyche will offer two power options including 48 or 96 hp (36 or 72 kw). the lightweight bike will be around 375 lb (170 kg) and offer a range in combined cycle testing estimated at around 160 mi (260 km) per charge. other than that, specs are scarce at the moment.

curtiss CEO matt chambers admits to taking aim at america’s most iconic motorcycle brand, as it calls for small-time investors to help it overtake in the premium electric motorcycle segment. the bike itself won’t be available for at least two years though, with the company projecting sales beginning in fall 2021.

‘I’ve got something I’ve always dreamed of,’ chambers wrote in an email released to the press this morning. ‘a clean shot at harley, exposing the hollow seemingly cynical nature of their EV effort, their own ceo referring to their rather commodity looking livewire example as a catalyst for their petrol line. how uninspiring. he goes on to say he will lead the be motorcycle field. no! curtiss is the precise hard knock out punch he didn’t see coming.

‘he is way too big and spread way too thin,’ he continues. ‘the volumes will be too low for the next five years. we have out planned them, out designed them, out engineered them, out branded them and out promoted them. the market is very small, ideally suited to our core competencies, skillsets and bandwidth. we have the experience and collaborative relationships to ideally grow with this market. harley does not.’