InFebruary 2022, they confirmed it. Then inMay 2022, they revealed it. And in lateSeptember 2022, they opened reservations for it. Then in February of 2023, they announced… it was delayed.

So what are we talking about? We are talking about the Harley-Davidson-owned LiveWire S2 Del Mar, the company’s new smaller, less expensive electric motorcycle. The Del Mar will be LiveWire’s first electric bike to utilize its in-house designed Arrow architecture. LiveWire says that the setup could be used on future electric motorcycles to give the company better efficiency and reduced weight and costs.

Delayed S2 Del Mar

But it seems that there is presently a fly in that soup. During Harley-Davidson’s (not LiveWire’s) most recent quarterly investor call, the parent said the S2 Del Mar would be delayed until the second half of this year. Perhaps even more concerning is the news that LiveWire now plans to ship 750 to 2,000 Del Mars in 2023 compared with its previous guidance of 7,000 machines.

Interestingly, LiveWire did not announce the Del Mar’s delay in its quarterly investors call two days later. Their investor’s slide still stated that the bike was expected in Spring 2023. Hmm…

So how far is the Del Mar really behind schedule? Moving the beginning of deliveries from Spring to the second half of 2023 isn’t very definitive. Nevertheless, perhaps there’s something to discern from how LiveWire talks about the Del Mar.

Hints about the delay?

Two things from LiveWire’s investor conference may point to how far behind the Del Mar may be. And the hint points to LiveWire’s use of the word “target.”

First, with an original expected shipping date of Spring 2023, the Del Mar should have been very close to production. But the Del Mar LiveWire’s most recent investor package shows the bike’s 430-pound “target” weight and 100-mile “targeted city range.” So if the Del Mar was nearly ready to ship, why would these two important parameters be targets instead of final?

Even more interesting is that the investor package’s currently stated 100-mile city range is less than the 110-mile city range LiveWire previously claimed. That said, as of the writing of this article, the LiveWire S2 Del Mar shows an expected (but subject to change) city range of 110 miles.

So it would seem that the Del Mar is not as close to production readiness as initially announced. And with the significant reduction in guidance in the number of Del Mars shipping in 2023, LiveWire’s newest electric bike may be off to a rough start. We will have to wait and see what 2023 brings for the S2 Del Mar.