Third-generation concept bike shows LiveWire roots

Kymco has been making promises about upcoming electric bikes since 2019 when the original RevoNEX naked roadster and SuperNEX sports bike concepts were shown but five years on the project finally appears to be coming close to reality thanks to a totally new RevoNEX concept that borrows its powertrain and structure from the LiveWire S2 machines.

It’s actually the third bike to carry the RevoNEX name, as Kymco showed further, redesigned RevoNEX and SuperNEX concepts in 2022, but nothing except the title has been carried across the generations. The original 2019 RevoNEX featured a conventional, mechanical, multi-speed gearbox and clutch – just like a conventional combustion engine bike – to give a better connection between man and machine. In 2022 that theme was continued but with a pseudo gearbox, using electronics to simulate the response to clutch and shifter inputs, and that’s the same route that’s taken with the 2024 RevoNEX. This time, though, the powertrain and chassis use the modular S2 Arrow platform developed by LiveWire for the Del Mar and Mulholland, with the same structural battery case that’s used on those machines. Kymco and LiveWire announced a partnership back in 2021, including working together on future products including a smaller, cheaper ‘S3’ platform that’s to be shared by both brands.

With a real, production battery and powertrain from the LiveWire S2 models, the RevoNEX has taken a huge step closer to becoming a production reality – something that Kymco expects to happen by late 2026. Whether that means the latest RevoNEX concept’s unusual, semi-transparent bodywork and forged carbon fibre tail section make the transition to showrooms remains to be seen. There’s also no sign yet of a faired successor to the two previous generations of SuperNEX sports bike, and since the latest RevoNEX has gained a fairing of its own, it looks like it could be covering both angles with a single model.

The Kymco/LiveWire tie-is in also set to result in a pair of LiveWire-branded maxi-scooters in 2026, both of which were previewed at the EICMA show. These also appear to use the structural battery pack from the S2 chassis, turned upside-down and running parallel with the ground rather than slanted on an angle to give a completely different set of proportions. That results in a long wheelbase and low-slung stance to the two machines – one an adventure-style scooter, the other a sleek, city-oriented design. Both are due to be revealed in full late next year, with production slated for 2026.