Brammo Owners Forum
General => Victory Empulse => Topic started by: PaulHMartinez on June 22, 2017, 11:06:49 AM
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Purchased (new) in February with 161 demo miles on it
At 1200 miles developed what seemed to be a coolant leak from the motor
Still ran well but at 1500 I decided to take it for "service" after draining a small amount on the garage floor each day I thought maybe the coolant level was getting low.
This was over 2 weeks ago. The fix was to replace the motor.
Now it will no longer run. Being told it needs software and coding.
I think the dealer will make good somehow and in the mean time have a loaner bike (gas).
Any suggestions?
Thanks
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Purchased (new) in February with 161 demo miles on it
At 1200 miles developed what seemed to be a coolant leak from the motor
Still ran well but at 1500 I decided to take it for "service" after draining a small amount on the garage floor each day I thought maybe the coolant level was getting low.
This was over 2 weeks ago. The fix was to replace the motor.
Now it will no longer run. Being told it needs software and coding.
I think the dealer will make good somehow and in the mean time have a loaner bike (gas).
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Mine is 169.... At least it sounds like you have a "real" dealer willing to help.... Who might that be ???? We all need to know who the good ones are !!!!
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You shouldn't need software if just the motor was changed. The new motor encoder position needs to be fed into the motor controller. Victory/Polaris or Brammo diagnostic software (which any dealer that sold these things should have) can be used to set the "encoder alignment". The reason the motor doesn't run is the adjustment. If it is far enough out of adjustment the motor may not run or run poorly. The controller needs to know the exact position of the rotor in relation to the stator. The encoder position when your replacement motor was assembled is a little bit different from your original motor. If you did install a firmware update than the encoder alignment might need to be done. Find someone that has the Polaris motor diagnostic software and connecting cables to get this done. The service manual gives you a step by step walk through and it shouldn't be too hard to do even if the mechanic isn't trained on the Empulse.
I believe that if Polaris doesn't start addressing these service issues soon there will be a class action lawsuit that will probably start a buyback of all of the Victory Empluse bikes. There are too few of them out there to warrant them stepping up to the plate to honor their obligations under the warranty program and/or to provide parts and service for the period of time required. With many of the Victory only dealers gone and the multi vehicle Polaris dealers not giving a crap about Victory owners its only a matter of time. Brammo owners are most likely in deeper s**t than Polaris owners as all of Victory's are still in the two year warranty window which would allow a buy back of any vehicle that cannot be serviced in a specific period of time. Few of the Brammos are still under the initial warranty period.
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Push the dealer hard to resolve. Be a pain. You might be surprised what you can do.
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Thanks for the input.
There is really no way to find anyone else for the repair.
It's in the possession of the selling dealer and only authorized repair facility any where near here.
Honestly, I really wouldn't know where else to look or find anyone else. That and it doesn't run to actually get it anywhere else. Who else would honor the Victory warranty?
I don't know if there was ever a Brammo dealer in the Chicago area that might still have a tech with some working knowledge. Anybody?
It will be 3 weeks tomorrow and I feel like somebody needs to make a move. It's the longest I've ever waited for a repair of anything.
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This is bad.... If I were you (and I certainly could be) I would start calling the Mother Ship (Polaris), painful I know, and beat them into submission.... I would call them everyday in an attempt to make their lives as miserable as mine !!!! There is no excuse for how corporate treats their customers sometimes.... I used this technique with GM a few years back, got as high on the food chain as I could and finally prevailed.... Best of luck....
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Good luck,, don't give up,, I wish my dealer had fixed my bike,, but I'm happy about my swap they let me do,,,
See my post in the label of,, dealer had my bike since 2/16,,,
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Update
It's 5 weeks today.
Many calls to dealer and Victory Cust service
Dealer still unable to correct programming issues. Bike still not working.
Not getting the support from victory that they say they need.
Made initial contact with an attorney and they have the details if and when litigation is necessary.
After leaving several messages for the cust serv rep assigned to this case I finally got a call back yesterday.
He tells me the dealer should have offered me another bike already. Unfortunately no more Empulse models and they want to offer a gas bike. I've told them I have no interest and bought the Ebike so I didn't have to burn gas
So now I'm waiting again with the hope the may find another dealer willing to trade one for another bike the dealer has in inventory
This entire issue has left me terribly disappointed with Victory/Polaris and frustrated by the dealer
My worry is I will get it replaced and I will run into another problem and go through this again.
I need to hear from someone that's owned one for a good while with lots of trouble free miles
Thanks
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Sorry to hear about your situation.... Thanks for posting.... Some great information there.... Sounds like you are on top of things.... Can't wait to read the final chapter !!!!
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I like to think I'm staying on top of it.
As of this afternoon I've been promised a replacement bike as in a new
Empulse.
Won't rejoice until I'm actually on it.
Thanks again.
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Congratulations for hanging in there!
I've put 40K miles on my 2013 without major electrical issues (other than water in the "throttle" switch), if that helps any. ::)
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It's starting to become obvious that Polaris is not going to stand behind the Empulse they manufactured let alone the Brammo machines. I have been unable to get any parts except a couple of clips from Polaris. If anything major or minor should fail, the motorcycle would be a write off. A minor crash or just a tip over could not be repaired without parts. I think Polaris will handle complaints on a case by case basis and resolve it as an exchange or a buy back---whatever is cheaper to them. They are already setting a precedent and will be hard pressed to change course in the future.
For us as owners, it would be great if we could find a list of the parts suppliers to Brammo. Many of the parts are off other motorcycles, it's just a problem of identifying who made some of them. It's a real shame that Polaris has taken this (I assume) position about how to respond to customers who supported their venture into electric motorcycles. I, like others, thought that with the resources of Polaris that the Empluse would be refined and eventually superseded by a better replacement. Just the opposite happened which leaves us with Zero (no pun intended) for other options.
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On the parts front, has anyone tried Victory Parts and Accessories Outlet (www.victoryparts.net (http://www.victoryparts.net))? They are showing virtually all Empulse TT parts as available. You can add a part to the basket for purchase and it loads. I have not actually tried to make a purchase though....
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Yes, I've tried. While it appears that most parts are available for purchase, the particular part I needed (the front drive sprocket) is not. "Pinion for chain 520 14T" and it's retaining circlip have dashes for the part number and no button to place it in the cart for purchase.
My best guess, after talking with the head of a major sprocket distributor, is that Brammo had this sprocket custom made for the Empulse, maybe in Italy?. Another thread shows an alternative, but it is not a perfect match, leaving more slop in the spline interface, which can't be a good thing.
I know that this is just one example, but I wonder how many other "missing parts" there are in the whole inventory. I also wonder how to get a major electrical failure diagnosed and repaired, should that happen in the future.
I'm thinking of selling my bike now for a huge loss, but with 40K miles on it, I probably will have to give it away! :'(
I guess it's time to test ride the new Zero and hope they stay in business.
I really don't like the idea of going back to gas. I have an FJ-09 and ride it only for long distance trips, always wondering why it's trying to shake itself apart between my legs and why it insists on running at stop lights. ;)
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Don't get your hopes up by looking at a web page with parts illustrations. There aren't many (if any) parts. If you go to the Victory website and pull up the parts books, most parts will say "see dealer". For example, for the transmission, there were all the illustrations but only two part numbers. One for the complete transmission assembly and one for a gasket kit. Everything else says "see dealer". Well, the dealer can't order something without a part number and when the dealer calls Polaris everything is back ordered. Out of frustration, I tried to order a part that had a part number. In this case it was the transmission gasket kit with a dealer cost around $145 (the only other part was the complete transmission assembly). Anyway, I paid in full for the kit over a month ago and no part, or any timeline for getting it ever occurred. Polaris doesn't respond to the dealer (who was a Victory dealer only and has nothing to sell). They don't respond to a customer (see the dealer). It is what it is---Polaris doesn't want to have these bikes out there and the quicker they die from lack of parts and service, the quicker their headache is over.
I am happy with the bike, I hope it continues to run but without any parts or service its a crap shoot. I got burned on my last EV bike which was a Vectrix. Fortunately I bought the Empulse for a low enough price that I wont be burned for more then the price of a new IC motorcycle. It's not good enough that Polaris might be justifying throwing the owners under the bus because they sold some of us the bike for below their cost. The problem is there are others that paid a much higher price along with the fact that Polaris stated that Victory purchasers would have service available for five years and parts for ten. I see a lawyer or two on the horizon who is going to want to talk to Polaris. From the PR standpoint, I have owned many Polaris products over the years--but the Empulse will be the last. They make some decent products but with a corporate culture like they must have and the fact that you can buy similar products from other companies I can only hope their business dries up and they blow away.
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It's sad that it's come to this for people. No parts, no support, no way to keep the bikes going unless you can make your own parts I guess.
I forget where, but I heard there's a class action lawsuit in Canada or something going on against Polaris/Victory because of lack of support and parts. It's not like it's an old motorcycle, it's less than 4 years old, and still being sold. Why is it so hard to get parts?
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I would figure with Brammo being a small, undercapitalized, company there would not be many warehoused parts for anything but production. A look at the Zero forum shows a similar parts problem where most parts are used for new vehicle production and service parts support is lacking, taking a back seat to production needs. I doubt Polaris received many parts when they bought Brammo and most likely secured parts needed for production and not much else. Any Brammo inventory would have been used to build the few motorcycles Polaris built.
Now they need to make a decision about how to go forward. If they are going to support the Victory built Empulse they need to get suppliers to manufacture the pieces to build up their spare parts inventory. They already have a distribution system in place, however it is for a non-existent dealer network. So the system needs to be set up to deal with the 10's of thousands of IC motorcycles that Victory made which is a whole can of worms compared to dealing with the few Empulse motorcycles that were built. Except for lawsuits and PR nightmares, Polaris' most cost effective solution is to do nothing and see what kind of push back they get from those of us that bought these machines. Every Polaris built Empulse should still be on the factory warranty so this is a major problem.
I've talked about this before and lost everything on my Vectrix. But this is different---Vectrix completely failed and the workers and stockholders lost everything along with the customers and dealers. Polaris, on the other hand, is a large, profitable, intact company who is creating a huge PR problem that needs to be rectified. I have been in two other situations where a product had major problems and the parent companies resolved them to my satisfaction. Polaris needs to look at these kind of solutions to avoid legal trouble in the future.
My two issues were a 2015 VW Jetta TDI and a Samsung washing machine. First the Jetta. VW had an idea for several years they were in trouble but didn't prepare for the huge settlement they ended up with for cheating on the emissions of the TDI diesel. In the end they satisfied most of the customers by offering a repair of the vehicle to bring it into compliance with the emission standards or a buyback at pre "dieselgate" prices plus a substantial payment for the inconvenience of having to go through the process. Customers were given the option of what VW would do and how much payment they would receive along with a couple of years to continue to use the vehicle before you had to select which way you would go.
In the Samsung situation, I had just purchased a new washer that was found to be defective. About 2.5 million were involved. By the time of the recall, Samsung had already set up a plan to address the problem. In my case I was offered money (more than I had paid for the machine) to either buy another Samsung washer or slightly less to buy a different manufactures machine. In order to receive the settlement I had to provide a receipt for a new machine and remove the serial numbers from the Samsung and sign a paper saying that I would never use the machine in commercial operation or sell it and when I was to get rid of it, I must destroy it. Samsung would not provide parts or service but the machine remains in my garage as a backup.
So what should Polaris do? For the few machines out there, I think they need to take the Samsung approach. Buying all back would be less costly to Polaris than setting up a parts and service operation during the warranty period and extending the "five years service and ten years parts for Victory motorcycles" that was to be found in various press releases when Victory went under. And remember we have an additional battery warranty that goes ten years. No way of getting around that. I don't think Polaris management was thinking about the low volume Empulse when they made these claims as they had thousands of IC Victory's to dump on the market. Smart money would be to offer a settlement to all owners to cover all of their documented expenses related to the purchase of a 2016 Victory Empulse. And, like the washing machine, let the owner keep the bike but offer no support or warranty whatsoever--when it breaks or wrecks it's done. There will be a class action lawsuit about this if Polaris buries their head in the sand and hopes the problem goes away. It would only cost Polaris a few million dollars to pay off all the owners. A good class action law firm will suck that kind of money out of them in a matter of months and leave Polaris with a PR nightmare.
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Well done....
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Unfortunately, if it does come down to a class action lawsuit, that could drag on for years and years. Polaris has deep pockets. PR nightmare yes and hopes that Polaris will do the right thing though the track record so far has been pretty spotty at best
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Unfortunately, if it does come down to a class action lawsuit, that could drag on for years and years. Polaris has deep pockets. PR nightmare yes and hopes that Polaris will do the right thing though the track record so far has been pretty spotty at best
Plus, do you think that Polaris customers who are interested in Indians and other Polaris products care much about what happens to a few customers who bought their electric motorcycles over a one-year period? I really doubt any PR nightmare in the courts would be noticed by their typical customer and would generate more than a one-day comment in the local news or a random mention in motorcycle enthusiast magazines.
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Yes, I do think others will care. Like it or not, social media, forums like this one and the internet in general spreads information to just about anyone. If a corporation has a management structure that would allow this to happen to any segment of their customer base than the entire base will take notice. Maybe not in any sort of direct action but the question of if "they're next" is always in the back of their minds. How would they like it if the Polaris product they bought just dropped to about zero value? You think you could sell your used Empusle for much more then scrap value today? I may be wrong but after talking to people who have other Polaris products and to dealers a common thread about the actual or perceived corporate culture seems to be emerging. And that is they really don't care too much about their dealers or customers when it comes to anything that happens after you put down your cash. I was actually amazed to listen to the communication problems my dealer had when trying (unsuccessfully) to get parts for my Empulse. It was like listening to someone talking about a used car dealer in the '50's. Not a straight answer in the house. I am not the biggest purchaser of Polaris things but over the years I have bought quite a few---never a motorcycle but quads and snowmobiles. Now when I talk about the Empulse debacle, my other friends who have a choice in products to buy are looking at alternatives to Polaris products. There is much competition out there in the sport vehicle business. So friends tell friends, social media kicks in and that's a PR nightmare started by something simple. And lets not forget, the owners of the IC Victory products might be feeling the same hurt to some degree that we are.
Don't get me wrong, I may be way off base here and may be asking too much from Polaris when I want to pay them real money to buy a part on a machine they manufactured less than two years ago---and they can't be bothered to provide one. However, it sure doesn't seem like the way a top tier company would react. I just have a bad feeling about the final outcome
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I'm concerned that when I need something like a component inside a gearbox, or something specific to the drive-train, or a VCU or BMS module or even a battery, that I'm going to be SOL.
Getting parts is sounding like a nightmare. What recourse do we have?
I'd read very carefully your warranty, it's 2 years for the bike, and 5 years for batteries. If you're not getting help, or parts, or the vehicle has been in the shop for a long enough time, you may be able to claim lemon law, and they're required to replace or buy the vehicle back.
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Today marks 6 weeks. No replacement bike as yet.
Victory cust serv rep Brian not taking my calls and now using
Email. Dealer has added little to the process from what I can tell.
I think what's being missed here is the lasting impact this has on a buyer.
I've owned 30+ bikes over my 52+ years but this is my first experience with a Polaris
Product. As of now it's likely to be the last, but there's more... I also know many other
Riders and potential riders that sometimes like to ask more experienced riders and consumers about bikes.
I've recommended many bikes, parts, lessons, accessories, books etc. I'm not sure I'd be very positive about Victory/Polaris currently and this can ripple.
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I read the warranty carefully and it's a pretty lame warranty. First it's a limited warranty and excludes most of the motorcycle outright. When you exclude things like design faults and electronic components on an electric motorcycle and make everything else a "wear item" you don't have much. In addition limited and express warranties are handled differently than full warranties and might be handled on a state level, not a Federal level. That still doesn't give Polaris the right not to provide any parts or service after the sale. Without access to parts and service you basically have reduced the value of your purchase to zero because of Polaris' actions. I think any judge reviewing this would rule against Polaris and in favor of the purchaser. Courts are being less tolerant about shoddy business practices.
BTW--I miss read the battery warranty which is 5 years/100K miles not 10. But if the bike won't run than you can't prove any claim for the battery. Also, make sure your dealer sent in the warranty registration to Polaris and you have a copy of it. This might be another out at state level but not at the Federal level.
I hope my Empulse continues to run and I don't crash it or drop it until some class action attorney figures this out for all of us.
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Latest
A replacement Empulse has been found and is being shipped from St Louis today to the dealer. Or so I'm told.
To arrive there in 2-3 days getting us to next Tuesday which would be 7 weeks exactly or close to half the riding season around here. Now, I'm not entirely sure that I even want a new one for fear there be another issue. I did certainly enjoy it the 6 weeks I did get to ride it and had wanted an electric for a good long time.
Hope to have the entire situation resolve by the end of next week. We'll see.
On a positive note, the only bike available as a replacement bike comes with the high end fork, frame sliders and the small optional wind screen.
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If you are receiving a new Empulse TT with those upgrades ($$$$) in trade to settle a warranty claim, you certainly hit the Mother Load !!!! I am still having a blast on my Empulse as well and would jump on the same trade in your boat. Rode mine out in the twisties just the other day, it still puts a big smile on my face. Sure hope this works out for you.... Oh, and that little wind screen is awesome, takes a lot of wind pressure off of your chest at speed....
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I didn't like the small windscreen it kinda felt like it did nothing unless you were full tuck. I ordered a MRA X-Screen I might try that with the small windscreen and if I don't like it I'll sell it. The brackets are nice though.
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I didn't like the small windscreen it kinda felt like it did nothing unless you were full tuck. I ordered a MRA X-Screen I might try that with the small windscreen and if I don't like it I'll sell it. The brackets are nice though.
Do u know if those brackets fit other screens? I have the MRA RNB and I don't think it'll for that.
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Paul - sorry for your luck. You're in Chicagoland, correct? Which dealer did you go to? Mine sat at a dealer that has since closed for four months last year, and the problem was never resolved. My battery warranty is up in Feb, and I'm going to bring it someplace this fall to get it finally sorted out, once the weather turns cold.
It sounds like you got great service from the dealer, at least relative to what I got from the other. Did you go to Gina's or Randy's? I tried going through Gina's for sprockets, but they never returned my calls, and when I called the back they told me that they were essentially not interested in the business because it was too hard. I'm leaning towards Randy's in Marengo now. But if Gina's has already been through the ringer with Polaris with your bike, I may go there instead.
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Never heard of Gina's. It was the other one that I'm now convinced either never got any "training" to be able to service them or simply didn't know what to do. I'll put it that way.
I'm assuming you're referring to a Brammo Empulse, correct?
You may be best by calling directly to Victory customer service if you still have a warranty that they're obligated to fulfill. See if they have a recommendation for an authorized Sevice center and if they do you may want to contact them to be sure they have someone competent and confident enough for a repair. Until they're involved I wouldn't have much expectation of getting anything fixed.
I'm hoping to take delivery of the new replacement bike this week.
Again until I'm on it or its in my garage the situation is not resolved.
Tomorrow, August 1 is the 2 month mark. I'm disappointed all around.
I did ask what becomes of the old bike. The service manager says its sent back to victory and that's all he knew.
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I didn't like the small windscreen it kinda felt like it did nothing unless you were full tuck. I ordered a MRA X-Screen I might try that with the small windscreen and if I don't like it I'll sell it. The brackets are nice though.
Do u know if those brackets fit other screens? I have the MRA RNB and I don't think it'll for that.
The windscreen has to be flat on the bottom to be able to fit the bracket. I actually had to rotate my nation deflector windscreen around to be able to us the x-creen I like it but the spitfire brackets are garbage it bobbles around too much. I was thinking of of drilling the holes in the windscreen and mounting the deflector upsidedown on the Victory bracket. It'd look ugly but it would be rocksolid. Or I might just get a MRA windscreen with the the MRA mounts.
How is the MRA mounts? Are they pretty solid the screen doesn't bobble around or get loose?
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My MRA screen doesn't move at high speeds.
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Mine neither. And overall the screen itself is pretty good. I'm sure its giving me a 5-10% increase in range at freeway speeds. The mounts work well for the OEM handlebar. I replaced mine and the brackets dont fit that very perfectly now, but it works well enough.
I certainly like the brackets. Also Victory is running discount now for the short windscreen (its at 80$ i think)
Would be worth buying that for the brackets alone maybe?
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So did you get the new Empulse? Also thank you all for posting your stories here as it is discouraged me from pulling the trigger on a 6k empulse tt... sounds like 6k is still too much to pay to risk a dead bike. I'll keep riding my 1900 dollar enertia until something happens, but I feel as if after a few weeks Ive already got my moneys worth :)
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(Assuming u were asking me) Yes i did get a new Empulse, but this was last september and before Polaris announced Victory's end of life. Around 4600 miles and going good! Havent seen real big issues so far and getting a good 85+ miles on freeway riding. So I feel its worth it :)
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Wow 85+ thats way better than me I can only get 60 freeway
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(Assuming u were asking me) Yes i did get a new Empulse, but this was last september and before Polaris announced Victory's end of life. Around 4600 miles and going good! Havent seen real big issues so far and getting a good 85+ miles on freeway riding. So I feel its worth it :)
Congrats! And that's nice range for freeway riding! I'm really tempted to test my Enertia but at the same time scared to push it that hard on max throttle considering it is 7 yrs old... I'm getting about 40 miles of range around town so pretty happy
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Reading this thread, I'm wondering if it would be helpful to recruit current Empulse and Enertia owners who would be willing to sell or gift theirs to others in this group who need parts to make up for the lack of help and parts coming from Polaris.
For example, as much as I would sorely miss my Empulse R EBoz edition, it would give me lots of warm fuzzies to know that someone who loved the bike could put it or its parts to good use for many years to come. Mine is still in great condition, has had the oil breather tube recall already addressed, has just come home with a clean bill of health from the 9K service, and feels like it will run for many more than the 10K miles it has already clocked.
In short, mine is not dead. Would someone like to make a serious offer?
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Reading this thread, I'm wondering if it would be helpful to recruit current Empulse and Enertia owners who would be willing to sell or gift theirs to others in this group who need parts to make up for the lack of help and parts coming from Polaris.
For example, as much as I would sorely miss my Empulse R EBoz edition, it would give me lots of warm fuzzies to know that someone who loved the bike could put it or its parts to good use for many years to come. Mine is still in great condition, has had the oil breather tube recall already addressed, has just come home with a clean bill of health from the 9K service, and feels like it will run for many more than the 10K miles it has already clocked.
In short, mine is not dead. Would someone like to make a serious offer?
Have you lost your mind? If anything you should be looking to keep that limited edition and be asking if someone wants to sell their bike because their's went kaput. I need Plastics, 2013 handle bars, OEM clutch lever, and some other stuff I can't think of right now.
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Reading this thread, I'm wondering if it would be helpful to recruit current Empulse and Enertia owners who would be willing to sell or gift theirs to others in this group who need parts to make up for the lack of help and parts coming from Polaris.
For example, as much as I would sorely miss my Empulse R EBoz edition, it would give me lots of warm fuzzies to know that someone who loved the bike could put it or its parts to good use for many years to come. Mine is still in great condition, has had the oil breather tube recall already addressed, has just come home with a clean bill of health from the 9K service, and feels like it will run for many more than the 10K miles it has already clocked.
In short, mine is not dead. Would someone like to make a serious offer?
Post pics?!!! That is so cool. Just got my Brammo hat in the mail today that I scored off eBay... Looks brand new and looks damn good hanging on coat rack by my motorcycle gear 👍
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Have you lost your mind?
Could be. :)
In all seriousness, sorry for my poor choice of words. I shouldn't have implied that a working EBoz bike should be parted out to resurrect a standard Empulse.
If anything you should be looking to keep that limited edition and be asking if someone wants to sell their bike because their's went kaput. I need Plastics, 2013 handle bars, OEM clutch lever, and some other stuff I can't think of right now.
In your scenario, you're suggesting that I cannibalize others' Empulses to maintain the EBoz. That's of course a great idea and I totally get that. Except for one thing: I'm not mechanically inclined. If something goes wrong with the bike, and a local professional couldn't repair it, then I'm SOL.
We both arguably hold an EBoz in high regard. Rather than wait for it to become unrideable before passing it along for parts, I thought it would be nice to give someone else--someone more capable of keeping it in good repair for many exciting years to come--a chance to enjoy it while it still runs?
If there are no tempting offers, I would be proud to continue to have the honor of riding it.
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Post pics?!!! That is so cool. Just got my Brammo hat in the mail today that I scored off eBay... Looks brand new and looks damn good hanging on coat rack by my motorcycle gear 👍
Let me know if you find these professional photos (http://www.rideicon.com/the-ride/bikes/icon-x-brammo-spec32) by Icon Motosports helpful. My photos always wash out the purple blue.
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Are you in the Tampa, FL area?
Have you lost your mind?
Could be. :)
In all seriousness, sorry for my poor choice of words. I shouldn't have implied that a working EBoz bike should be parted out to resurrect a standard Empulse.
If anything you should be looking to keep that limited edition and be asking if someone wants to sell their bike because their's went kaput. I need Plastics, 2013 handle bars, OEM clutch lever, and some other stuff I can't think of right now.
In your scenario, you're suggesting that I cannibalize others' Empulses to maintain the EBoz. That's of course a great idea and I totally get that. Except for one thing: I'm not mechanically inclined. If something goes wrong with the bike, and a local professional couldn't repair it, then I'm SOL.
We both arguably hold an EBoz in high regard. Rather than wait for it to become unrideable before passing it along for parts, I thought it would be nice to give someone else--someone more capable of keeping it in good repair for many exciting years to come--a chance to enjoy it while it still runs?
If there are no tempting offers, I would be proud to continue to have the honor of riding it.
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Opposite corner: the Seattle, WA area.
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New bike in the garage!
With preformance fork, set up by some of my genius motorcycle racer types. Rides so much better now. Came way too stiff to commute.
Rode it to work 3 times last week.
So far so good. Battery even seems to be better on this one.
The original was VIN 066 this one is 0216. Improved, maybe.
All I know is I'm not burning gas again and it's still very cool.
I've added the lowered pegs and handle bar riser and Puig windscreen.
Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to ad a gel pad into the seat.
I managed to find a set of GIVI racks for side cases, hope to get cases soon.
Was a long ordeal, but seems to have finally worked out.
I'm giving Victory a second chance.
By the way I did make contact with Brammo about the ongoing repair that couldn't be preformed.
They referred me to Victory and said they no longer support any motorcycles.
Thanks
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Congratulations on the new bike! I'm jealous about the performance forks now. Though i wished victory offered forged aluminium wheels too as an option like how energica offers.
(Assuming u were asking me) Yes i did get a new Empulse, but this was last september and before Polaris announced Victory's end of life. Around 4600 miles and going good! Havent seen real big issues so far and getting a good 85+ miles on freeway riding. So I feel its worth it :)
Congrats! And that's nice range for freeway riding! I'm really tempted to test my Enertia but at the same time scared to push it that hard on max throttle considering it is 7 yrs old... I'm getting about 40 miles of range around town so pretty happy
Great! I guess i am gentle on the throttle most times, unless i see bikers at red lights and i choose to race if its not a 1000cc motorcycle. I've had some good success (0-70mph) against 650cc, cruisers and maybe on a lucky day against something like 600RR. The trick is to start in 2nd gear ;)
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Congratulations, Paul!
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I took a 1000 cc sports bike off the line for about a 1/2 block. Repeated it 3 times. I used 1st gear and shifted without clutch at 6K rpm.
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I took a 1000 cc sports bike off the line for about a 1/2 block. Repeated it 3 times. I used 1st gear and shifted without clutch at 6K rpm.
Aah without clutch is another way of saving a second or so. All those fancy bikes have quickshifters!
Will shifting without clutch too much, damage the clutch/gearbox?
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If shifting without clutch causes problems, the only symptom I've encountered so far is forgetting how to use the clutch to shift smoothly. At this point, I think my out-of-practice use of the clutch would do damage to the gearbox. :)
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Cool good they hooked you up. Have fun :) How'd you lower the footpegs? I'm beginning to realize I might be a little big for the Empulse, it feels cramped compared to my ZR7.
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I'll post a separate thread on lowered foot pegs.
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I'm glad Victory came through with a replacement bike! At least they followed through on supporting their customer in the end.
Clutchless shifting shouldn't cause any significant damage, provided you use the right technique. Most motorcycles (and I'm almost certain the IET transmission in the Empulse is one of them) use a constant mesh sequential transmission. That means all of the gears are meshed all of the time, but not connected to the output shaft until a "dog clutch" engages them. The dog clutch is what you direct with your foot, and locks the correct gear to the shaft. This video has a good visual explanation, it's difficult to conceptualize: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFjSVgNFd6E (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFjSVgNFd6E)
As a result, these transmissions don't "grind" in the same way a car's transmission does. The force of the shift is to the dog clutch, a robust part, and these types of transmissions are routinely shifted without a clutch in performance applications. The key technique is to engage the dog clutch when the transmission is unloaded, i.e. off throttle, and shift firmly and quickly. Quick shifters can do this by cutting spark for the miniscule amount of time it takes to slide into the next gear. Humans have to do it with a flick of the wrist ;)
Here's more info on the Empulse transmission if anyone's interested: http://www.ietspa.com/portfolio-posts/iet/ (http://www.ietspa.com/portfolio-posts/iet/)
TL;DR Clutchless shifting is fine if you shift when there is little load on the transmission and you shift firmly. Shifting with torque on the transmission could cause damage to the dog clutches eventually. The clutch only makes sure the transmission is unloaded during a shift.
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I'll post a separate thread on lowered foot pegs.
Let us know where, I'm 1.96 8)