Brammo Owners Forum

Quote from: EmpulseRider on November 06, 2013, 05:07:08 PM

There's an app for that! http://www.empulsebuyer.com/tcoCalculator.php

Its now a bit dated with the new 2014 Zeros but I will update the app as soon as 2014 Brammos are announced.

BTW, where has 860 gone? I know he was waiting for a price drop to buy...

Just saw the ABG story, so I'll be calling the dealership in the morning to see what they've got.  $5000 off is pretty darn close to the (up to) $6,000 dollar tax incentive that Colorado was originally going to offer, so it puts the price much closer in line with what I originally was planning on spending before Colorado killed the incentive for electric motorcycles.

I'd actually resigned myself to the idea that I would have to wait and buy used after Brammo came out with a updated model, and the prices on the old bikes dropped in the used market.  But this might just work out better than waiting and buying used.  Hopefully they will have something that will work for me.

delete

http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/zero-s/sr.php

Well ahead of the Empulse in torque spec.  Range up to 171 miles with the battery add-on.  Looks to be the same chassis as the 2013 S?  If so, that's a little surprising.  I would have thought at least a suspension upgrade to go along with the hot rodded motor.

One thing I appreciate about Zero's website is the upfront performance data, like 0-60 times:

                                                     ZERO SR zf11.4          ZERO SR ZF11.4 +Power Tank
Acceleration, 0-60 mph (0-100 km/h)    3.3 seconds   3.9 seconds


I wish Brammo would post stuff like that for the E1 and R.

Isle of Man seems to be the race to go to.
But it is hella expensive and the bike would have to be rock solid...though I bet both Eric and Shane would love a trip across the pond.

One of the problems with trying to win at IOM is that you really need an experienced IOM top pro to take your bike down that course.  Other EV teams have been doing that.  Nothing against Eric or Shane, but I don't know if they have raced there before, and it isn't the kind of place you just show up at and run competitive times without lots of practice.  There is a reason why the IOM race was yanked out of the regular European racing series decades ago.   

The other problem is that the IOM got tons of press Before electric bikes broke the Ton.  But now that the Ton has been broken a lot of the attention seems to have dropped off.  At least here in the States anyways.  In Europe everything might be different, but I also though that Brammo was pushing the Plus in Europe, not the Empluse.  (I might be wrong about that too?)

Continued improvements in what is sold to customers is job 1, so if racing gets in the way of that, I could see taking a step back from racing.

But it seems to me like the racing is really pushing the retail products forward, not holding back the retail products.  It seems to be a great testbed for always improving the Brammo's we can all buy. 

If it comes down to what racing Brammo should prioritize, I would say racing against gas bikes is the best bang for the buck for US sales.  If Brammo wants to compete against gas bikes in the showrooms for sales, beating them at the racetrack builds the kind of street credibility that racing against other EV bikes just doesn't deliver. 

If other US based EV motorcycle companies (Lightning? Zero?) want to compete against you, make them chase you around the track with the gas bikes.  If they beat you, and beat the gas bikes while they are at it, all e-motos still win, including Brammo.

I'm hearing unvalidated rumors about upcoming changes to the Empluse that might have something to do with the guaranteed trade-back bucks for buying a current year brammo now, and being able to trade in on a new model at full MSRP.  Here is what I have pieced together from different rumors I've heard floated around:

1)  ABS as an option in all versions for both US and European releases.

2)  Updated Parker motors and controller updates for the R, E1 stays with the same motor, but gets efficiency updates that improve range, making the R even more the power model, and the E1 the winner for range.

4)  New battery packs, but no details.  Better range?  Lower cost?  More power delivery at WOT?  Don't know.

5)  Revised footpeg configuration


I'm sitting around in bed with a badly broken ankle (damn Mountain Bike hates me) I might as will violate some trusts and start asking questions.  Anyone else hear these same things? 

I finally got a chance to do a demo ride on an Empulse now that the Brammo dealership opened recently here in Colorado.  It was a black E1 (non-R) model.  Apparently, they've already put enough miles on it for them to put it into Sport mode, so I got to experience the full gusto.

The brakes, suspension, and highway acceleration was everything I had hoped it would be.  It clearly beat out my aging SV650 in all those categories.  Based on that, I wouldn't have any reason to spend the extra for the "R".  I don't need more from the suspension.  And while the carbon fiber is cool, I definitely am not, so that's a wash.  =)

But I found the initial take-off (0-15 MPH) to be just a touch soft.  Nothing bad, but just enough to make me wonder if it would be worth it to get the "R" with the Parker motor just for that initial adrenaline rush.  That brings up the question, does the Parker motor really make a big difference for the initial launch in 1st gear?

The peak numbers seem to suggest that the power would come on harder earlier on the "R"  (54HP@4500 and 90Nm torque vs the same HP @6000 and 63Nm).  But peak numbers really don't mean much at RPM's well below where the motor generates peak power. 

Does anyone have actual hard data on acceleration for the R and E1?  I'm thinking 0-60 Foot ET times like over on dragtimes.com (No brammo's there yet!?!):
 
http://www.dragtimes.com/Suzuki--SV-Drag-Racing.html?resultpage=1

Or if anyone has any HP/torque at the wheel actual measured graphs from dyno runs, that would be sweet.  Measured 0-60 times in 1st gear would also be appreciated (or whatever top speed is in 1st gear).

Thanks.