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Brammo Empulse / Test Ride First Impressions
« on: March 15, 2013, 11:40:52 PM »
Since I'm not yet an owner, but very interested I scheduled a test ride today at BMW San Diego. I currently ride a 2007 Ducati Multistrada 1100S. I have owned everything from dirt bikes to supermotos Hayabusa, Aprilia RSV 1000 to Hypermotard. I have been riding since 9 years old and am now 43. Just to provide a base about myself.
Once I arrived I noticed that the Empulse was ready to go. It's size was smaller than I thought from photos and videos. I'm 6', 182, but my mind is wide open for the experience of a non ICE moto. Scott shows me some key points of the bike, starts it which is very odd to know its "running" but silent. After reading some posts here I decide to click into 2nd for take off since I don't know what to expect from 1st. Gave it some throttle and off I go. Simple, rip through the gears to 6th and up to 77 no problem. Come up to a stop and go to blip then throttle and grab a downshift. Oops don't need to do that. Come to a stop. what, no clutch or neutral needed to sit at the light. Sooo strange. I notice the car next to me looking at the bike trying to figure it out. Oh, from take off to this point I did notice the infamous "clunk" of the gearbox. Green light, off I go again. In 1st this time I want to feel the full effect of the torque. Impressive for sure. No disappointments from the power train side. After 3rd gear I realize that a softer shift eliminated the "clunk" completely. It seems that everything works better when done with a feather light touch. The bike feels even better. After about 5 miles I notice that the riding position is not so great for me. It would be fine for a 25 mile commute probably, but I ride 55 miles one way. I'm not sure my knees would be happy after that long. The seat is comfortable, but like stated by others doesn't allow for much shifting around. I was impressed at the wind diversion at 80. I thought for sure my body would take a hammering from wind. That wasn't that case and nice. The bike is very at home in turns that allow you to flick it and power out from the apex. It felt wonderful and would be very fun in the canyon passes here in SoCal. I noticed that on straights and where there are pretty rough spots in the road, that the suspension was a bit rough. I just think that the dealer didn't have the set up done properly or had too much air in the tires. Wow, you get a lot of looks on this bike. It's like you have an exotic sports car. I managed to get to up to 95mph. Just wasn't enough road where I was at to go any faster than that. It holds its own fine and still had more power left.
The only downsides for me are: riding position, no bags, wondering if the range would allow me to get to work on a single charge. (45 miles highway, 10 miles city) could use a windscreen for the amount of highway time. A little wider handlebars.
Overall, I was very impressed, I wish Brammo would have built it to the size of a super bike, but I'm sure the reasons for the design are for range and other purposes.
If the price was $13k I would buy one, but at $19 and change. What the dealer sticker was I just can't justify the purchase. He also told me the batteries are probably good for 5 years if you rode it every day and cycled the batteries from full to empty twice a day. And the replacement cost is $2k per battery x 7= $14k. Ouch. I know that by that time batteries will be better and less, but planning for what is known today makes it a bit scary to own. That is more than a 5 year service on a 348 Ferrari.
Oh, didn't realize that I forgot to ask if I was in econo or sport mode when I left. Scott forgot to tell me about it. Is there a way to tell? I was able to go above 5k rpm so is that sport mode?
I would be interested in comments from existing owners on what specifics led you to your purchase.
Thanks for reading and keep the rubber side down..
Once I arrived I noticed that the Empulse was ready to go. It's size was smaller than I thought from photos and videos. I'm 6', 182, but my mind is wide open for the experience of a non ICE moto. Scott shows me some key points of the bike, starts it which is very odd to know its "running" but silent. After reading some posts here I decide to click into 2nd for take off since I don't know what to expect from 1st. Gave it some throttle and off I go. Simple, rip through the gears to 6th and up to 77 no problem. Come up to a stop and go to blip then throttle and grab a downshift. Oops don't need to do that. Come to a stop. what, no clutch or neutral needed to sit at the light. Sooo strange. I notice the car next to me looking at the bike trying to figure it out. Oh, from take off to this point I did notice the infamous "clunk" of the gearbox. Green light, off I go again. In 1st this time I want to feel the full effect of the torque. Impressive for sure. No disappointments from the power train side. After 3rd gear I realize that a softer shift eliminated the "clunk" completely. It seems that everything works better when done with a feather light touch. The bike feels even better. After about 5 miles I notice that the riding position is not so great for me. It would be fine for a 25 mile commute probably, but I ride 55 miles one way. I'm not sure my knees would be happy after that long. The seat is comfortable, but like stated by others doesn't allow for much shifting around. I was impressed at the wind diversion at 80. I thought for sure my body would take a hammering from wind. That wasn't that case and nice. The bike is very at home in turns that allow you to flick it and power out from the apex. It felt wonderful and would be very fun in the canyon passes here in SoCal. I noticed that on straights and where there are pretty rough spots in the road, that the suspension was a bit rough. I just think that the dealer didn't have the set up done properly or had too much air in the tires. Wow, you get a lot of looks on this bike. It's like you have an exotic sports car. I managed to get to up to 95mph. Just wasn't enough road where I was at to go any faster than that. It holds its own fine and still had more power left.
The only downsides for me are: riding position, no bags, wondering if the range would allow me to get to work on a single charge. (45 miles highway, 10 miles city) could use a windscreen for the amount of highway time. A little wider handlebars.
Overall, I was very impressed, I wish Brammo would have built it to the size of a super bike, but I'm sure the reasons for the design are for range and other purposes.
If the price was $13k I would buy one, but at $19 and change. What the dealer sticker was I just can't justify the purchase. He also told me the batteries are probably good for 5 years if you rode it every day and cycled the batteries from full to empty twice a day. And the replacement cost is $2k per battery x 7= $14k. Ouch. I know that by that time batteries will be better and less, but planning for what is known today makes it a bit scary to own. That is more than a 5 year service on a 348 Ferrari.
Oh, didn't realize that I forgot to ask if I was in econo or sport mode when I left. Scott forgot to tell me about it. Is there a way to tell? I was able to go above 5k rpm so is that sport mode?
I would be interested in comments from existing owners on what specifics led you to your purchase.
Thanks for reading and keep the rubber side down..