Brammo Owners Forum
Brammo Empulse Discussion => Brammo Empulse Mods => Topic started by: Gavin on April 03, 2013, 01:28:48 PM
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Busy Busy Busy...and just got the bike this AM (a whole story in itself that I might or might not share)...
I won't have time to do too much till this weekend...so there will be little riding and little modding till then.
But I did have the bike come with one MOD already done at Brammo...and it was a bit of a learning experience for all involved...but more about that later.
First: Dum Da Da DUMMMMMMM: I have joined Brian and Frodus and Shiny and racer and all the other here that are in that exclusive club of Empulse R owners!!
Here she is all unpacked and ready to go:
(http://brammoblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/empulse-mine.jpg)
And here are the first mods:
(http://brammoblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/empulse-eboz.jpg)
E Boz on one side...
and
(http://brammoblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/shelina-93.jpg)
"Shez Racing" on the other
Very nice of them...Sadly no SteveO as the white panel was taken to Thunderhill to be signed and SteveO's bike wasn't ready yet for riding (it had just got back for Milan and hadn't had any updated hardware). So only Eric and Shelina there. Maybe I can get SteveO's later, but I wonder about the Clear coating...would I add a second layer over the whole panel? Just SteveO's sig? Or maybe I have him sign the black with a silver sharpie?
As for the learning experience: It was good to have them sign the white panel before clear coating so their signatures would stay preserved...but clear coating over Sharpie is very delicate work--too much or too fast and it smears and runs...So I likely made the paint and cover guys a bit mad at me...
Anyways, bike is here, so that is good. Sadly work is CRAZY and I wonder just how much time I will spend with her over the next couple of weeks :(
Plus I have to update my blog....
Gah, need more hours in the day or clones of myself...more hours would be best as NOBODY wants more Gavin's out in the world.
Gavin
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YAY! So happy for you, Gavin. If only Rachel needed another visit to make a decision about SFUAD.
You're riding it to work, at least, yes?
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That's awesome! Well deserved.
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Such a beauty!
You're one super lucky guy, I am looking forward to many blog updates with lots of photos as white is my favorite color too.
Maybe your blog updates can keep me satisfied until EU deliveries start... Riding season kicked off last weekend and I hade a nice ride on a Zero. I told the salesguy that I was actually waiting for the Empulse to arrive to which he replied: I am sure that I will have sold you a Zero before then :)
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Thank is freaking awesome!! Congrats!! What a great idea for the signatures!
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Is the second mod a missing mirror?
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Congrats dude!
Mod away!!!
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YAY! So happy for you, Gavin. If only Rachel needed another visit to make a decision about SFUAD.
You're riding it to work, at least, yes?
A. Yes, riding.
B. so what was her decision?
Gavin
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Is the second mod a missing mirror?
Ha...I am changing out the mirrors so I only put the one on.
Gavin
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.
B. so what was her decision?
Gavin
She is still not sure what she's doing, but we did decide that SFUAD is not for her.
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Hey gavin!? I just noticed you didn't have the CF parts on there?!?!
did you opt out of that?
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Congrats Gavin!
You may want to tell them about the fact that it arrived after somebody put graffiti on the tank. ??? Seriously, it looks very sharp and the mods will only grow from here.
Riding impressions on your commute?
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All the parts are CF except the tank part...not sure if that is normal or not.
Today I've done the tail tidy and the bar end mirrors.
That's it till the turn signals come in...should do them this weekend.
Gavin
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This mornings commute included the tail tidy and the lane split bar end mirrors.
(http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/10040_642511009098492_131265532_n.jpg)
My next mod will be the turn signal mod....then probably nothing for a while.
As for the question about my impressions on my commute....
Well:
A) she is fun, well balanced and fast.
B) I will admit that I have 8000 miles of Enertia muscle memory...so I am still learning how to ride the Empulse. And I will admit that the Enertia is still in my mind the perfect city ride. But the Empulse offers more options in riding style.
If I was rich I would have both...
But the Empulse is a fun bike...and easy to ride. The Enertia is effortless to ride, but can be thought of as maybe boring (though i was never bored on her :) )...
Surprisingly the Empulse feels smaller than the Enertia...but heavier. Though she doesn't feel heavy at all while riding...but the Enertia had a dirt bike feel in the weight department.
Over all I like her a lot and know I will love her...We are still in the "hand over the sweater" phase of the relationship...I'm sure we will be sliding into home before too long...
Gross analogy...
As for the clunk...not as bad as I thought it would be...and rolling back takes it away totally. do feel it more with slow motion riding.
I will admit that if the Enertia Plus had 10 mph more on the top end and seated two, well I might have gotten that over the Empulse...But they are very different bikes and ride...and the Empulse has killer components.
I have never ridden a Sports bike in my life, so I have some learning to do on that front.
Gavin
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(http://brammoblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/photo17.jpg)
Bar End Lane Split mirrors....
not that we can lane split here in New Mexico....
G
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also thinking about Frame and SwingArm sliders...
http://www.brammoforum.com/wiki/index.php?title=Sliders_and_Swingarm_Spools (http://www.brammoforum.com/wiki/index.php?title=Sliders_and_Swingarm_Spools)
What brand do you like best?
Gavin
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I used shogun spools. They're for an sv650 and are a bit larger and act as swingarm sliders too. Pretty solid and under $30.
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I'm waiting for brammo's version of sliders/spools to come out. That's one of the things I'm waiting on Adrain for!! About the CF. my tank is cf which I thought all "R's" where? Maybe it's because of your custom tank?
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And the tail tidy looks awesome!!!!!
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Somehow I suspect (and don't ask how I know this), that the foot lever and the hand lever will hit the ground first, umm, bend a little, and keep anything attached to that screw hole in the main frame from getting anywhere near the ground.
Of course, that's if the wheel turns down towards that side of the bike. I don't want to be the one to discover what happens if the bars are turned the other way...
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Oh, flar, that is the saddest thing I've read in a long time. :(
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It's not a major catastrophe. There was a lovely equation with v=0 and a couple of quick twists with some (hands and then later some) wrenches and all evidence of "the discovery" is pretty much gone...
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It's not a major catastrophe. There was a lovely equation with v=0 and a couple of quick twists with some (hands and then later some) wrenches and all evidence of "the discovery" is pretty much gone...
flar, don't worry, I'm with ya. I already dropped the bike twice. Both at speed=0mph.
First time I road to my work out place. Go to put the kickstand down and lean the bike over. As I lean the bike, come to find out the kickstand wasn't fully extended (and I wasn't use to seeing the kickstand indicator). Over I go in a parking lot like a 3 yo off of his training wheels!
The next week I was like damn, I am not going to do that again. So as I was pushing the bike out of the garage, I made a mental note to keep the bike from leaning too far to the left...instead, I lean it to the right and...over it goes again!
So yes. The foot lever (the gear shifter is especially prone to bending), the bracket for the front turn signal, and the ends of the levers...LOL sucks
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Was the wheel turned towards the ground in both cases? I haven't "tested" how it lands when the wheel turns away from the ground, but when it is towards the ground, the handlebars are there protecting the frame.
Now, with some amount of force, perhaps the bars might be bent and the frame might contact, but at that point I'm not sure how the rest of the bike would fare that you would be worrying whether the "Empulse R" got scratched off. It's probably more likely to hit something like a pole that would miss the bars, but I'm not sure that a single slider at one point along the frame rail would statistically manage to find the pole/large rock before the rest of the frame got cozy with it.
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When my Enertia fell off the hitch track on top of me, it ended up bending the handlebars. BrammoJen was already scheduled to come out for a software upgrade (I think) so she ended up replacing the bars. It destroyed by bar end mirror, too. Zero body damage (mostly because my body cushioned the drop).
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Congrats Gavin! Really excited for you. Welcome to the darkside. 8)
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Thx :)
G
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When my Enertia fell off the hitch track on top of me, it ended up bending the handlebars. BrammoJen was already scheduled to come out for a software upgrade (I think) so she ended up replacing the bars. It destroyed by bar end mirror, too. Zero body damage (mostly because my body cushioned the drop).
Now, why didn't I think to dive under it to save it?