Brammo Owners Forum

Siai47, - You don’t mention if you’re driving an EV now and curious after you buried your Vectrix if you jumped off the bridge again and bought an Empulse variety?  Having owned quite a few petrol- bike types over the years I wanted the EV experience before someone buried me.  I was initially ecstatic about my Empulse but reality hit much too soon finding out Craig Bramscher was no Elon Musk and that no corn belt off-road vehicle manufacturer would long stick with any 2-wheel type EV transportation that didn’t make a lot of noise.  I should have been suspicious when Brammo lowered their Empulse selling price some $5000 but went ahead with my own EV suicide oblivious.

With the information you provided and as I’ve suspected, unless one is just plain lucky, keeping an Empulse running any length of time without organized product support will be variously challenging and as you suggested there are bound to be scrapped Brammo’s out there available for parts when their owners finally get tired trying to keep them going.  As it turns out, EV bike production is several years ahead of itself and anyone buying into the technology at this early stage of the game should be prepared for the risks.  I wasn’t. 

frodus, - The fact you've also experienced some clutch "warm-up" disengagement issues is actually good news for me because I was starting to think I was the only Empulse owner with the intermittant problem.  My situation still seems odd though considering it never gets really cold down here in Florida and I never really get on the RPM's until the motor has warmed up to 80F which is more to do with the oil-breather recall issue, - I haven't changed mine out yet and probably won't.  Anyway, thanks for the info and glad to hear it wasn't your bike that slid out from under you.  As I recall it was a previous winter time incident in Philadelphia or some such.  Besides banging up his bike the guy got a few broken bones. Whoever it was posted about the accident and was laid up for a while.  Well, - hope he's recovered. 

frodus, - doing a bleed job didn't hurt, eliminating air in the line as a possible contributing factor to my clutch anomaly, and down here in Florida I definitely don't have to worry about cold-induced clutch disengagement issues.  Also, considering I haven't seen a brake fluid level drop in my master cylinder would seem to eliminate the possibility of any fluid leakage at the clutch hydraulic/mechanical interface. End of the day it's looking more and more like just a break-in issue in consideration the low mileage (950) on my Empulse(?).  I think I'll definitely reduce the interval time between rides now.  As it is/was I also have an Aprillia Sportcity scooter which I use for most of my necessary running around.  I get on the Empulse pretty much for the joy of the ride, and I need doing that more often.  And yes, to answer your question, the clutch is operating normally now which is what is puzzling and why the initial issue of not disengaging remains a question.  I'll post again if the present as-normal situation changes.  Would have liked knowing exactly what was causing the problem but just glad time being I'm not looking at a major clutch issue.  No idea now how/where I would ever be able getting it serviced.  Grim.

Are you healed up and riding again?  I remember reading you took a pretty good fall a while back. 

Please see:  Brammo Empulse FAQ - Re:  2014 Brammo Empulse $1000

Regarding the above referenced post I would appreciate knowing if anyone has experienced a clutch that stops engaging for no apparent reason as with my Empulse clutch.  The clutch worked perfectly last time the bike was ridden.  A couple of weeks later I went on another casual ride and immediately there was no clutch engagement.  Bled the clutch two different occasions and still no engagement.  Finally into a ride after the 2nd bleed, the clutch suddenly started working again which would appear not to indicate air in the line.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

Brammofan, - thanks for the reply....  First of all who would you suggest I contact at Brammo reference my posted clutch problem? Only online address I found was for "sales" at Brammo's website and, curious knowing why anyone there would be amenable offering advice on a product the company walked away from a couple of years ago. Although I'm mechanically adept, at 73 years old now I'm getting to the age it's not as easy pursuing overhaul type maintenance. When I first bought my Empulse I thought it would be just what the doctor ordered what with the hoped for reduced maintenance exertion an old man would appreciate going electric, and for a very short time that expectation was met. It was brief however and I anticipated nothing but disaster when a month after buying my Empulse, Brammo announced it was selling out to Polaris. On this forum I believe I made a prescient prediction that Polaris would also drop the Empulse and they didn't disappoint as it turns out. Soon after picking up my Empulse I quickly realized that due to the collection of foreign manufactured parts that went into the bike, Brammo customers were going to be very dependent on the company to keep the component collection working. I was also prescient in that prediction, soon finding Polaris was totally incapable supporting its inherited Brammo Empulse customers. So at 73, how much time do I have ahead to enjoy my first "bucket list" EV experience now parked in my garage with an inop clutch at only 950 pampered miles and out of warranty and no apparent customer support anywhere in sight. You mentioned the clutch should be an "off the shelf" item, but the question is, - who's shelf??? I live in Florida, - Harley Davidson/Donald Trump country and definitely no Empulse clutch components in this state and even the short time Polaris was in the EV game, not one of their Florida dealers would touch a Brammo. Really, who could have imagined our Brammo support would be dropped by two companies in less than four years?! Is it difficult understanding why so many customers were depending on Brammo and so discouraged and disappointed when the company folded leaving a really faithful customer base gasping.  Brammo was an American company and I was actually proud being able buying such a beautifully designed bike from "Made in America" for as long as that lasted.  - They call it the “American Dream” because you have to be asleep to believe it.

If you could point me in the right direction, Brammofan, it would be much appreciated. Presently, I'm completely out of ideas and I'm sure my frustration shows.

Roland Stone

The final nail in the coffin.

Thank you Craig Bramscher.

See June 11 post - "Collectors Item" for details, - all same except new price listing.  Will not respond to any lower price negotiation requests.  This is the final offering for this bike.

Roland Stone

kingcharles, - could you explain how you removed the reflectors from the from the sides of the Empulse front fender?