Brammo Owners Forum
Brammo Empulse Discussion => Brammo Empulse => Topic started by: kingcharles on June 06, 2014, 04:21:43 PM
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All that's left now is for the delivery to take place!
The proposed date is next Friday. Luckily I am not superstitious because it will be the 13th then...>:D
Looking forward to meeting my new ride next week :)
Once you go EV, gas is history!
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Congrats!! You're going to love it! What did you spec out?
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I will be going from a green Vectrix VX1 to a black Brammo Empulse E1.
A quantum leap in technology!!!
And I will mainly use it for commuting.
Once you go EV, gas is history!
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Congrats!
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You are going to LOVE the change: everybody knows black is faster than green!
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Is it in here?
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bp6ZWH2IUAAxYY1.jpg)
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Exciting!
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Congratulations!
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Well? Any pics or a ride report?
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Is it in here?
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bp6ZWH2IUAAxYY1.jpg)
Yes, that one had my bike in it. Apparently I have the first Empulse E1 in Europe. Marchel, the Dutch importer, is really great. We had the appointment for Friday 13th (yesterday) but of course the bike had not arrived on time so he drove to Hamburg (Germany!) and personally picked it up in order to make the appointment! How about that for service!
Next surprise when he un-crated the bike was to find out it had the red colour scheme (I ordered a black one).
He explained that this was normal and only the seat and tank panel needed to be swapped. Those items arrived at his shop on Friday morning so he quickly installed them and drove down to Utrecht to deliver a beautiful black Empulse E1 to me!
As he was coming to deliver my bike at work he also brought a demo bike and a few colleagues took a spin on that!
We drew quite a crowd (lots of bikers at Ziggo).
After we did the paperwork we loaded up my old Vectrix into his van and said goodbye to it.
I took the scenic route home and in the evening took both my daughters for a ride. But because the charge cable will only arrive by mail today I could not ride it today yet. So I took the opportunity to buy all the stuff required for insurance (locks, wall plate) and other stuff needed for daily use (rain cover and backpack).
I just finished installing the LoobMan chain oiler so I am now all set for the charger to arrive and ride some more!
Once you go EV, gas is history!
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:D:D:D:D:)8):)
Well? Any pics or a ride report?
ride report: I love it, everyone should buy one :)
Pics:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3880/14419174405_195fe46eb5_z.jpg)
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3837/14232399699_85ea9feb25_b.jpg)
Once you go EV, gas is history!
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Oh, and almost forgot:
I had more people approach me about my electric ride in the past 24 hours than in 4,5 years riding a Vectrix!
The design works I guess...
Does anybody know how the VIN codes work?
Mine ends with 706 by the way so at least 706 bikes made?
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Gefeliciteerd!! Ik ben jaloers!! Maar ik wens je vele elektrificerende kilometers toe.
Hopelijk ben ik ooit ook in staat een Empulse R (of de opvolger) aan te schaffen.
Translation:
Congratulations! I'm jealous! But I wish you many electrifying kilometers.
Hopefully I'll ever even be able to purchase an Empulse R (or its successor)
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Congratulations! You have only the beginning of the BrammoGrin (tm). It will just get bigger and more permanent!
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Look what arrived in the mail today? Charging at home at 3kw baby!
Only problem is that its too loud to charge at night :'( our neighbors will not appreciate it. So I will stick to charging before 10 in the evening.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3863/14259901590_1430b980f7_b.jpg)
And there was a surprise: Brammo provides a tail bag for carrying around the charge cable!
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3921/14446506315_f8b6eba9e4_b.jpg)
Excellent customer service because in Europe the public charge stations don't have cables attached so you always need to bring your own cable.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3885/14259867879_f9e841468d_b.jpg)
Once you go EV, gas is history!
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I had a look at the charge profile after charging the bike to 100% at home.
At the end of the charge you clearly see the charger throttling back from 3kw to around 1,5kw in the last 20 minutes.
Please note that the graph is showing the total household consumption.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2924/14304435349_7df065ec75_b.jpg)
Once you go EV, gas is history!
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Time for some updates on my Empulse E1 experience:
The ride is awesome, better than expected and closer to the 2013 R version I tested once so the less adjustable suspension is certainly not under engineered. The chassis is rock solid, and takes the many Dutch speed bumps well.
Riding to work is more fun than ever before and range anxiety is a thing of the past. Charging is really fast compared to my previous ride too so I can really use the Empulse a lot more!
Maybe a strange observation for some but important for me is that lane splitting is super with the Empulse because it is so narrow and quick. The mirrors are narrow too which means I need to make an effort to look behind me.
The brakes still need getting used to because they are WAY stronger than my previous ride and in surprise situations I had my private parts hitting the tank already :o. Good thing it is not winter time because on slippery roads I would probably have gone down once already.
Only real disadvantages of the bike are due to its charging habits (lights on and loud fans). I am hoping a firmware update can help with this...
Shortly after I took the below picture my odo reached 1000km!
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3923/14543330424_9a50d15e8d_b.jpg)
Entering Sport mode :P
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5077/14544856825_f2d93023bb_b.jpg)
The Dutch importer is now selling the correct gearbox oil and I immediately ordered some because I spent last Saturday riding around to find 10W30 synthetic oil and nowhere could they sell me a bottle! Amsoil is not sold in the Netherlands by the way, and probably not in most parts of Europe either.
So be warned and order timely online!
I also adjusted the chain because it was a bit loose and hitting the swingarm where it pivots.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3920/14548154463_0bbf0e45f0_b.jpg)
In the morning I usually get the cold battery warning because my bike is parked outside and it is around 12 Celsius at night. I expected it to only do that below freezing but apparently the cells need to stay nice and warm.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2906/14423388476_0020f5a90f_b.jpg)
Now all I need is for the Netherlands to win the world cup and life will be perfect 8)
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Great pics! Sounds like you're having a blast!
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Beautiful...have fun.
Gavin
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Exactly 4 weeks after receiving my bike I arrived home with this on the odometer. 1600 kilometers = 1000 miles.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2937/14628913745_f4e0a3a552_b.jpg)
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Now that the soccer worldcup is over (no more orange things needed to dangle at the back) I removed the metal bits that were visible from the license plate holder. Much cleaner look.
It took only a few minutes with an electric saw and I didn't even take the holder off the bike!
Before: see a few posts above. After:
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3868/14719218433_21f30a9302_b.jpg)
I also removed the orange reflectors from the front fork as they are not mandatory in the Netherlands.
You can see the whole side of the bike is much cleaner without them. The black forks work great now to give my Empulse an all black look.
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/14512700039_8b6d655b74_b.jpg)
This picture was taken at an "All American Day" today where I had to show the "build in USA" sticker to get entrance to the event 8) (thanks Brammo for adding it on the bike)
My Empulse attracted lots of people and everyone wanted to know at least 2 things: question number 1: how far does it go, 2 how long to charge....
But many also asked me if it was quick as they heard about the Tesla performance.
Anyway: 95% of the bikes were Harley Davidson, 5% Buell and one Brammo ;)
I took my daughter with me and we had a great time looking at all the (classic) cars, trikes and bikes off course.
Below a picture of the event layout
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5553/14512712748_54a121d57e_o.jpg)
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Indeed a clean look! (https://cdn1.iconfinder.com/data/icons/freeapplication/png/24x24/Good-mark.png) With four blind rivets you won't loose the license plate. Oh, where is the promo license plate holder? :o
Next week we'll go to Italy for a holiday. I also got an invitation from Tacita Motorcycles to ride a T-Race near Pisa! (http://www.broodbakforum.nl/images/smilies/icon_ani_drool5.gif)
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Maybe a strange observation for some but important for me is that lane splitting is super with the Empulse because it is so narrow and quick. The mirrors are narrow too which means I need to make an effort to look behind me.
I lane split for a living. Well, not really, but it certainly feels that way. I would contend that if a team of engineers set out to devise the best lane splitting vehicle possible, the Empulse would be the result.
Found that the stock mirrors were at just the wrong level for avoiding car mirrors, so CRGs went on as soon as possible.
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No problems with car mirrors, maybe US vs EU car design?
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A little update on my bike after almost 1 year (9 days to go :D) :
ODO: 10750 kilometre
Problems so far:
- gear lever bolts came loose. Re-torqued them and applied loctite. No problem since.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/15132925760_b0b7fc1fe0_b.jpg)
- Strange noise when riding in the rain. Still there I just ignore it now :) ( See http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2774 (http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2774) )
- Oil coming out of the breather tube (factory recall) (See http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2860.msg21088#msg21088 (http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2860.msg21088#msg21088) )
- Seems to have an oil leak on the right hand side of the motor/gearbox. I suspect a bolt that needs to be re-torqued. ( See http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2997 (http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2997) )
- Front tyre replaced, I selected to go for the ContiRoadAttack 2 due to its wet weather performance (Continental Recall)
Regular maintenance:
- 1x Rear tyre (Bridgestone Battlax BT 023 again for the wet performance)
- 3x Oil change
- 1x brake fluid change (cap of the rear brake fluid reservoir was not airtight closed at delivery)
- Firmware upgrade to 2.07 (done by Dutch importer)
Mods:
(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5567/15007812311_9267ed3889_b.jpg)
- LoobMan Chain Oiler (See http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2540.msg19239#msg19239 (http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2540.msg19239#msg19239) )
- Removed the orange reflectors
- Cut off the excess metal of the license plate holder
- Installed an MRA RNB wind shield (See http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2872.msg21162#msg21162 (http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2872.msg21162#msg21162) )
- Top Case installed by Motorzaak Amsterdam (See http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2754.msg21848#msg21848 (http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2754.msg21848#msg21848) )
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7685/16722243384_7b99b81db1_b.jpg)
- Installed LED indicator lights and relay
- Installed Frame sliders
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/445/17843780563_b4cd240c39_b.jpg)
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/485/17843789283_1510bd6eb2_b.jpg)
- Installed adjustable brake and clutch levers
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/303/18460116822_64ef6ed2dc_b.jpg)
To do:
- hazard lights
- Chademo charging capability
- larger rear sprocket
- Save $$$ for the Energica...
Still having a great time on the bike and after the top case was installed it is truly the perfect commuter bike!
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(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5567/15007812311_9267ed3889_b.jpg)
My man... more details on this please![/list]