Depends on the definition of 'close'.
SV 650 0-60 in 3. something secs, Empulse around 5 which probably means 5. something.
SV 650 top speed a lot more than 100mph.
SV 650 Big engine braking with the thumpy V twin. Handling to satisfy beginners to advanced riders, possibly similar to the Empulse.
Looks - subjective but I reckon the Empulse has it there.
I have a slightly different personal perspective on this with my own personal comparison to my own SV650.
1) My SV650 is over 10 years old and maintained by me personally. My SV can't possibly still do the 3.6 second 0-60 that it was rated for at sea-level when new, a decade later at 5,280 feet of altitude. I'm thinking my SV is somewhere in the low 4's at 5,280 altitude. I actually intentionally down-sized to a slower bike when I bought my SV650, so I just need the Empulse to come close. Since the Empulse doesn't lose any power at all to high altitude, I'm hoping that if it turns out to be a sub-five bike, I'll be perfectly happy with the 0-60. This does mean I will definitely need to test drive before I buy, since no magazine review or stats will be able to compare my decade old abused SV650 ridden at altitude to an Empulse.
2) Like I mentioned before, I intentionally downsized to my SV650. One big reason for that was repeatedly looking down at my speedo on the interstate through town and being shocked to read 140 mph without even really trying. I had some scary close calls, and decided I didn't want to have anything to do with that ever again. Since I got my SV650, I can count on one hand the times I've exceeded 100 mph, none of which have been within the last 5 years. So for me the SV650 and the Empulse are in a dead tie for top speed. Because they will both go exactly as fast as I want to go, because I'm the limiting factor instead of the bike's top speeds being the limiting factor. YMMV.
3) When it comes to engine braking, I'm hoping the rear wheel regenerative braking that the Empulse is supposed to have will somewhat mimic my SV650's user-friendly compression braking. Only a test ride will tell, but for the purposes of bench-racing, I'm scoring them as a tie until I find out differently. As for the lumpy part, I'll be glad to get rid of the buzzing, vibration, and noise of my lumpy v-twin. Clear win for the Empulse.
4) Looks -- I prefer the cleaner, more refined look of the new Empulse/Empluse R over the somewhat thin and unrefined original prototype. When I looked at the Zero S in person, the first thing that I noticed was the lack of substance. It just looked small and frail and skinny. I'm not a little guy, so I was a bit concerned about the original Empluse prototype being too much like the Zero S in that regard, except with a fat rear section behind the seat that always looked odd to me. I like the more substantial presence of the new bike, and I really love the minimalist tail. For me the Empulse is the clear winner.
A couple of more categories:
5) I can't buy a brand new Brammo Empulse non-R until next year. But being 1416 on the list, I never thought I'd get one before then anyways. And I can't buy a brand new SV650 at any price at all, because they quit building them. Win for Empulse (without the R).
6) I hate putting gas in my bike. I used to joke about filling up my gas tank using just change found in my couch after parties, so it was free to me. Not so much these days, and the price is just going to keep going up over the years, and I hate being a forced participant in the whole oil thing. But my work is Green and EV-friendly, so I'll be charging the Empulse exclusively at work for free on M-F using Xcel WindSource wind power. I won't bother to plug it in at home except on the weekends, where I'm hoping to eventually charge it on solar. Yea, that is a pretty silly reason to spend 17K on a motorcyle. But it pleases my inner cheapskate, and my inner green, so the clear win goes to the Empulse.
7) Colorado has rocking incentives, so my final price won't be 17k. Without incentive, the SV650 is the winner. When the incentive is announced, I'm hoping it will be high enough I can score it as a tie. Because in my mind the Empulse is worth more to me, even though it will cost more even after incentive. I do feel sorry for anyone who doesn't live in Colorado.
I've never even considered putting the Empulse up to a head-to-head comparison with anything faster or more modern than my SV650. So talk of comparing it to something like a speed triple just sounds absurd to me. But I actually sold my speed triple because it was too damn fast in order to buy my SV650 in the first place. So if the Empulse really could go toe-to-toe with a speed triple, I wouldn't be all that interested either. I'd be looking for a slower Brammo. Again, YMMV, but the Empulse might just be the "just right" size that I find much more fun to ride compared with the hyper-fast bikes like the speed triple. I'm still waiting for my test drive to make that final call.
