eMotoRacing at Barber.

[BrammoBrian]

Best of luck to all those headed to the AHRMA eMotoRacing event at Barber Motorsports Park in 2 weeks time.  Unfortunately, the Brammo factory team will not be able to join you at the event as the timing of some critical projects have conspired to make it impossible to attend.  I apologize to those on the East Coast who were hoping to meet up with us for the first time.  We'll have to find another event next season.   

This should be a landmark event with the largest grid of eMoto competitors yet competing in front of a crowd of 70,000 spectators.  I hope to see race reports and updates posted here!  Please!





If the New Jersey race was any indication, Barber should be a barn burner! 

[kingcharles]

No show at Intermot, no show at Barber, seeking financing. I am sure something big will be announced soon...

[BrammoBrian]

Well... I'm waiting for Arthur or Bob to provide the full story, but here's what I was able to glean from Facebook, the interwebs, and having my brother at the event as to how it went down...

Race 1 starting grid. 


L to R: Murrae Haynes, Ricky Orlando, Bob Berbeco, Jeff Clark (Zero S), Arthur Kowitz, Pete Nicolosi


Arthur Kowitz takes the win with his Vetter streamlined Brammo Empulse TTX!


eMotoRacing, Race 1 Podiuim: Arthur Kowitz (1st), Pete Nicolosi (2nd), and Bob Berbeco (3rd)


Action shot of Pete Nicolosi at speed during practice.


Bob Berbeco at speed with his fully faired Empulse R.  He'll have to provide more photos as the fairing looks great!


Race 2 was a different story with Ricky Orlando taking the win, Pete Nicolosi in 2nd, Andrew Cowell in 3rd, and Arthur finishing just off the podium in 4th. 


Ricky Orlando takes the win in Race 2.
 
Unfortunately, the Zero vs. Brammo showdown didn't materialize as Jeff Clark was unable to start either race.  He broke the drive belt on the start of Race 1 and had a brake system failure in morning practice prior to Race 2.  Hopefully we'll see him at some other events next season (He was at the Willow Springs round earlier this year on his Zero FX Pikes Peak Hillclimb bike). 
 

[protomech]

I was only able to make it on Sunday. I met a couple friends that ride there, some from Nashville some from the Birmingham area.

Jeff's Zero failed on the warmup lap before Race 2. He pulled off to the side, waited out the race then they sent a truck to pick up the bike. The announcers claimed it was due to electrical issues.

The electrics looked good in action, especially riding against gas bikes. It was a little difficult to distinguish them in a pack - the battery brackets stood out. And Arthur's bike was easy to distinguish due to the fairing.

Arthur's bike seemed like it was down on power for some reason. Just a guess - but that's what it seemed like from my observation point.

[BrammoBrian]

I was only able to make it on Sunday. I met a couple friends that ride there, some from Nashville some from the Birmingham area.

Jeff's Zero failed on the warmup lap before Race 2. He pulled off to the side, waited out the race then they sent a truck to pick up the bike. The announcers claimed it was due to electrical issues.

The electrics looked good in action, especially riding against gas bikes. It was a little difficult to distinguish them in a pack - the battery brackets stood out. And Arthur's bike was easy to distinguish due to the fairing.

Arthur's bike seemed like it was down on power for some reason. Just a guess - but that's what it seemed like from my observation point.

Thanks for the extra insight!  I agree that it appears as though Arthur's race pace was slower on Sunday than his winning effort on Saturday.  His best lap on Saturday was a 1:54, while on Sunday it was a 1:59. 

It's actually very cool that it was hard to distinguish the electrics from the rest of the field... it means they have proved they belong to be there!   

Unfortunately, there were still a couple of bikes that could have made it, but didn't, so we were short of my expectations for a dozen bikes on the grid.  I would've liked to see the Eurosports TTX bike at this event and my "old" bike that Shelina raced at Sonoma.  Not to mention our factory bikes.  Oh well... room for improvement.   

[barboo]

Here's a vid from race 1, from my tail on a gyro mounted camera.


I really enjoyed the entire week - met some new folks and enjoyed reconnecting with those I know. Making the podium on Saturday was just icing on the cake.

Having 40-46 bikes out there sure made things interesting - had some very close calls with a few ICE folks that were off their line(s) on Sunday. Ended up slowing me down since it took me time to get around them in the corners. By the time I got around them I didn't have enough time to catch up to other Brammo guys. Arthur mentioned he was having suspension issues slowing him down on Sunday.

In the end, no disappointments (except I missed meeting you in person Brian )...it was a great time with great folks. I'm already making my plans for next year.

Here is a close up of the bike.

[BrammoBrian]

In the end, no disappointments (except I missed meeting you in person Brian )...it was a great time with great folks. I'm already making my plans for next year.

I'm still bummed I couldn't make it.  Don't worry... I'm much more impressive on the internet than real life. 

Congrats on the podium finish at such a huge national race event!  I impressed and slightly jealous...

[Shinysideup]

Elsewhere on the forum, we've been puzzling over how to best lift the front wheel, since the hole in the triple tree is to small for the common pins.

Looks like you've solved it with this:

http://www.pit-bull.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PBMSA&Product_Code=F0100-100&Category_Code=front_stands

And congrats on the podium!

[dbsuperbiker]

The full streamlined body on my TTX is an ongoing science project...as are most efforts to improve things.
After Saturday's race, we drastically stiffened both ends of the bike in an effort to gain cornering clearance taken by the front and rear fairings.
Yes, ground clearance was better, but the bike was nervous feeling when ridden hard and fast.
Sunday's race pace was blistering. When riding such a technical track and challenging the hard charging competitors, my stiffened bike was not hugging the road and giving me the confidence needed to push hard.
Mama taught me that 'Discretion is the better part of Valor'.
Live to race another day.

[ttxgpfan]

Really bummed I couldn't be there, or was even able to make any of the east coast races as I was certain I'd be able too.  But life has said otherwise. This race wasn't going to happen as I landed in Scotland on the 15th and am still out to sea with another 2.5 weeks to go.

What a great grid!

[BrammoBrian]

Great photo posted on Facebook from eMotoRacing of David Sadowski (25) and Andrew Cowell (60) dicing it up at Daytona on their Empulse R's...

[Shinysideup]

Maybe I'm just hallucinating, but it appears that Andrew's getting more of his torso off the vertical axis of the bike allows his bike to be more upright. (Like this commuter knows squat about the track!)

[roma258]

Maybe I'm just hallucinating, but it appears that Andrew's getting more of his torso off the vertical axis of the bike allows his bike to be more upright. (Like this commuter knows squat about the track!)

Not hallucinating, that's exactly how it works 

[Shinysideup]

Thanks! Sometimes my pipe dreams match reality.