Brammo Racing Technology (BRT)ReFuel Time Trial 2015 hosted by Speed Ventures Report
Having just returned from the Isle of Man TT, where I was running the Victory Racing entry (video:
), and with the event’s proximity to Pikes Peak, where we had crew supporting the display of the TT bikes, I was not sure the annual ReFuel Sport Electric Time Trial was in the cards for us this year. Not to mention a growing landscape project at my house in Oregon, and a wife that’s had to manage our toddler solo while I was out “playing” at the TT…
Luckily, as it all played out, I was able to sneak out of Talent, OR in our passenger van with the seats removed, 1 experimental bike, hand tools, pop-up for shade, and a crew of myself + 1 to make it down for the 7th annual running and Brammo’s 5th consecutive contest of the event.
There would be no celebrity riders, however, this year, with timing and budgets to blame. The burden to perform would be on me and one extremely dedicated Brammo customer, Jeff Moore. Jeff had recently rebuilt his 2013 Empulse R after a crash on the mean streets of SF left it literally in pieces (see:
http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=3027.msg22228#msg22228 for more). Riding the risen Empulse would be his friend and assistant on the rebuild, AFM racer, and generally cool dude – Conan Dooley. With aspirations to race the bike in AFM, they had fitted clip-ons, a full fairing, and rear sets to help the bike around the track.
Jeff Moore's fully repaired, fully faired, and fully operational Empulse R with Conan at the controls. Me and my Empulse HVR to his left.
Empulse HVR at rest. Thanks to Jeff Moore for the photo!
I would be riding my personal project bike, which I like to refer to as the Empulse HVR or High Voltage Racer. The bike is a marriage of our production and prototype technologies and is one of the only 300+Vdc bikes with a six-speed transmission in the world. In testing and an eMotoRacing round at Sonoma, the bike has shown some good speed and promise, but has ultimately been hampered by technical gremlins. Since I was not able to make it to the aforementioned eMotoRacing round, I thought it wise to get some firsthand experience with the bike and see if I could help “get her sorted”. I also had some new parts on the front of the bike in an adjustable offset triple clamp that allowed me to adjust the front end trail versus the stock configuration I was previously running. Plus – it’s fun to ride motorcycles…
As far as competition goes, there would be over a dozen Zero S, SR, DS, and FX bikes competing and this year marked the return of 2013 FIM eRoadRacing runner-up at Laguna Seca, one Kenyon Kluge. I had also heard a rumor that CRP would be bringing the Energica electric superbike, but this, sadly, did not turn out to be true. I was really looking to see this bike in the flesh and compare lap times, but it was not to be.
After a great first session on the bike, I began to see those technical gremlins pop up. In the second session, I ended up with the best seat in the house to watch the other bikes whizz by at the exit of Turn 2 as I waited for the track to clear to limp back to the pits. Eventually, I determined that the strange behavior and lack of reliability was down to some pins un-seating in the motor encoder connector, which was fairly easy to remedy. This got me back out and the bike back to full performance for the Time Trial.
One of the real challenges with the TT is the amount of time you’re forced to sit to wait to go out on track and the limited amount of time you have to get any heat in your tires as they release you from the top of Turn 10. Admirably, Jeff Moore has taken matters into his own hands and is in communication with the event organizers about starting next year’s event from the hot pit, which would allow nearly a full lap to get tires up to temperature before starting what is meant to be a flying “hot lap”. * It’s a challenge, but it’s the same for everyone, so I tried to not think about it too much and just focused on making the most of the lap I was given. With the tires cold from waiting for about 15 minutes to get on track, it was impossible to push for the best time, but I still managed a 1:50.8, which was good enough to win the modified class and be fastest motorcycle at the event.
I went into the event with very few expectations beyond proving to myself that the new triple clamp was a worthwhile investment and getting a bit more direct experience with the bike. It was a pleasant surprise and certainly a reward for all the effort to see just how fast the bike really is. From the first session, I could tell the bike was quick by the noticeably shorter rest time I had between corners. That coupled with my lack of fitness made for a much more physically demanding session than my last years’ experience on the production Empulse R. While I had transponder issues throughout the weekend, so did not get any official timed laps in the practices, I believe that I was lapping somewhere in the 1:48 – 1:50 range, which is a 10 second/lap improvement on my pace from last year! Given my lack of track riding this season and overall lack of fitness, I’m going to say that the improvement was all down to the bike itself, not the rider!
I must admit that it was a truly rewarding experience to have built and “raced” a bike of my own creation. That said, I also want to acknowledge the many people who have sponsored or supported this effort directly and indirectly. Specifically: Ely Schless, Rogue Energies, Parker Racing, Rinehart Motion Systems, Brammo Power, and of course…my family. I’m looking forward to attending this event again in 2016 and I would highly recommend it to anyone that’s got an electric motorcycle. There’s something truly unique about having Laguna Seca all to yourself, if only for a day.
*I recently received an email that indicates this procedure is very likely to be adopted for 2016. Sometimes all it takes is one person… good job, Jeff!
