Thanks for doing that interview, TTXGPfan.
There was one point it that interview that I found especially interesting: the discussion about the advantages of running a high voltage system.
I had thought that the proof that the shifter was of any real benefit would be if it showed up on the race bike. In the interview, it seemed that race bikes may not need the shifter because keeping the voltage high on the bike allows the motor to have a lot of torque and a wider useful rpm range than would be possible with a lower voltage system. The current generation of single gear race bikes can do so well
because they run at such high voltages. Nevertheless, a shifter may still be beneficial as it would allow even better performance!
The future of electric motorcycles sounds very promising. The only thing that I expect to regret about getting the Empulse in 2012 is that the 2013 model is going to be even better. In any case, I expect my Empulse to give me many years/miles of fun gasoline free riding.
Perhaps, in the future (if high voltage controllers will become more affordable) higher voltages will be more accepted. Personally, high voltages don't worry me much - "It's not the voltage, it's the current that kills." E.g: that little static electric spark that you get when you slide out of your car is about 500v (but only a tiny current)!
