"Revving" the Empulse?

[ElectRick]

Neutral is easy enough to come by in a motorcycle trans. (which I am assuming have been repurposed for the Empulse). The bike I built has a 4 speed with no clutch. It has neutral but you have to have some obvious indicator that you cant miss. I don't have such an indicator. Riding around is no problem as you are aware of what gear you are in but once you've stopped for a while or got off briefly an indicator sure would be useful. Especially since you can stop without worring about killing the ICE engine. I hate to admit it but I have driven the bike off the stand in the garage just while grabbing the handlebar/throttle to move the bike. Forunately I had it under control but it taught me a lesson.
As for revving I use a toothed belt primary and with the gears in the box spinning it makes enough sound. It just doesn't sound like a motor vehicle so I'm not sure if that sound is useful at all. Like the Pizza hut bike, Will a blind person assume that what they are hearing is a vehicle.

[Richard230]

I am pretty sure that I saw in the Empulse specs, or heard in the C.B. interview, that the Empulse will have a digital gear indicator, which presumably would also include a neutral indicator. A gear indicator would be very helpful to the rider as electric motors don't have much of a feel when riding like most IC motors do that help to give an indication of which gear you are in relative to your speed.

[FreepZ]

I realized that when riding on my ICE bike, I use the sound or the vibration of the engine to figure out what gear I'm in. I could also use the rev counter, but that would involve taking my eyes off the road. If I was really smart, I would remember what gear I'm in, but sadly, I'm not.

An electric bike will have very little sound and practically no vibration. That means that I would have to look down to see where I am, or get better at remembering gears.

Of course, it may not matter all that much. If I crank the throttle up and I get sluggish acceleration, I could pop a gear or two down and try again. It's not like I'm going to stall the engine or anything.
Also, looking at the video of the Empulse on the dyno, the motor does indeed make noise when spinning fast, so I believe that I would be able to tell if I was already near the top end without looking. People with actual e-moto experience would be able to tell if that is true or not. I'm just guessing.

[Brammofan]

Neutral is easy enough to come by in a motorcycle trans. (which I am assuming have been repurposed for the Empulse).

No, the IET transmission was purpose built for electric motorcycles, actually.

[Richard230]

I really can't hear the motor of my Zero past about 40 mph. By then the wind is louder than the motor. Naturally, there is also no vibration that you can feel. You get a lot more vibration from the tires hitting bumps in the road. Plus, I wear earplugs and even if the motor made noise, I wouldn't be able to hear it. 

With my IC motorcycles I rely mostly on engine vibration to tell me when to shift. However, both of my BMWs have digital gear indicators and I do find them useful, even if it requires me to take my eyes off the road to check what gear I am in. But I agree that being in the right gear should not be essential on an electric motorcycle. I imagine that you would just continue shifting until the gear lever wouldn't move any more. It might be a little strange at first, but I think it shouldn't take too long to become adjusted to an electric motorcycle with a gear box and most of us can count to six, in any case.   

[Shinysideup]

Oh, sure, I can COUNT to six. Easy.
But can I REMEMBER that I've counted to six?
Probably not! 
At least after I've done a lane check, turned on my signal, beeped at the cager coming into my lane, and checked out those two wimmin in the convertible.
Now... what was the question?

[Brammofan]

From the Empulse R specifications:

Instrumentation:   LCD display; speed, tach, odometer, gear position, energy consumption, battery status, estimated range and system status