Empulse Event Cliff Notes

[Sorian]

I missed the live event and trying to view it now is doing a fast forward only.

Does anyone have the cliff notes version?

[amahoser]

Feed was choppy... I think 18,995 for the R available June and 16,995 for non R, not available til 2013. No specs for the non R that I can gather.

[Gavin]

To me it seems the specs are the same, just the R has lots of carbon fiber (fenders, lights and such) while the non R has plastic for those parts.

I think the R goes on sale first to grab the bigger money from early adopters, then the price comes down some.

It does seem like they could make the non r and r at the same time, but it makes good business sense to sell the expensive ones first and once that market is taken care of, to expand.

Gavin

[karlInSanDiego]

Soory, but that's pretty chump to offer lower spec one for just 2k less, and make you wait at least another half a year.  Not a wise move.

[Gavin]

Yeah, I would love to see both come out right away...especially since I would love Empulsebuyer to get one and I know he wants the 16995 version (a 14995 version would be even better)...

The original Enertia was fairly expensive and came down in price rather quickly...I don't see that happening right away with the Empulse, but it could drop a bit after the early adopter sales...

G

[skuzzle]

Very disappointing!  I would have gladly paid an extra $2k for a fairing.  That headlight looks useless for night riding.  I wonder how much the hard bags cost?

[protomech]

Same headlight on the Zero S. It works well enough for night riding for me, but I know Wes @ HFL has complained pretty extensively about it. Maybe my expectations are low.

[skuzzle]

Thanks for the light info protomech.  Perhaps I can bracket it with a pair of LED lights if its an issue.  Before my current Vstrom, I had a standard SV650 with the single headlight.  I would not feel comfortable riding faster than 45 at night.  The Vstrom's light is outstanding.  Note, here in Oregon it gets dark around 4:30 PM in winter. 

[flar]

The specs given out in the gift bags include (as differences between the two models):

Front susp: 43mm Marzocchi Forks, Empulse is semi-adjustable, R is fully adjustable
Rear susp: Sachs Shock, Empulse is semi-adjustable, R is fully adjustable

No other differences listed, but we know that the R will have carbon fiber bodywork and the non-R will have regular black plastic in the same places.

Also, the R will sell first and they will go through the reservation list only offering the R.  If you don't want the R, then they will come back around later when they start producing the non-R's.  They did say that only R bikes for 2013, but I took that with a grain of salt if they just aren't selling any more R's, they may as well start building non-R's - maybe with a little delay just to be sure nobody else is going to jump up.  Time will tell if they are buried in orders for the R or if they have to cave on their staged production plans.

[protomech]

That's a good point flar. Maybe we will see production non-R Empulses in 2012.. one can only hope. I certainly do.

[2Slow4u]

I was also dissappoitned to see no fairing options. Looks like I'll have to talk to the guys at Airtech Streamlining and see if its something they are interrested in producing.

I know all the bits an pieces are expensive, but the pricing sure is high. And without any government incentives in Michigan thats a hefty chunk of change. I'm willing to pay a bit more for an electric bike over a gasser, but its difficult to swollow SV650 performance at a Ducatti 1199 price tag. It might be back to the drawing board for me.

[frodus]

wow

[Brammofan]

They've got to be kidding!

At those prices it'll never reach a cost of ownership equivalent to a gas bike.

Agreed - but TCO is only one factor in the list of why a certain person chooses to buy (or aspires to buy) an electric motorcycle.

[frodus]

Wasn't it supposed to go into production last year? In 2010 they told us we’d have in 2011 a 6.0, 8.0 and 10.0 Empulse, then they delay production, then they mention a 6 speed, then they delay some more, then they say only Empulse (10.0) and Empulse R and the stock Empulse is shipping LAST, then they go to Infineon and not even their race-bike has a transmission on it.....

In 2010 we have:
Empulse 6.0: $9,9995
Empulse 8.0: $11,995
Empulse 10.0 $13995

In 2012 we have:
Empulse $16,995
Empulse R $18,995

So there's a 21% jump in price and since they delayed into 2012 and 2013, we can't even get a federal tax credit anymore and many states followed suit. So no Federal credits for many people which would have been 10% of the cost up to $2500. In Oregon the credit would have been $750 or 25% of the cost of the vehicle whichever is less for the Vehicle itself, and another $750 or 25% of the cost of the onboard charging system, so potential of $1500 from Oregon.

If they’d have come out with this last year at $16,995, I’d get 10% or $1,699.50 off from federal and $1500 back from Oregon, totaling $3199.50. That would make the $16,995 Empulse cost me $13795.50.

[Deadly Silent Ninja]

I know there are a lot of people happy with this whole thing, but frodus does have a point. It's clear that, probably a very smart move, Brammo decided to sell the Empulse to a very $elective target audience. It makes sense as usually first adopters are people who have enough cash to spare in untested products.

That said, they could have said it from the beginning and saved some of us the expectation. From $9K to $17K, I think it is a pretty gigantic jump in price. I was saving every single coin to be able to pay at least $10K up front and finance, in the worst possible scenario $5K. I can't imagine a scenario where i can ever afford this bike, which is simply a bulkier, fatter, and less cool version of the prototype. It looks really good, but there is no real "streetfighter" or "cafe' racer" spirit in it. It's less of what I wanted for a much steeper price. Even if I could afford it, I would have to buy some mods.

All said and done, the simple truth is "I'm out!" I can see clearly now that electric bikes will be as much of an unachievable dream to me as flying cars. Maybe 5 years down the road, some smart company will go back to the Empulse's original cafe' racer design, a little lighter, a little cooler, and much much cheaper (anyone at Zero reading this thread?  ). Then, I might start dreaming again, or Leroy Jetson might fly by. For now, I will be a not so deadly, and very loud, ninja (or Honda... the CBR 250 is not THAT fugly and it comes with abs). Well, at least I can use the price difference to travel somewhere nice. 

Well, it was a very exciting year. I'll still support the ICON-Brammo team and read everyone's reviews of their Empulses. Who knows? Maybe 2 years from now, Brammo will launch a Empulse P (prototype) special edition for under $10K (anyone at Brammo reading this?  )...