I just received the September issue of
Motorcycle Consumer News. They have a full-page "First Impression" of the Empulse and Empulse R. There is nothing new in this article and it seems to be assembled from the information provided at the Empulse launch party. However there are some details about the chassis that I hadn't heard before (maybe you have), so I thought I would repeat a paragraph in the article titled "Nice Hardware".
"
At 470 lbs. fully charged (
),
Brammo has equipped the Empulse with what's described as an E-Beam aluminum chassis fabricated by Accossato in Italy. The frame has a rake of 24 degrees and is supported by a 43mm Marzocchi fork with forged triple clamps giving 3.8" of trail. The swingarm and subframe are made from steel tube, while a set of cast 17" Marchesini wheels in 3.50" widths, f/r respectively fitted with treaded Avon AV79 tires in 120/70-17 and 180/55-17 sizes, support a wheelbase of 58". The brakes include a pair of Brembo monoblock calipers covering 310mm Brembo floating discs in front, with a dual-piston Brembo caliper in back."
The article goes on to say: "
The differences in the two models are more subtle than their pricing suggests. The $18,995 Empulse R, sold only in red and available now, comes with a fully adjustable Marzocchi fork and Sachs shock and lightweight carbon-fiber front and rear fender, front cowl and pinstriped cast wheels. The standard Empulse still gets the Marzocchi 43mm fork, but lacks compression damping adjustability, although it is adjustable for rebound and spring preload and also gets low-friction coated sliders to improve compliance."
Total carrying capacity is given as 805 pounds which doesn't sound right to me. The article ends with "If our testing confirms the company's claims, the Brammo electrics appear to have both speed and endurance."
To me, the standard Empulse, at a list price of $16,995, sounds like a better deal than the R version, which I am not sure is worth the extra $2000. I also think you are getting much more for your additional $3,000 when buying the Empulse than the $14,000 ZF9 Zero S - just based upon the chassis and motor specs. If both bikes had been available at the same time, I would have paid the additional money just to get the nice chassis parts, even though I don't need the extra performance, size and weight of the Empulse.
