200 mile thoughts...

[7racer]

Just rode the farthest in one day draining the battery from 100% to about 12% riding it around running errands all day.

Just some random thoughts:

1.  Thank you Brammo for making such a fun and unique bike!  I really can't wait to ride it everyday!
2.  People come up to you all the time.  I had a valet run from their spot to the street to ask me if this was an all electric bike!  When I park to get something to eat, I invariably get people staring and taking pictures of the bike.
3.  Love the handling and feel.  I know I post about it adjusting the suspension but I have 3 other sports cars...this suspension feels super compliant!  LOL
4.  What's that buzzing under my ass?  LOL you do feel the fan under the seat kick in...weird how much you notice it vs an ICE bike.
5.  Gear shifting is fun! and lives up to the promise of delivering the performance of the bike!  I love it!
6. chain lash...never really thought about it until it was brought up in the forum!  Now I am conscious of it...grrr LOL
7.  Green flashing LEDs on the batteries are cool!  never noticed them until I was riding at night!

anyways wanted to let Brammo know how much I enjoy this bike!

[implovator]

I'm right there with you...I couldn't be pleased more. I feel like I'm their exact demographic.

3.  Love the handling and feel.  I know I post about it adjusting the suspension but I have 3 other sports cars...this suspension feels super compliant!  LOL

I'm critical too, but not in a negative way. I'm just hyper-analytical...professional hazard. Sure the Empulse kicks me around when I'm cruising around one-handed. But when I'm on it, the stars align and that thing flat rails.

4.  What's that buzzing under my ass?  LOL you do feel the fan under the seat kick in...weird how much you notice it vs an ICE bike.

I noticed the motor cooler vibrations too. I was so pleasantly surprised, because the big fan on the Enertia motor sounded like a leaf blower when I was at lights.

[Gavin]

Ha...good to know...I "disliked" the Enertia fan at lights...killed the "quiet"

The Plus fan was less noisy...I also didn't hear it as much as I only had the plus during winter...

Charging the Plus was half as loud as the classic Enertia.

Good to know the Empulse fan is quieter.

Gavin

[BrammoBrian]

anyways wanted to let Brammo know how much I enjoy this bike!

Thanks for the kudos!  I'll share with the team here.  We're all just happy to see customers out enjoying the heck out of riding their bikes.  We obviously think they're a kick, so nice to hear so many others agree! 

[Gavin]

So Brian...I know you've put many miles on various Empulse bikes...

Have you put miles on "YOUR" Empulse yet? We would love some video of the ride out to GreenSprings Inn...looks like a fun ride on Google Maps...and I hope to take a ride out there in June and look forward to the Empulse on those curves.


Gavin

[BrammoBrian]

So Brian...I know you've put many miles on various Empulse bikes...
Have you put miles on "YOUR" Empulse yet? We would love some video of the ride out to GreenSprings Inn...looks like a fun ride on Google Maps...and I hope to take a ride out there in June and look forward to the Empulse on those curves.
Gavin

Believe it or don't, I don't have "MY" Empulse yet.  I'm still in the queue behind you and other customers.  Some of the engineers are assigned testing assets, but I got skipped over most recently as those directly working with bike settings (firmware, suspension, etc...) got precedent (and rightly so). 

I'll try to get some video of the ride up Greensprings Highway (Hwy 66) when the weather's a bit nicer.  Here's what would greet you at the top today... brrrrrrr......

http://greenspringsinn.com/?p=955

[Gavin]

looks like some good "icy road conditions" testing for the R



kidding...that is not the conditions the Empulse is built for...or just about any motorcycle other than this:






or this sexy beast...





Heck, I would think about moving to Alaska just so I could ride that all year round...if she was electric...


Gavin

[Gavin]

ps...hope you get yours soon...you've put in the time and effort...

i understand putting the customers first...admirable...but don't let too much of the riding season slip by (when does riding season starts in Oregon?)...engineers need to have fun too.

Gavin

[frodus]

It's on and Off right now in Portland. Hit and miss rainy days, but in places like Ashland/Bend, it's whenever the snowpack melts.... march/april I'd guess?

There have been plenty of good riding days this last few weeks, and I'm twitching because I want to ride so badly. Brian said mine should be ready soon!

[implovator]

I just passed 200 on the odometer today. Here are my thoughts:

• The transmission is breaking in nicely.
• She's such a beaut' in the corners.
• I really can't wait until break-in is over, because there isn't quite enough umph to finish faster corners.
• I'm getting about 60 miles to a charge on the days that I commute mostly by Interstate. I'm going to take backroads tomorrow.
• I'm currently carrying my cordset because of a problem with the Level 2 charging stations at the office. I can't wait to be done with that extra weight on my back.
• The simplicity of just hopping on the Empulse is so appealing. No cord to wind up under the seat. No luggage to stow away in cases. I literally walk up to the bike with jacket, bag, and helmet on. Then I unplug, start it, put my gloves on, and pull away all in about a minute. That's what riding used to be like before motorcycling got complicated.

I'm really itching to get into sport mode. I feel like the throttle response and regen braking is really solid in eco-mode, but it's just a little anemic. If sport mode is what I hope it will be, then I think it's going to feel like owning a second bike. Quite frankly, that's pretty amazing. Sure on an ICE bike you might be able to mimic a comfort/sport mode. You can use fuel injection to reduce or increase the power of a motorcycle. And yes, you can even squirt a little fuel when decelerating to reduce engine braking. But that's a complicated affair and I doubt that the effect would be as nice. However, with an electric drivetrain, it's somewhat trivial to do these things. It's just phenomenal that you can make this bike engine brake like a 600cc inline four or a 1200cc boxer twin...or a 125cc two-stroke for that matter.

Hopefully after I get some mile in sport mode, I'll write a little review. Then it's on to suspension setup. Can't wait!

[flar]

• The simplicity of just hopping on the Empulse is so appealing. No cord to wind up under the seat. No luggage to stow away in cases. I literally walk up to the bike with jacket, bag, and helmet on. Then I unplug, start it, put my gloves on, and pull away all in about a minute. That's what riding used to be like before motorcycling got complicated.

Or, as in my case just now.  Unplug it, hop on, and ride away.

Wait...wasn't there supposed to be something about a key?  Why am I riding away when I never dug around in my pocket for the key?

D'OH!

With my RT there are 2 or 3 (luggage-related) things I do when I park that require me to take the key out of the ignition.  With my Empulse I get to work and have to do half a dozen "backpack-juggling, cord unwrapping, possibly parking brake setting, take these gloves and helmet off so I can see what I'm doing, figure out if the outlet is tripped or not" things before I can walk inside (admittedly some of them are related to the sad state of the chargers at work) and none of them require me to take the key out of the ignition. 

If anyone from Brammo is listening, a beep tone if you have the key in the ignition when it starts charging would be nice for those of us with several daily senior moments...

[7racer]

• I'm getting about 60 miles to a charge on the days that I commute mostly by Interstate. I'm going to take backroads tomorrow.

great perspective!  I'm not too worried about the power (yet) as I haven't even sniffed 7000 RPM nor got it into sport mode.  Interested to see what its like.

About the 60miles/charge.  Where you at 5000rpm? What gear and speed?

[7racer]

If anyone from Brammo is listening, a beep tone if you have the key in the ignition when it starts charging would be nice for those of us with several daily senior moments...

hahahaha!  I did that a couple times!  Once at a restaurant.  Went in, sat down and ate and was like where the hell did I put my key?  CRAP!

[implovator]

About the 60miles/charge.  Where you at 5000rpm? What gear and speed?

That's anywhere from 65 - 70 mph at around 4200 rpm. I'm trying really hard to keep it around 3500 rpm for break-in, but I just can't take the interstate at 60 mph...it would be dangerous. Although I do draft semis when I can...which isn't too safe either.

[FreepZ]

I'm been making my 76-80 mile commute for the past couple of weeks. My speed varies between 35-40 in the city to 50-55 out if the city. My last trip took about 2h 15m, and I had about 13% battery left. That means that I can probably go a bit faster, but it's always good to have a bit of extra battery left, in case I need to do a detour somewhere, or just accelerate out of the way for some reason.

Sadly, I've not hit sport mode yet because I want to change out the oil first. I'm way past due for an oil change at over 800 miles, but I had to wait for my shipment of 10w-30 oil (and I'm still don't know what that oil plug torque value is...)