My Empulse thus far

[willss01]

It all started March 22, collected my payment and I was about to get on the highway  (50 miles from Fort collins to Lafayette) and the seller informs me the bike isn't charging. ....

It took him about a week to get the bike in due to freak snow storms in Colorado and another 3 weeks for polaris to assess that it was probably the charging controller I renegotiated a price with the seller based on the cost to repair the bIke of my freaking dreams.

Flash forward a month to when I actually buy the bike April 19th the part is on back order and is set to begin it's journey to lakewood  (my new closest empulse "mechanic") in another week Friday the 30th. I called nearly every day following the shipping to try and get a tracking number.

Now last friday, the 6th, I call ask the same old "tracking number?" Question and the guy on the phone says "oh my god, I'll be right back" and puts me on hold. After an agonizing minute he comes back to tell me he's  holding the part. (Believe me in the time I spent talking with the people there trying to convince them to let me take a swing at it I could have removed the charging controller at least).

Of course they can't just put in on last friday and due to the riding season ramping up and them never knowing when the part was going to come in they expect to get to it Wednesday or possibly tuesday..... they got to it Wednesday (see below ).

I needed to replace the brake lever and I talked myself into a fender reducer, and I was able to find and get in parts so I went in last Saturday morning and pleaded with them to just let me put the charging controller in, but they didn't want me screwing anything up and I'd rather not give them a reason to void my remaining battery warranty  (I feel like they would probably make that a nightmare too based on this experience with polaris). They did let me put on the fender reducer and new matching brake/clutch levers, I mean they had it all stripped down (seat/fairings) very quick easy job done in under an hour for both.

I'm not happy mainly because of the price I'm paying for this charging controller but my plan is to avoid polaris like the plague and find a better way to get parts even if it's ordering it though polaris. I went to the victory dealer in fort collins but when I went in I didn't even see a banner for the empulse and they seemed very confused by them taking over brammo warranties and directed me to lakewood :/

[jazz999]

Yes, this unfortunately seems like a common theme.  Not very well executed and does not make Brammo nor Victory/Polaris look good.  Brammo was known for their great support, not so much after the sale... 

[willss01]

Update: called up today and as always they were just about to call me and the new charging controller has different connections and, as the tradition goes, they are in the dark. I'm stuck in electronic motorcycle purgatory.

[littlefreak3000]

They changed the wiring between the 2013 and the 2014. Did they order the wrong one?

[Shinysideup]

So sorry you are getting off to such a rocky start on your dream machine!

Got to say, I really miss the days of sterling Brammo support. They were available; they were quick; they were competent; they were reasonably priced. Polaris? Not so much.

Here's a service story: I was around the number 3 Empulse sale in the country, I think.
Early on, my bike threw an error code that meant there was moisture in the battery compartment.

Brammo drove a truck from Oregon to San Francisco, picked up my bike on a Monday.
  Redesigned the battery compartments to put a stop to moisture ingress.
    Replaced all my batteries with new ones in the new cases.
      Trucked the bike back to San Francisco for me to pick it up on a Friday, 5 days later.
         All done under warranty at no charge to me.

Come on, Polaris... step it up already!

[willss01]

Thanks for the info (2013/2014 change) mines a 2013 ... I'll be sure to pass it along.
Still holding out for some kind of compensation for allowing them to learn on my motorcycle. Seems like something that could have been planned out better, as far as them steping up and taking over service. I guess I should be thankful they are only 60~70 miles away, I know not everyone is as lucky with the change.

[00049 (AKA SopFu)]

I have a similar story to Shiny. My bike had issues with water early on as well, and Brammo sent their truck out to my house in Chicagoland to take a look. I could not be happier with the service I received from Brammo.

Right now my bike has been at the local Victory dealer for 6 weeks for a B55 error. They just got the parts to run diagnostics on the battery, and they hope to be trained on it soon so they can send the info to Polaris. From there they will probably need to order a new battery module. I feel bad for the dealer. But at the same time, they have had two new Empulses on the showroom floor ever since I brought mine in. I'm not sure how they were planning on servicing those...

[Shinysideup]

I feel bad for the dealer. But at the same time, they have had two new Empulses on the showroom floor ever since I brought mine in. I'm not sure how they were planning on servicing those...

I'd guess it goes something like:

If we don't sell 'em, we don't have to figure out how to service 'em.
If we DO end up, by mistake, selling one, well then we'll call somebody.

Maybe I'm just a tad cynical?

[willss01]

Update: They are convinced it's the right part. After some chatting with our hero brammofan I am convinced as well. They are messaging "engineers" to come up with some work around.

Current problem: The old charging controller has 2 extra small wires [update I suppose it's 3 small wires, the CANBUS wires ... I did just buy the bike] ( idk what they do or where they go) the new one just has 2 orange cables that came with it and don't connect to my bike   x.x  of course. But it appears you could just use the old cables from the bike and ignore the two tiny wires ... but I'm no engineer.

[willss01]

So it's been over 2 weeks since they realized the new charging controller is different than the old broken one  (or they think this is the problem and when I call to them they stress that they could be wrong because the only certain thing at this point is: they have no clue what they're doing).
Polaris was researching the issue for a week and now I'm informed egineneers have been called in to figure out what to do.
About 2 weeks ago I called up polaris and started a complaint and was told a service specialist would contact me, after a week I called back wondering when I could expect to hear from this specialist (this way I won't need to call polaris/victory and wait on hold for a half hour).
 They said 2 to 3 days so I called back up Monday, yesterday, asking when I can expect to hear from this specialist. After only 15 minutes on hold they told me I was still in the queue so any day now .....



(Added)
called again today June 13th just to show how much better at dialing a phone than victory is. I spoke  with a very helpful young lady who sent a message over the the parts department and added some more info to my case and gave me a case number . I do feel like she did everything she could to raise flags and contact people to contact me or the dealer or something but the way this whole thing is going with victory I am looking into some kind of lawsuit if they don't offer me some kind of discount on labor and part.

[electricflyer]

The MANY complaints about availability of service for Brammo Empulse motorcycles is extremely troubling.

I live in Northwest Florida and have had my Empulse for a little over a year and a half. Only a few short months after purchasing (from a dealership in Tampa, which did a competent job of shipping the bike), I received the notice regarding recall for the oil vent tube. Ever since that time, I have been attempting unsuccessfully to have that service performed. Tampa was too far for service, and they were already out of the Brammo game by then anyway. The local (over an hour away) Victory dealership carries Empulse TT bikes and the service manager is excited about them. However, his attempts at cross-referencing part numbers with Polaris were unsuccessful, let alone any attempts at loading firmware updates or anything more "complicated."

This was a RECALL. This goes beyond simple warranty coverage or tech training.

Considering the number of similar complaints regarding shoddy or nonexistent maintenance from Polaris, I must second the idea of consideration of a class lawsuit, NHTSA complaint, etc. Has anyone actively pursued any of these options?

[willss01]

Weekly update:
Called up victory today, they have not contacted me once. The shop contacted me last Thursday but had nothing to say except that they were awaiting orders.
Victory had no valuable info either just that they still have their engineers working on it. The service specialist at victory made it sound like they had the wrong part, you know like I thought they did a month ago. The last I heard from the shop was they were going to rewire the charging controller  (I would start by looking at the innards of the old one) but needed wiring diagrams and common sense is on back order ...
Ridiculous doesn't begin to explain this run around, I will be asking every employee and breathing human I meet "how much of a discount sounds fair to you?"

[Chocula]

Since this seems to be an out of warranty issue, you might contact Harlan Flagg at https://hollywoodelectrics.com/contacts/, he might even be in your area for PPIHC.  He would be a potential resource for getting your existing one repaired, though you would likely need to remove/install it your self.  The also have an aftermarket charger that could reduce your charge times to about an hour they designed for the Zero that could be adapted.

Another option is Victory owns a 2014 Empluse R that is sitting at Indian Motorcycle of Orange County http://www.indianmotorcycleorangecounty.com/ that has a bad motor controller, but a working charger that you need.  The connectors were changed when the went to the Empluse TT, but as far as I am aware, the 2013 and 2014 have mostly interchangeable parts, including the charger.  Talk to Chris and see if he is able to get Victory to release the part to swap out yours.

I would also start calling Victory every couple of days.  Expect to wait on hold for 30 minutes and most of the time you won't be able to talk to the person assigned to your incident, but they do add the notes to the case file each time you call.  Mornings had shorter wait times when I had to go through this.

Good luck, I hope you are able to find a solution soon.

[willss01]

THANK YOU!

[willss01]

So I actually received a call from Polaris today .... 
I was speechless especially after they told me they are trying to get a hold of the right part..... right part? I thought the plan was to re-wire the old one! So my plan was to get a hold of this spare on board charger in Orange County and plug it in myself but they won't release the parts.
Being the nice guy I am (suspecting communication inside polaris is harder than it is here, in the outside/real world) I called up the Lakewood dealership currently holding my Brammo and told them what I knew. I could hear the relief in his voice when I told him that they weren't planning on reconfiguring the new on board charger.

I've tried to keep an open mind and be as understanding as possible. I don't blame anyone working at the lakewood polaris or even working for polaris they are all just doing their jobs. I don't want to give anyone a reason to not buy an electric bike or in anyway tarnish the Empulse name. I am simply telling my story and I hope I have it the worst or anyone worse off they are compensated.

I have yet to talk about any sort of discount, signed anything allowing them to work on my bike or agreed on paper to pay for any kind of "work" they think they've done so far. I contacted a lawyer and because it isn't a car, I basically have no case. I will continue to both work on tracking downthis part or a replacement myself and see what legal rights I have, or more likely legal rights we have as a collective since I see I am not the only one and am probably not the last.