Losing interest in the Empulse

[1lesscar]

With little to no exciting news from Brammo, I am thinking about a 2011 Honda. I currently drive a Kawa street legal racer.

If the Empulse moves any farther away from Empulse RR, then I am out.

 

[EmpulseRider]

Yeah its been kinda slow for news lately but Im betting Brammo is working hard to make things happen. Lots of pr up to the end of last year, now they are focused on execution. From what I remember about the Empulse prototype upon debute, it was mentioned that there where a handful of design changes planned.

The RR is a testbed for the Empulse. We will surely see the final product benefit from Brammo's racing experience with the RR, and by the time this machine goes to production it will be even more refined. The Honda would be a great bike im sure, but you may regret your decision once the Empulse finally rolls off the line.

Im doing my best to be patient, but Im confident the final product will be very much worth the wait.

[Jay-Fazed]

I sometimes think im loseing intrest but then i look just think how upset ill be if i bail. I hope Brammo stays closer to the RR rather than a urban comutter. I want a urban assault EV ! But I do think that the wait will be worth it, heck maybe the final refinements will be just what we are looking for. I would love something a bit more powerful but you cant build one of these cheaper then Brammo right now.

[protomech]

My suspicion (and hope) is that they're very busy in development and testing right now, and possibly keeping mum about some changes until they can definitively talk about them. Brammo (and in particular, BrammoBrian) have been pretty open about the development process to this point, including sharing some tasty RR video.

Of course, Brammo doesn't exist in a vacuum, and other competitors are moving in on this space pretty quickly. Honda's EV-neo is the first hint towards electric two-wheelers from one of the large traditional manufacturers, and while the EV-neo's battery tech (toshiba SCiB) won't get them to 100+ mile ranges right now, they have the resources (if perhaps not the corporate will) to massively expand development if batteries and consumer interest merit it.

I'd love to see more Brammo updates on the RR and racing schedule, on manufacturing, and on changes to the production-intent designs.

Jay: The Brammo Enertia Plus strikes me as more of an urban assault EV than the Empulse.. it's significantly lighter and narrower, and it's still an open question (IMO) if it'll be faster than the Enertia 3.1. I don't really think I'd need to go faster than 60 mph in an urban environment, too.

[Richard230]

One thing that Brammo is doing right now is signing up established motorcycle shops to sell and service their products. That is a good thing and is going to really help the purchaser of Brammo motorcycles. Traditional motorcycle shops will be able to provide much better sales and service for their motorcycles than Best Buy stores, in my opinion.

As far as EV needs go, I see a big future for commute vehicles being sold to non-motorcycle enthusiasts. Gas prices are heading sky-high and the public will soon be begging for any vehicle that can get them to work without paying for gasoline. High speeds and flash may be fine for many traditional motorcycle enthusiasts, but I think the real sales volume potential may be from more practical vehicles like the Plus. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

[Jay-Fazed]

The Enertia+ would probably be a better urban ride your right. But i used to ride a triumph 675 and a street fighter GSXR 600. So Empulse all the WAY that and my next employment has a longer drive to work on the hyway. And the enertia is too scooterish for my personal taste. Setting up a network for services is truely key IMHO. Even though there is less maintenence there should be places you can go to for tech help instead of 1-800 hotlines. Hopefully Brammo is working on the foundation so I can look foward to seeing more products from them.

[Phantom]

If the Empulse moves any farther away from Empulse RR, then I am out.

 

[Gavin]

I've always had much more interest in the Enertia Plus.

Not losing interest at all, but I probably won't be too upset if the delivery is pushed back a bit....

I am getting my new Fiat 500 Prima Edizione in a couple of weeks. I had hoped to get the Plus before the car (easier to buy the Plus first and then say to wife..."opps, I know I just bought that slick new Electric motorcycle, but now the car is available and I need to get that too"...then the other way around..."Yes I know I JUST bought a car. Yes I know I have two scooters already and haven't had a car in 6 years and now suddenly I want 2 scooters, a car AND an Electric Motorcycle...."  Anyways, would have been easier to have Brammo then Fiat...but if the Plus isn't out till summer, well that would give some "little" bit of time between purchases.)

My semi fear is I get Fiat in 2 weeks and right about the same time I get the email from Brammo saying, "Hey dude, we can get your Plus made and shipped real soon if you want"....Cuz you know I will want...or WANT...and then I have to explain to wife (who rarely ever spends ANY money at all) why I should buy both a car and motorcycle in the same season...and I do tend to spend money all the freaking time....and you would have thought my constant silly spending would have broken her down after 30 years, but no...she still "cares" for some reason and will likely be pissed....sigh....



Gavin

[1lesscar]

 
I am not losing faith in Brammo, just the Empulse. Like a poster above said, the production model may be all soft and scooter like for all to buy. I am sure a RR version will be for sale later tho.

If the Empulse moves any farther away from Empulse RR, then I am out.

 

[protomech]

I am not losing faith in Brammo, just the Empulse. Like a poster above said, the production model may be all soft and scooter like for all to buy. I am sure a RR version will be for sale later tho.

Brammo has the Enertia Plus now for long-range low-performance commuting, which frees up the Empulse to be a higher-performance bike. To cover the roles the Enertia does not, it needs to be both usable as a freeway-capable commuter as well as the sports star of the Brammo lineup. I wouldn't worry too much about it becoming soft - in particular, if you don't like the stock handgrips, change them! Brammo has indicated they're going to more of a fixed handle bar for the Enertia, but I would guess it's not hard to change back to clipons - even if they don't make both grip options available at purchase.

I don't know if Brammo will sell a RR version. That's a somewhat niche market of an already niche market. With that said, I think the differences are largely shocks and springs, larger brakes suitable for racing, full body fairing, a slightly larger battery pack, and retuned software programming. Some of those changes you can make yourself, but it would be fantastic if Brammo supported reconfiguration of their production bikes for track use.

[1lesscar]

That is a good point. Let the softees ride the enertia home and leave the emplulse for street legal race bike riders. 

[oobflyer]

I wrote to Brammo asking about the delay in production of the Empulse. I also asked about the Best Buy sales in my area. I received this reply:

David,
   Thank you for your email. We have not yet announced  firm delivery dates for the Empulse. I am afraid I can't say any more than that at this time. I promise as soon as we have hard dates they will be released first to customers who have ordered and then very shortly afterwards to the Forum and then the press.

We are still selling motorcycles through the three Best Buy stores. Located in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland. However our exclusive period with Best Buy has ended so we are starting to appoint Brammo dealers in various areas.
The Best Buy store in San Carlos is still selling registered vehicles including the Brammo Enertia.

I hope this answers your questions. I wish I could be more specific about when the Empulse will  go into production and when deliveries will commence. Much of that hinges on capital as it requires millions of dollars to finance the inventory of parts that are required to put a motorcycle into production.

Kind regards
Adrian



Adrian G Stewart
Director of Sales and Marketing
Brammo Inc.