Zero S won't have a 100 mph celebration. Did you mean 100 miles? The 2012 S can travel at 75 mph, though it can reach up to 88 mph for perhaps a minute or two to pass or whatnot.
I believe Brammo has stated that the Empulse can hold 100 mph for as long as the battery will hold it. Empulse can likely peak somewhat higher than 100 mph with the IET, particularly if the LATime's
report from the Long Beach motor show about an even more powerful motor are accurate.
The 2011 Zero S is a pretty solid bike. The 2012 S has some significant improvements: regen braking, more efficiency in the EPA UDDS, more power, substantial increase in range -- accompanied by a higher price point.
Empulse will supposedly be in production this spring. Unless some part of the bike is a deal-breaker - the IET perhaps, though Brammo states that the bike can be left in gear and used as a direct-drive - then it makes sense to me to wait for a bit and see what the production Empulse will look like.
Best case for Brammo is the Empulse ships 2-3 months after Zero S, makes more power, meets its original price points, and IET significantly increases performance.
Worst case, Brammo has a lot of room to trip up: further production slips, unsatisfying or fragile IET, singular 10 kwh configuration or price hikes, real-world range significantly less than Zero.
While in a very real sense Zero and Brammo are market competitors, they are both driving the state of the electric motorcycle far forward. Both of them have significant work ahead of their spring launches, I hope they both execute well and that 2012 is the best year yet for electric motorcycle consumers.
