More fame for Jeff, but the bad news?

[Adan]

I'm glancing through the teasers for the latest motorcycle.com articles and the image on one of them jumps out at me . . . that's our very own Jeff on his Empulse R!  I know this because I've seen him galavanting around SF more times than I've seen Willie Brown bellied up to a North Beach bar (and that's a lot of times!).  Damn, he looks good.  But then read the caption, according to which, Jeff's Empulse has become a taxicab victim and he's been forced to commute on an MV Dragster.

And why haven't we heard from Jeff about this? 

http://www.motorcycle.com/features/skidmarks-moto-grunts.html

[Brammofan]

Oh no! Calling Jeff. Come in, Jeff. Tell us the sad story.

[Jeff]

Haha I did!  http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=2792.0

I was waiting for more progress to post some official updates, but the good news is:  #35 is slowly coming BACK TOGETHER.  The triumphant vengeance will be nigh.

A sneak preview:



 

[Shinysideup]

That's a great photo of Jeff flying! Glad to hear the Empulse is being resurrected.

Daily commuting took its toll on mine recently: A prize-winning SF pothole brinelled my steering head bearings which I'm getting replaced this week. This is the only service that I've had to pay for after 26K miles of daily use over 2 years. Not too shabby.

Jeff, it might be interesting for us to hear of your (always colorful) notes on the differences of making the same commute in the Brammo vs. the MV Agusta.

Rock on!

[Jeff]

the Brammo vs. the MV Agusta

Hahaha!  Thoughts off the top of my head:

• The 800 triple is completely bananas.  Out of this world.  The front end wants to lift everywhere you go.  When it hits about 6k RPMs it gets even more exciting.  AND YET . . . it's worse for commuting.  Between A.) low-RPM power surging (fuel mapping updates have helped, but not eliminated it) in slow traffic, and B.) the intrinsic internal combustion nature of having to worry about revving up the motor in order punt the throttle going into a lane change -- not as good!  In particular, the interchange going from the 24 to the 580 is a total shitshow, every day.  Two lanes instantly join together into one lane, with no merge zone at all.  There is frequently traffic flying by in the left lanes, with totally stopped traffic in the right lanes trying to insta-merge.  On the Empulse, you can just magically go *BOOP* and instantly be going the speed of traffic, with no effort whatsoever.  On the MV (which make no mistake, is a fast bike!), you have to put some extra effort into thinking about it.  Another ball to juggle.
• Having spent 2 years on the Empulse, hills now totally suck on an internal combustion anything.  Being able to use the throttle as a hover-brake while sitting going up California St or whatever absolutely ruins you, and it sucks going back.
• Going back to buying gas isn't that bad in terms of the financial impact; even the MV, which isn't particularly good on gas, still is cheap as hell compared to a car.  However, the requirement of having to physically go to this stupid place a couple times a week and use this stupid machine to put stupid liquid in my motorcycle is now an annoying impingement on my time and schedule.  Also the mental overhead of having to remember to do it!
• Having some juice left at the top end of the motor is nice.  I'd gotten fairly used to effectively not much happening if you slap the throttle wide open at 65mph.  If you do that on the MV . . . well, there's a lot of various excitement is gonna happen.
• I HATE DIPSTICKS ON MOTORCYCLES.     Who in the hell decided that would be a good idea??  Was MV so completely enamored with copying everything about Triumph's design that they figured they ALSO needed a dipstick?  Ugh.
• The infamous Italian 'character' has reared its head.  I've put a little over 7000 miles on the bike, and am about to be on my third starter sprag clutch.  I'm convinced that the only reason it isn't a gigantic recall scandal with all MV 800s is the fact that the vast majority of people who buy MV Agustas spend the vast majority of the time wiping them with a diaper in the garage instead of riding them.  Not sure I'm going to keep the bike past its (2-year) warranty period.
• The ergonomics of the MV and the Brammo are very similar.  I'm pleased that the Dragster is still comfortable for me.  There aren't too many factory bikes out there with those ergos.
• I don't know if I can go back to commuting without ABS.  I haven't exactly had a panic-stop situation yet, but I've mashed on the brakes a couple times just to feel it, and it is extremely reassuring to have it there.  Also traction control is amazing.
• I also am pretty sure every bike I commute on from now on is going to have a steering damper.  A real, honest to god, two-circuit damper -- none of those slidy stick ones.  I picked up a GPR because the front end of the MV was so waggle-happy.  Calmed down the bike and improved things immensely, even having it on the lowest setting.  Then, however, a month or so ago: a huge-ass metal LADDER fell out of a truck basically directly in front of me on Highway 24 going home.  I hit it diagonally -- the rear wheel of the MV jumped up in the air pretty much what felt like 45 degrees out from straight.  Upon landing, the bike basically hopped into the next lane, knocked both my feet off the pegs, the bars proceeded to have a massive tank-slap in one direction, a massive tank-slap in the other direction . . . and then back to dead center straight ahead, going forward, perfectly calm.  I am nearly 100% confident that if I hadn't had that damper, things would have ended up much, much worse.

In summary: I goddamn miss commuting on an electric.  My official verdict is that Polaris has until the end of the warranty period on the MV (November 2016 or so) to get their shit together and release a new Empulse with ABS.  If they don't by then, I may have to do something drastic.  Zero SR?  Alta Motors SM?  Energica Eva?

[Shinysideup]

I KNEW you'd come through on the comparison! Very interesting.

Just today, as I was easing my way homeward bound at 6 pm,  I was remembering creeping up the same Gough St. hill above Broadway on my BMW and how my clutch hand would cramp. Electric rules!

I had a slidy-rod damper on the R1200R, but am ignorant as to why the central GPR is better. So edumacate me. (I've never had any hint of a head shake on the Empulse, but may add something anyway, just because there was never a farkle I didn't like.)

While I totally support ABS brakes, I DID have a all-out panic stop on the Empulse and was amazed at how well it stopped. Yes, the rear slid (in a straight line) a bit before I could let up on the foot brake, but I squeezed that front lever for all I was worth, enough to make the front tire chatter a bit, and the whole bike just freakin' STOPPED, in a very short space, about 6 inches from the bumper of a 40 mph Town Car limo that had slammed on his brakes in an intersection intentionally to make me hit him.  Pucker time, but not as much as a ladder and a lane hop!

I'm sure the Polaris will have ABS if they intend to sell any in Europe. By 11/16? I certainly hope so!

Yes, that 580/24 "merge" is really bad, even worse than the Cesar Chavez on-ramp into 101 and 280 splitting. We need to sentence these design engineers to riding these debacles continuously in a Citroen 2CV until they beg for forgiveness.

Stay safe in your ICE fun!

[Adan]

I thought I paid careful attention to this forum but I obviously missed it the first time around.  Glad you're well, Jeff, and it's great to see that shot of the Empulse flying over an SF hill, posthumous though it may be.

I sometimes do my commute on my 2006 multistrada instead of the Empulse.  The main thing I notice is that on the gas bike I arrive to work psychologically more spent.  The Empulse is so effortless in comparison.  To my way of thinking, that alone makes the Empulse worth having.  The MS provides a much better ride over bumps and potholes and better handling overall.  Still, there's no question which is better for commuting especially through heavy traffic.

[tkthompson]

Hey Jeff,

I belong to the triple club as well and love the Dragster. As far as the sprag clutch, that seems to be the biggest issuewith some of the bikes. I decided to put a shorai battery in the Dragster not only because I hope it will help keep my sprag clutch from going, but everything I have ever read states the stock battery sucks anyway. As far as this helping with the sprag clutch, I am not so sure. I ran into a guy at Moto Forza and he was on his 4th one and he had already replaced his battery as well. I'm short, so the bike fits me well. I love the power!

As far as how the electric stacks up, it is my go to commuter bike. It's the narrowest bike I had and is just made for splitting lanes when necessary. And yes, it's definitely becomes a nuisance having to stop at the gas station after riding an electric.

Cool to see another MV Agusta 800.

-Tammie