December Delivery News

[ttxgpfan]

Yeah, there was a last minuteish change to a Parker motor.  More vroom.  That was a bit of the talk at Daytona.

[FreepZ]

Yeah, there was a last minuteish change to a Parker motor.  More vroom.  That was a bit of the talk at Daytona.

That's what I heard too. The SMRE couldn't deliver the performance Brammo wanted, so they changed the motor to Parker, but the transmission (and clutch, according to the manual) is still SMRE. Note that Parker motors scale up. The Empulse R uses size 1, RR uses size 2. I think they go as high as size 6, and then you can stack them to get even more power.

[Shinysideup]

This is what you need.

http://screaming-banshee.com/

It's the only system I've seen that integrates an airhorn with the OEM horn instead of replacing it.

Dunno how this got to be a horn thread, but... that Banshee looks to be the standard compact Nautilus horn. I've had lots of them and have a love/hate relationship. I love their loudness. I don't love the pause before they start up, although it's very short. But I really hate the fact that they don't tolerate water at all. I even spent big bucks on their nautical version that was supposed to be water resistant and it lasted about half a winter in the rains. I finally gave up after about my fourth horn.

After reading tons of reviews, I went into my local Kragen's auto store and found a twin-tone electric setup that's plenty loud, instant on, and has held up in the rain, even mounted low on the front fork. And they weren't expensive at $20. A quick tap is fairly polite and a prolonged button-press can be heard inside the SUV's on the freeway as they obliviously drift over the braille bumps between lanes while chatting away on their cell phones. Bless their little hearts!

Something like these:

http://www.amazon.com/FIAMM-74100-El-Grande-Horns/dp/B000DLBIGG

And Flar, I hear your pain. The BMW Teutonic switchgear logic almost drove me crazy (short trip!). I've heard their newer bikes have finally overthrown the German infallible wisdom in favor of the heretical  Japanese norm. Maybe an engineer finally died.

[Shinysideup]

Thanks Ain for addressing my questions.

I would have never guessed there would be that kind of break in period. Clutch slipping while pulling into freeway traffic is a bit scary.

Interesting they want you to inspect the plates and springs every 3K miles. Is that something an owner can easily do?

[Richard230]

Having two older BMW's I can tell you that you can get used to the turn signal switches.  But you never get used to the horn button system!     That button is just useless.     I am happy to hear that Brammo is sticking to conventional handlebar controls.   

[Ain]

Thanks Ain for addressing my questions.

I would have never guessed there would be that kind of break in period. Clutch slipping while pulling into freeway traffic is a bit scary.

Interesting they want you to inspect the plates and springs every 3K miles. Is that something an owner can easily do?

I had the exact same thing occur with an early VIN 2000 Yamaha R1 when it was new.  Yamaha's fix was either let it break in for a few hundred miles, or follow a Yamaha TSB which said to remove the clutch plates and soak them in oil for 24 hours.

My guess was that the new clutch plates were a little tight and still hasn't let the oil fully soak into the friction material.  Dry clutches in Ducatis can act up a bit when new too, so I'm assuming this is just break-in.

I'm not sure on the inspection steps, but that would be another good request for the owners manual (right now it just covers the oil change in the maintenance section).

- Ain

[ttxgpfan]

Yeah, there was a last minuteish change to a Parker motor.  More vroom.  That was a bit of the talk at Daytona.

That's what I heard too. The SMRE couldn't deliver the performance Brammo wanted, so they changed the motor to Parker, but the transmission (and clutch, according to the manual) is still SMRE. Note that Parker motors scale up. The Empulse R uses size 1, RR uses size 2. I think they go as high as size 6, and then you can stack them to get even more power.

To stop any misinformation I may have almost caused, BrammoBrian has posted in the forum somewhere about the switch to the Parker motor.  The gist is while the other motor has the same peak power, the Parker had some better torque somewhere in the powerband that they liked, and credited Parker's better cooling as aiding in this.  He ended it weird, and now I am wondering if only the R gets the new Parker motor.  But I suspect its more like a baby started crying, or he had a meeting to go to and simply ended it wierd.

[ttxgpfan]

Hi Bill,

I'll take a stab your list of questions...

As part of the ordering process, were you asked your weight so the correct springs could be chosen for the shocks? I live and work (from my bike) in San Francisco and am very much interested in shocks that can soak up some of our terrible street nightmares. I had some Wilburs on a R1200R that were solid in the twisties AND just lovely over rapid quick harsh surfaces. I would like to duplicate that experience on the Empulse.

Please clarify, if you can, the reasoning behind keeping the bike in "Normal" mode initially. Is that so YOU can break in to the bike? Ease the batteries into their cycles? Baby the new bearings in the motor? This just doesn't make obvious sense to me.

When I got to test ride the Empulse R, I and others noted the drive train lash when transitioning from throttle to regen. Don said the software update fixed that. What's your experience in that area with your bike? Smooth enough?

The latest Motorcycle.com review video mentioned a "kind of clunky" tranny. Although I've experienced balky gearboxes that loosen up with break in (and synthetic oil), I'd like to hear your impression.

Any experience to give us a good estimate of the range at a constant 65 mph on the freeways?

Did you get any sense about the flow of future bikes into Scuderia West?

Any word on an ETA for the side and top cases? Windshield?

Do you have any idea of the wattage limit of the 12V accessory port?

1)  I asked the same question on springs since I had always upgraded mine on bikes I used for the track.  They didn't have numbers for me when I took delivery, but I'm guessing they're standard for the suspension components since the bike only weighs 470lbs.  I'll see if I can get some photos of part numbers on the forks/shock to try and match them.

2) "Sport" seems to effect the abruptness of the throttle - both accelerating harder and kicking in regen more aggressively (see the photo of the owners manual below).  I'm guessing the "break in" is more for the transmission/clutch since I did have the clutch slip once on quick acceleration onto the freeway while shifting.  It's feeling a lot better after 180 miles.

3) The driveline lash is not an issue at all while the bike is rolling.  It feels different, but not "bad".  The only real lash that I find a little strange is starting from a dead stop, if you try to accelerate aggressively from a dead stop with the clutch out, there's a little bit of a clunk.

4) I'll have to do a 65MPH test and see where the range seems to settle.  I've been a bit heavy handed, so I know that continuous 75-80MPH seems good for 50-60 miles.

5) Talk to Don about the next bikes at Scuderia - he'll be the best source.

6) The Brammo guys let me know they have a whole range of accessories in the works, but I'm assuming they're focusing on getting the bikes out right now.  I'll probably start with some more universal stuff like bar-end mirrors.

7) I asked about the 12v port too, and they didn't have the specs when I picked it up.  I'll follow up with an e-mail.  I'd like to plug in a heated vest for this time of year, and didn't want to blow a fuse.

- Ain

Hello Ain.  Congrats on being the first to get an Empulse,  welcome to the forum, and beware the sneaky bloggers that hang out here and may use your photo for their own gain (properly accredited of course).

I was wondering what you were riding before this bikes, and what kind of range you were getting out of it?  I am assuming it was a gas bike.

Thank you,
Richard

[Ain]

Hello Ain.  Congrats on being the first to get an Empulse,  welcome to the forum, and beware the sneaky bloggers that hang out here and may use your photo for their own gain (properly accredited of course).

I was wondering what you were riding before this bikes, and what kind of range you were getting out of it?  I am assuming it was a gas bike.

Thank you,
Richard

Hi Richard - I'm still keeping a couple gas bikes (can't quit cold turkey), but I'm use to only a little over 100 miles on sport bikes, and close to 200'ish on my BMW K1300S.

I'm planning to keep the K1300S for a while as it's my multi-day bike if I need to do a road trip or long weekend.

I have a feeling the Empulse R will quickly become my favorite for all the "around town" stuff and commuting to work. 

- Ain