My First Mod...

[Gavin]

Busy Busy Busy...and just got the bike this AM (a whole story in itself that I might or might not share)...

I won't have time to do too much till this weekend...so there will be little riding and little modding till then.

But I did have the bike come with one MOD already done at Brammo...and it was a bit of a learning experience for all involved...but more about that later.

First: Dum Da Da DUMMMMMMM: I have joined Brian and Frodus and Shiny and racer and all the other here that are in that exclusive club of Empulse R owners!!

Here she is all unpacked and ready to go:



And here are the first mods:



E Boz on one side...

and



"Shez Racing" on the other

Very nice of them...Sadly no SteveO as the white panel was taken to Thunderhill to be signed and SteveO's bike wasn't ready yet for riding (it had just got back for Milan and hadn't had any updated hardware). So only Eric and Shelina there. Maybe I can get SteveO's later, but I wonder about the Clear coating...would I add a second layer over the whole panel? Just SteveO's sig? Or maybe I have him sign the black with a silver sharpie?

As for the learning experience: It was good to have them sign the white panel before clear coating so their signatures would stay preserved...but clear coating over Sharpie is very delicate work--too much or too fast and it smears and runs...So I likely made the paint and cover guys a bit mad at me...

Anyways, bike is here, so that is good. Sadly work is CRAZY and I wonder just how much time I will spend with her over the next couple of weeks  
Plus I have to update my blog....

Gah, need more hours in the day or clones of myself...more hours would be best as NOBODY wants more Gavin's out in the world.

Gavin

[Brammofan]

YAY! So happy for you, Gavin.  If only Rachel needed another visit to make a decision about SFUAD.

You're riding it to work, at least, yes?

[implovator]

That's awesome! Well deserved.

[kingcharles]

Such a beauty!
You're one super lucky guy, I am looking forward to many blog updates with lots of photos as white is my favorite color too.
Maybe your blog updates can keep me satisfied until EU deliveries start... Riding season kicked off last weekend and I hade a nice ride on a Zero. I told the salesguy that I was actually waiting for the Empulse to arrive to which he replied: I am sure that I will have sold you a Zero before then

[7racer]

Thank is freaking awesome!!  Congrats!!  What a great idea for the signatures!

[flar]

Is the second mod a missing mirror?

[frodus]

Congrats dude!

Mod away!!!

[Gavin]

YAY! So happy for you, Gavin.  If only Rachel needed another visit to make a decision about SFUAD.

You're riding it to work, at least, yes?

A. Yes, riding.

B. so what was her decision?

Gavin

[Gavin]

Is the second mod a missing mirror?

Ha...I am changing out the mirrors so I only put the one on.

Gavin

[Brammofan]

.

B. so what was her decision?

Gavin

She is still not sure what she's doing, but we did decide that SFUAD is not for her.

[7racer]

Hey gavin!?  I just noticed you didn't have the CF parts on there?!?!

did you opt out of that?

[Shinysideup]

Congrats Gavin!

You may want to tell them about the fact that it arrived after somebody put graffiti on the tank. Seriously, it looks very sharp and the mods will only grow from here.

Riding impressions on your commute?

[Gavin]

All the parts are CF except the tank part...not sure if that is normal or not.

Today I've done the tail tidy and the bar end mirrors.

That's it till the turn signals come in...should do them this weekend.

Gavin

[Gavin]

This mornings commute included the tail tidy and the lane split bar end mirrors.



My next mod will be the turn signal mod....then probably nothing for a while.

As for the question about my impressions on my commute....

Well:

A) she is fun, well balanced and fast.

B) I will admit that I have 8000 miles of Enertia muscle memory...so I am still learning how to ride the Empulse. And I will admit that the Enertia is still in my mind the perfect city ride. But the Empulse offers more options in riding style.

If I was rich I would have both...

But the Empulse is a fun bike...and easy to ride. The Enertia is effortless to ride, but can be thought of as maybe boring (though i was never bored on her )...

Surprisingly the Empulse feels smaller than the Enertia...but heavier. Though she doesn't feel heavy at all while riding...but the Enertia had a dirt bike feel in the weight department.

Over all I like her a lot and know I will love her...We are still in the "hand over the sweater" phase of the relationship...I'm sure we will be sliding into home before too long...

Gross analogy...


As for the clunk...not as bad as I thought it would be...and rolling back takes it away totally. do feel it more with slow motion riding.

I will admit that if the Enertia Plus had 10 mph more on the top end and seated two, well I might have gotten that over the Empulse...But they are very different bikes and ride...and the Empulse has killer components.

I have never ridden a Sports bike in my life, so I have some learning to do on that front.

Gavin

[Gavin]

Bar End Lane Split mirrors....

not that we can lane split here in New Mexico....

G