Hello everybody --
Welp, this post marks:
- the continuation of the teaser in this thread,
- my third annual Shaming Of You All For Not Showing Up To Refuel, and
- the celebration of Empulse R #35 returning to life amongst us once again, with barnstorming panache and style
Note that for what follows, I can claim very little credit. My good friend and housemate Conan is far more experienced in the ways of hacking apart and putting back together motorcycles than I am. For the most part, my participation in this project was limited to photography, labeling and cataloguing the various zillion disassembled parts into ziploc bags, purchasing and obtaining replacement parts, cleaning 20,000 miles' worth of grime from the original parts, and providing a lot of beer. And the obstinate will to get this thing back together.
The shape in which it was returned to me. Note the hilarious mud all over everything -- there was a boatload of additional damage inflicted by the tow company. Also note that the bike is sort of being held together by a ratchet strap.
Taking things apart.
Taking more things apart. Here you can start to get a good idea of how in nearly two pieces the frame is.
"Never dropped, always garaged"
And now we go from this . . .
To THIS. In my mind it would have been a sin to possess a bare frame of something and
not powdercoat it some absurd color. It is hard to capture properly, but it is an idiotically sparkly pearl white.
Putting the batteries back in.
With the OEM black swingarm and subframe back on, I think the contrast with the white frame is quite striking!
I may or may not have cackled like a mad scientist when it actually turned on for the first time in reassembled (reanimated?) form.
AND THE PAYOFF. Also note that because I'm probably not going to be commuting on it anymore (see my previous posts re: ABS), figured I'd set it up for more track-ish duty. So a set of clip-ons and some hilarious rearsets hewn from some giant blocks of aluminum. Thought about getting those Woodcraft ones, but they're way too expensive, and I wanted to keep the kickstand.
PAYOFF PART II: Conan had a set of Honda RC211V replica track fairings sitting around, so some hacksaw butchery later . . . we have a faired Empulse R! This was taken yesterday, at Laguna Seca, where I was the only Empulse customer to show up. In fact I was one of only two Brammos there -- the Brammo team proper was apparently spread apart at Pikes Peak and/or still in Europe, so the entire Brammo race team this time around was the very famous and exotic Brian, riding his personal project Empulse TTX. There was an absolute sea of Zeros (at least a dozen of them), and a totally disappointing lack of any ridiculous home-built bike contraptions this year.
And to thank my buddy for his intrepid help with this over the last few months, I decided it would be only appropriate for him to be the one to take it out and put it through its paces at Refuel -- and plus he'd never ridden Laguna before, so was even more excited about it. I did miss actually participating, but it was fun to watch, and totally glorious to see the bike reborn and getting thrown around the track. He ended up 5th overall with a 1:59 or so -- not bad for a first outing! For reference: I was a 2:10, and Shelina on the TTX was about a 1:51. In fact . . . now that I look at the times from the past couple years, I am pretty sure that's the fastest an Empulse R has gone around that track.
And there it is. The bike has returned to life, albeit still in a sort of registration limbo. I have a salvage title, but still need to get it re-certified as road legal. The RC211V fairings actually do have an upper portion with a headlight kit, so perhaps we might see a road-going faired Empulse? I have ridden it, and the clip-ons and rearsets are surprisingly comfortable.
Now Polaris just needs to get off their ass and sell me a new ABS model, and I will be the ultimate electric motorcycling gentleman of leisure, with an Empulse for the track and an Empulse for the street.
Nonetheless . . . I am back!!
