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I’ve put 2K miles on the Empulse as a daily commuter from South San Francisco to San Francisco. I also ride it around SF all day long, 5 days a week, on my job, then home at night. Although I’ve been riding motorcycles for only 44 years, this is one of the best-handling and most exciting machines I’ve ever been on.

More to the point: It may be the ultimate “street fighter”, that is, urban transportation that feels wicked quick off the line, nimble, quiet, fast, narrow and flat-out fun. Oh yeah, and it corners like it’s on rails, the most confidence-inspiring bike in the twisties I’ve ever been on. It just happens to be electric.

Its sound level is dangerous? Not in my experience, but then I’ve ridden bicycles around cities for many years. When the Empulse is in Sport mode and decelerates in 1st gear, it throws out a very distinctive whine that makes most pedestrians turn their heads to look. If I need more sound for cars, well, I always replace any bike’s horn with an aftermarket tweeter for more db’s. Face it: 98% of drivers’ situational awareness comes through their eyes, not their ears in closed cars with the stereo blasting. But this is an old debate that we aren’t likely to solve here.

Cost? Well check out this cool online calculator:

http://www.empulsebuyer.com/tcoCalculator.php

Personally, my commute runs 30 to 50 miles a day and my “fuel” bill will run about $15 a month. I absolutely love noticing the price of gasoline and laughing on my silent way by the stations. Then there’s the cost savings I pass on to others’ lung health by my not spewing carcinogens into their faces. (You can thank me where you’re a lot older!) OK, maybe that was a cheap shot!

No engine oil, no oil filter, no fuel filter, no air filter, no valve adjustments, no carb syncs, no sparkplugs, no alternator, no coil, no 12V battery every 2 years, no throttle body adjustments. Just brakes, chain, and tires. Even if you do all the work yourself (I do), the cost of parts and fluids really add up; not to mention busted knuckles! Did I say no valve adjustments?!!

A sport bike not practical? Brammo will release Givi side cases and mounts shortly. Those and a planned top case should handle my work and recreation needs.(It’s not a tourer!) For now, a largish pack carries all my work stuff and I add a messenger bag for groceries. (I don’t own a car.)

Now for the tranny: When I test rode this bike, I thought the 6 speeds were overkill, kind of like moving around a disconnected joystick on a video game (great line!). But I’ve come to experience that there really has been some solid thought that went into making this transmission work with this power train. And there’s some subtleties that I didn’t pick up on until after a few hundred miles in the saddle.

First, to say you can’t dump the clutch for a wheelie is to totally misunderstand the nature of an electric motor: there’s no spinning mass (flywheel) to give you instant momentum transfer. It’s not the software that’s limiting hooliganism; it’s the nature of a relatively light electric motor. Granted, the software IS set to prevent pure power wheelies, but not by much (about 10%), but that’s OK by me. I’ve seen enough squids really mess up themselves with wheelies and stoppies on the streets. And with the instant torque of this motor… well I’d hate to see the results, much less clean it up.

So why have I grown to appreciate 6 speeds? Three reasons:

1) It’s the nature of electric motors to either have grunt off the line OR high top-end, but not usually both at the same time, unless you’re talking about $$$ racing machines with high voltage batteries, expensive controllers etc. Brammo chose to go with a relatively small motor (54 HP, 60 ft. lbs) and get both a “shot from gun” experience away from stop lights, and an honest, sustainable high end, with no thermal cutbacks, thanks to water-cooling. It takes a gearbox to do that, in lieu of higher voltages and expensive motors and controllers. Personally, having test ridden anemic-off-the-line electrics prior to the Empulse, I’m very grateful for their design choice. And the gear box helps with range while doing all this, something the $45K electric track bikes don’t have much of.

2) The Empulse R motor has two energy sweet spots: 5000 RPM for the most energy efficiency (range) and, for max power, either 6000 RPM for Sport mode or 7000 RPM for Normal mode. With a multi-speed transmission I can keep the motor running at any of those goals, regardless of vehicle speed, within reason. For example, here’s what I’ve experienced:

1: 38 mph @ 5000
2: 47 mph @ 5000
3: 57 mph @ 5000
4: 66 mph @ 5000
5: 77 mph @ 5000
6: CHP @ 5000

Now I admit, I haven’t needed 6th gear very often; and I wouldn’t put my speed in print! But these are good speeds for urban/freeway riding and the 5K point maximizes my range. Can’t quite do that so nicely with 2 gears, or even an extra battery, I’d guess.

For the power end of things, every day on my way home, I have to merge across 4 lanes of freeway in a fairly short distance, starting at the right and ending in the No. 1 (fast lane). The right lane where this happens is always slow and I’m usually lane splitting at that point, say 35 mph in 1st. If I start around 5K RPM, I’m using the motor efficiently. As I goose the throttle and change lanes, I can run up to 6K for power, do a slick clutchless upshift through the gears until I’m doing about 65 mph in the fast lane and never leave that band of efficiency. Can’t do that with 2 gears. (It’s possible those guys up in Oregon actually thought about this!)

3) Then there’s regenerative braking, which in Sport mode offers significant “engine braking,” the degree of which I can dial in with the throttle. Having gears to slam down through as I come off a long downhill exit ramp every day is pretty sweet, going from 75 mph to 15 mph before needing to get on the brakes. Again, I think I’d definitely miss that granularity with 2 speeds.

Finally, why is neutral between 2nd and 3rd? I have no idea, but it does eliminate false neutrals when driving around town, so I like it there just fine. The bike is noticeably easier to roll around in neutral and I find neutral useful for lubing the chain on a track stand. Mostly what I use it for is to allow friendly gawkers to hear the sound of the motor when I’m about to leave from my parking places around the City. Having a neutral is also rumored to satisfy a legal requirement, but, while I’ve been called a lot of things, “lawyer” is not one of them!

I hope you guys have some more time in the saddle of this fun, practical, sweet machine. She will reveal much more charm over time. And arm-chair pronouncements about the gearbox’s being silly, useless, overkill, affectation, etc. won’t seem like nearly so much fun as blasting around cheaply and with the sound of the Starship Enterprise’s flux capacitor being charged. (Yeah, I’m a geek!)

PS to Gabe: The demo model you rode has much less power than the later production models. My Normal mode accelerates like the demo’s Sport mode. Let me know if you want to try mine sometime.

Seeya on the streets.

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With respect to the 6% manufacturing tax deduction, EVERY manufacturer gets that deduction only any other manufacturer that isn’t an oil company can claim 9% – 50% more deduction than an oil company. And it is a deduction, not a credit. Your tax dollars are not getting diverted to Exxon’s bank account.

And I care what every company that contributes to the US economy has to pay in taxes here and Angola. I want them to be competitive on the world scene and have incentive to keep as many jobs on US shores as possible.

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That’s 6% deduction most Americans would rather not give to oil companies.

Read beyond the slanted headlines and ideological spin. Do you really care that Exxon must pay high income taxes to Angola? It’s the US I care about, and we should jack up their US Income taxes to repair all the pollution and damage they walk away from.

Read it all here in a very conservative magazine:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2012/04/16/which-megacorps-pay-megataxes/

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