Electric bike frustration! (Brammo Empluse-R)

[JonnyD]

While I love my RC51, I knew long ago that it's not the type of bike I can really commute on. It hates the stop and go, overheats, sets off car alarms, and is really obnoxious. So a year and a half ago I put my name down on a Brammo Empulse - I'm #745 on the pre-order list.

Here's what I signed up for back then: 100+mph if need, 60 mile average city range, $10k up front cost (get ~6k back from CO), basically the performance of an SV650.

Here's what they debuted last night for the production Empulse R: 100+mph, all race suspension/braking/wheels, 100+mile range, and HOLY CRAP 19K , still basically the performance of an SV650.

And even though I work for an oil company, I'm all for electric bikes. I used to build the busses on the 16th street mall, and electric bikes promise about about a penny per mile cost of "fuel". I welcome the new technology! The Brammo I signed up for seemed like the best of all worlds for urban/commute/city, and now it's beyond anything I think they were striving to be. I could have easily justified a 10k commuter/fun bike, and electric would have been a step in the right direction. Now, I'm looking at a bastardized "racing" bike if I want it this year, for more than a base Ducati Panigale sells for. I could wait around until sometime next year for their non-R version, for 2k less. Really? Seems like the bike they unveiled is a totally different market than the one they were tapping during pre-sale. Now I can only see people with "TOO MUCH BLOODY MONEY" actually purchasing one, and I wonder if they'll actually use it.

Guess I'm now going to concentrate my efforts on the Zero XU or a DRZ400. Did anyone else here sign up for the Brammo? What were your thoughts on the introduction last night to the production version?

[asp_125]

When I demo'd the Zero last year, they told me the Zero is about $10-11K, but after the state and federal tax credits for EVs, it came out to ~$6K. So look into it first, while the inital price might be $19K there's a chance it will be much less.

[JonnyD]

Yeah, I know there's a chance it'll be about 13k if I can still get the CO rebate. I still can't see spending more than I paid for the RC for a bike that will have limited use. Maybe I need to work my way up to oil exec...

[Ghosty]

I didnt' realize the tax credit was so high on an electric bike. I knew with electric cars (Tesla), you can get something crazy.

[FZRguy]

For the first time in history, an electric motorcycle company is announcing a National Demo Day. On Saturday May 19, become a part of history and experience the future by taking a demo ride on a 2012 Zero motorcycle. Participating US dealerships across the country will be hosting Zero Motorcycles demo events where you can experience the benefits of an electric motorcycle. Additionally, special promotions will be available on Zero Motorcycles National Demo Day.
Contact your nearest dealer to schedule a demo ride: Here

[FZRguy]

I rode a Zero a couple years ago and came away with "not quite yet." They are much better now, and Grand Prix is a dealer.