curly

iTrader: (25)

...and after the girlfriend picked up a Canon SD1300is, I test drove one of these:

http://brammo.com/store/

Impressions? Pretty damn spectacular. This particular model goes 60ish mph, and has a range of 45ish miles, and takes roughly 4 hours to charge from a standard 115v socket. It costs $8000, and in my state at least I can get $1200, and another $1000 from the federal government since it's a green vehicle. So that's $5800 for a pretty peppy, good looking (in my opinion) bike. Guy at the store was very cool about it all, even though he knew I wasn't buying it.

The Enertia Plus is $1000 more, but has twice the range and can be charged from a 220 volt outlet, taking about an hour to charge.

Can't say enough about it, incredibly comfortable, smooth, and very well made. Brembo brakes, billet triples, high class suspension front and back, although I forget the name.

If you have a commute that's less than 40 miles (and I do) and you can charge it at work, it'd be a great substitute for a 80cc scooter, although also about 2-3k more. If you can find a Best Buy in your area that carries them, and you have motorcycle insurance* and a endorsement, I highly suggest you go ask if you can take one for a spin, great fun. They even had a helmet, jacket, and gloves for me to try.

*I don't have motorcycle insurance, I gave them my car insurance, luckily he didn't look at the card too carefully and I didn't crash.

Discuss.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Interesting...

I'd have expected it to be heavier than a sack of wet dicks, but at 324 lbs it's a full 50 lbs lighter than a Ninja 250R and only 9 lbs heavier than a dry CB250, which is one of the more minimalist road bikes on the planet. Granted 17.4HP isn't a ton (roughly 1/2 what the 250R puts out), but the CB250 only makes 19HP, and it's a perfectly adequate bike if your commute doesn't involve the freeway.

I can honestly see this working.

Stein

iTrader: (46)

If you are at all interested in e-bikes you have to get the September issue of Motorcyclist magazine. They tested, feature storied and raced almost all of the E-bikes.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Interestingerly, the Empulse model which, at $10k is a tad on the pricey side (though still cheaper than most Buells) makes 53 HP, which is "real" motorcycle territory, and yet still weighs slightly less than a 250R or an SV650.

These people might just be onto something.

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

I hate to say this, but as a motorcyclist I would not be caught dead on that thing. And I rode a purple ninja 500 for 2 years. Not hating just being straight forward.

Otoh, its really cool that they are making these so the technology will advance. I would rock a E bike if they could substain more power and longer range without getting much heaver and expensive. That is a dream though, so for now we have semi-affordable E scooters.

Thanks for the post.

curly

iTrader: (25)

I forgot to say theres also a familiar looking button on the top of the "gas tank" (in place of the "gas cap") which you need to power on after you turn the ignition on. It made a little power up noise, and apparently there's an SD card you can load any song on to play when you start it up, like the xbox start up noise, or windows maybe? Or maybe a V8 soundtrack, I dunno.

Joe, the 250r was the bike the salesman kept comparing it to, saying that until 50ish mph, it's performance was matched by the electric bike, and in terms of size and features, it's about the same, minus the fairing. I've ridden one of the new 250rs, and I can agree with that, although with an automatic "clutch", you can't launch it as hard.

Oh and the foot pegs were a little goofy, kind of like bike pedals sticking out of the frame.

One of the coolest things I think is that they're made in Ashland Oregon, so it's incredibly green for me. It's not like they're using a huge tanker to ship them from Italy.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Twenty years ago, cell phones and laptops used lead-acid batteries. They weighed forty tons and you got three and a half minutes of runtime per charge.

The laptop I'm typing this on has a Li-ion battery that weighs just over 1 lb and powers it for about 11 hours. (And it's not an Atom processor, either.)

Presently, some folks at Stanford claim to be working on a technology which will increase the energy density of my battery by a factor of 10.

I'm going to make a prediction which I shall call Perez' Second Law: Over time, battery technology will tend to improve.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

While I think its "cool" I'd also never consider one of these. 1st of all way too expensive for a scooter. 2nd of all I'm sure if you throttle it quite a bit that "range" plummets.

I'd much rather rock a ninja for much cheaper. Or a suzuki burgman or something equally as comfy

arctct

iTrader: (1)

smart point... a lot of people don't look at the emobied energy of a product when 'going green'

18psi

iTrader: (76)

or something like this:


comfy, nimble, and economical. and costs less

arctct

iTrader: (1)

does that count as going "green"^^??? if so i will just get a zx6r in the kawa color scheme haha

mgeoffriau

iTrader: (7)

My commute is less than 10 miles, so I could charge it at work, and have enough juice to get home and then back to work again the next morning...

...I wonder how long it'd take for the bike to pay for itself if I did that.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

a LONNNNNNNNNNG time

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

FTFY.


It did when Clarkson reviewed the Fiesta.


For 50 miles/week, compared to a Miata which does 25 MPG average, gasoline at $2.90 and electricity at $0.11 / kWH, and assuming $5,800 OTD for the bike, it'll pay for itself in only 20.5 years.

Compared to an SV650 at 52 MPG average, the breakeven point is slightly longer- 46.4 years.

Of course, these numbers assume that you already own the conveyance in comparison. If you were buying it as a first bike, and the alternative was a 250R ($3,999 and 61 MPG), breakeven would be reached after only 17.5 years, and that's not bad at all.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

YES



I love those. Probably one of my favorite bikes. Except I'd want an SF cause I don't like half naked bikes
Without a doubt I will own one in the future.

I'm enjoying the tt600 now and its fast as **** ( 110hp 388lbs is fast enough for me ) and I'm getting my child wet reams done and over with on it ( WOT at 14k rpm with the front starting to lift up can give you boners ) but ultimately I think an SV is a flawless "all arounder" for those that prefer the crotch rocket look to cruisers.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Funny, that. I actually prefer the fully naked non-S model (the one with real handlebars, lower pegs, and more upright riding position), I just couldn't find a decent picture of one.

Well, that's not entirely true. Here's mine:

18psi

iTrader: (76)

You have one? or had one?

how did you like it? I have asked a million people and read a million reviews and done a ton of research and yet I'm still interested in more opinions.

I hear midrange torque makes it so easy and effortless, add the fairly low weight and semi-decent riding position and you have a winner...

one other thing I MUST have in a bike is fuel injection. its like night and day from having to mess with the choke on cold mornings and all that bullshit. my future bike: 08 sv650sf in blue or that AWESOME dark grey they make them in.

I probably wouldn't even mod it. Not even exhaust. Its perfect to me.




*edit: just realized how off topic I've gone. Sorry OP

Fireindc

iTrader: (13)

Haha you guys, we should start a bike thread. Or section..? I can talk about bikes all day long. I really love the sv650 and heavily considered one until I found my Buell, the only downside I see to it is the suspension. To make one a true "track" or even a good canyon bike the suspension needs upgrading. GSXR forks are popular, and im not sure what they do for the rear setup these days. Although for commuting and semi aggressive riding the stock setup is fine.

Ive never owned one, but this is what I have gatherd while researching. I have ridden one and quite liked it. Id compare it to my brothers old 06 ducati monster 620 dark.

Yeah.. threadjacked =P

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

I suppose this thread is already sufficiently derailed, so...

Had one. I sold it when I left CA in late 2008, and haven't picked up another one yet.

Great bike. Not blindingly fast, not the sort of thing you'll want to drag your knee with on every single turn, and probably not the sort of thing you'd choose for riding from Barstow to Reno with a lot of sweaty men wearing chaps. But as a commuter bike, a daily ride, it's just great. Power delivery is nice and smooth without being gutless up top, it's quite light and has a fairly upright riding position (which makes it a comfortable place to be) but despite the total lack of aerodynamic affordances, doesn't get tossed around on the freeway (though the stock tires do give it a very loose feeling on the grooved pavement of I5).

Good brakes, adequate suspension, it's fuel injected so it starts on the first push every time and won't stall on cold morning, and because it's not a GSX-R, nobody is going to steal it.

And yeah, I didn't feel the need to modify a single thing on it. Well, almost. I did cut and lengthen the shifter a bit, since I'm not a Japanese schoolgirl who wears a size 0.5 ballerina slipper.



I came really close to buying an XB9 before I got the SV. Honestly, I think the price was the only thing that pushed me towards the Suzuki- the Buells were great bikes. It just absolutely floored me when Harley decided to shut down the brand.

mgeoffriau

iTrader: (7)

Don't care about the cost of electricity...that's why I mentioned how charging it at work would be enough to do the round trip.

I do wonder about the safety aspect. Do these things make any noise? Or would you be riding an essentially silent bike at 45 mph in traffic? Hope it has a loud horn.