Sol Power–BrammoBlog.com

Blog 64: Will you still need me, will you still read me, when I’m Blog Post 64?

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Ok…(heavy sigh)…I have approached the proverbial “Fork in the Road.”  Two paths. Which should be fine since I have two feet. Sadly my two feet must always walk together in one direction. Stupid feet. Why have two feet if they have to stay together? But I digress. It is a common problem of mine. Or a problem of mind.

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The Fork in the Road. I guess the most famous quote is from our Greatest American Spokesman: Yogi Berra.

“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Wise, sage words.

But I’m more of a Cheshire Cat kinda guy, so I would go with:

“Alice came to a fork in the road. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ responded the Cheshire Cat. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the Cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.”

Lewis Carroll was a witty man. Damaged for sure, but witty.

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and speaking of damaged….

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And still I find ways to delay. It is likely because I am torn by the decision. Or that I’m too lazy to focus on the task at hand. My wife would know which to pick.

The Fork in the Road.

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As some of you know, I have a very low pre-order number for a Brammo Enertia Plus. A bike that would be identical to the Beta Test bike I currently have at home. And I love using the word currently when talking about my electric motorcycles.

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T’Challa at “home” getting a light dusting of snow

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I also have a very low pre-order number for a Brammo Empulse R. I knew I could only get one, but I was hedging my bets and placed an order for each.

Would I like both? Heck yes. Would my lovely wife instantly leave me? Most likely. She has had 30 plus years with what she calls my “frivolous” spending. She is dangerously close to the breaking point.

But back on point: Just about a week or two ago I got a message from Brammo:

“Hey Gavin. Got a bike or two with your name on it. Which do you want, the Plus, the Empulse or both?”

“Of course I want BOTH!”, I almost screamed out into the phone.

Luckily I remembered that I do love my wife and don’t really want to be homeless, nor, shudder, garage-less. So I had a decision to make.

“Can I think a bit and get back with you?”

“Sure. Take all the time you need, as long as it’s in a day or two.” I think that was a joke……

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And that brings us to the topic of today. The Fork. The Road. And what to do.

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The known and lovely Enerita Plus       or      The sexy and powerful Empulse R

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So I thought and I thought and I thought. Then I played a bit on my computer and made myself a nice sandwich because I was a bit hungry. And then I thought some more.

And I thought: Let’s do this rationally. Let’s write out the Pros and Cons. And let’s stop saying “let’s“…I don’t think “me” = “us”. But (all together) I digress.

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Pros and Cons:

Enertia Plus:                                                           Empulse R

   Cost: Much cheaper                                               Cost: Much more

And the list could have stopped right there. But I had to dig a bit deeper.

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The Plus is a great commuter bike. Easy to ride. Nimble and quick. Good range for my riding. And I know her well after riding many thousands of miles on her.

Downsides are: One seat. The Enertia Plus can ride on the highway, but not for long bits. She is a bit too light and a bit too slow (top speed just over 65 mph) for a lot of highway riding.

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The Empulse R is a bigger, faster bike. She seats two (a plus as my wife likes to ride to the Isotopes games on the motorcycle. Better, closer parking). The Empulse is much better on the highway than the Plus. She is Brammo’s “Halo” bike. She would be a new bike to me, and I do like new toys.

Downsides. Cost. That’s about it…maybe a small downside would be that I know the Enertia and love it…will I feel the same about the Empulse?

So I kept playing it through my head. I couldn’t discount the Empulse purely because I had never driven one. It is a logical reason not to buy a bike. And really a sane person doesn’t buy a motorcycle without riding it. But I had planned to buy the Enertia without riding it, so that reason would have been a bit inconsistent.

I also realized that the Empulse is Brammo’s “American” bike. The bike they want to sell the crap out of here in the States. And I really wanted to show that bike off around town and to other riders and local dealers. Everybody in Albuquerque has seen the Enertia. Nobody has seen the Empulse.

Still…I wasn’t sure what to do.

So last Friday morning at work, as I do most Friday mornings, I was scanning an OB patient. I look at fetal hearts if the OB department is worried and wants either a second opinion, or if they think something is wrong and want Peds Cardiology to give a more complete diagnosis. And I was scanning a nice woman similar to this smiling one…

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And I know it is very likely that on my screen I was seeing a cute little kid, possibly sucking his toes like this:

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Or perhaps peeing into the amniotic fluid like this:

(I actually caught this video clip quite on accident. Fetuses pee all the time in utero, but it’s not often you get just the perfect angle to see it this well)

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But all I kept seeing on my screen was this**:

So I decided I should probably either:

A) Change my meds.  B) Up my meds.  C) Get the Empulse R.  D) Do all three.

hint: unlike the SATs where B is usually the correct answer, here D is obviously the correct answer.

Though B could be correct if worded as “Up my meds A LOT!”. Again, I digress.

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Truthfully, I really want to try it out after all the positive reviews. And I want to show it off up at Coffee at Dawns (every Saturday and Sunday morning there are 100’s of bikers stopped there to talk and show off their rides before hitting the road up the Sandia Mountain or taking the Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe. Both wonderful rides I plan to do often on the Empulse R).  And though I LOVE the Enertia Plus, if you want to show off, well the Empulse R is the bike to do that with.

Soooooo, 1 Empulse R in white ordered. And now a little bit of a wait, but hopefully not too long. On a positive note:

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Eric Bostrom this week at Thunderhill for some Empulse TTX testing with Brammo and Shelina.

This is my first Empulse R “MOD”…weeks before I get the bike 🙂 . White panel getting signed before the clear coat is put on.

Thanks EBoz…and Shelina too? I think so, but don’t have photographic evidence.

Sadly SteveO was not at Thunderhill…perhaps I can get him to sign at a later time.

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Take Care

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness: visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

Bonus

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At SEVENteen thirty five, with SEVENty one percent of battery and SEVENty eight miles on the trip odometer, I hit SEVEN thousand SEVEN hundred SEVENty SEVEN point SEVEN miles.

** close up of the image on the Ultrasound monitor.

This image was, surprisingly, not made by me. It was, I think, commissioned by Adrian Stewart and then never used as some people found it disturbing. I think the theme was something like, “The Birth of the Electric Sports Motorcycle” or something like that. I, of course, didn’t think the image was disturbing at all…kinda fun. But the image alone is a bit much for some people…which is why I used it in a bigger setting. Keeps the image small and gives some context to the image. At least that was my thought process going into the finished photo used up above with me in riding attire. Well that and I thought it funny…in a David Lynch/Blue Velvet kinda funny.