Brammo Blog: Bone Weary, But Home At Last.

31 07 2012

Blog 26: A short discussion on the Brammo Empulse TTX…and then off to bed.

Tuesday to the following Tuesday. 2223 miles on the pick-up truck. About 150 miles on the Enertia. Over 100 of those at either 7 am and in 52 degree cold, damp and foggy weather, or at 11pm in cold and damp and foggy weather. So I plan to hit my bed hard soon.

But first:

1. I have many photos, many videos and many many stories to tell. They will trickle out over the next couple of weeks.

2. I didn’t plan to write a blog this evening, but I wanted to discuss one aspect of this weekend…the Empulse TTX. Not everything about the TTX, but an important detail.

3. I am a fan, and maybe also a friend, of Brammo. I was invited out to Laguna Seca by Brammo. I am not an employee of Brammo. I am not paid by Brammo. I do not know any secret plans of Brammo.  But I do have a semi-close relationship with Brammo…if one can have a close relationship with a company…maybe one can as “Corporations are People” 🙂

Still I am a fairly observant person…and I watch a lot.

So…I have been reading a lot on-line about the TTX and the how it relates to Brammo Racing and the TTXGP eSuperSport class. A nice article here:

http://www.empulsebuyer.com/?p=879

+++

And I wanted to maybe clarify a detail or two. Again, I don’t know Brammo’s plans. Perhaps Brammo themselves are not set on exactly what, when and where they will proceed further in racing. After all they did just add a second rider in Eric Bostrom at Seca. That said:

1. Brammo had a production Empulse and took off a few bits (turn signals, tail light and bracket) and changed out the stock color for the race colors (still in light-weight carbon fiber).

She was a production Empulse R just a week before Laguna Seca.

+++

Close Up.

+++

A nice little video with James, the new Empulse Touring guy, going through the gears. He is going to do great as he loves this bike…and put about 700 miles on it before it got the TTX trim (so yes it is a ready to go, fully functional bike).

+++

2. Brammo then put a name on the bike:

+++

3. And they just happen to have a rider with that name 🙂

+++

4. Who happen to try out the bike:

+++

5. And then stuck around to talk about the bike:

+++

What we know: Brammo has a production bike in race dress that fits the TTXGP eSuperSport category. Brammo has a rider for that bike.  And Brammo has a race team that can support that bike and rider. Which leaves us with actual production and sales.

+++

So lets look at those TTXGP eSuperSport rules:

http://www.new.egrandprix.com/news.php?id=275

+++

Here is the important bit:

+++

I was a bit surprised when I re-read the rules. I was wondering about the Empulse TTX. It seemed ready to go. Rider, bike and Team. Would it race sooner than we thought? So I went to the TTXGP site…

25 units available for sale. Not sold. Not on the road. Brammo can have 25 units in their showroom in Ashland and race at Miller.

Will they? I don’t know. But they say they are in production now. I imagine they will be working long long hours to get 25 bike built between now and the end of August. I do know the hurdle is just a bit lower than I previously thought. And I think Brammo will race 3 riders at Miller if they can.

+++

Till Next Time…bed calls with it’s siren song….

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…I tear up the tent with my speed 🙂


Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

Brammo Blog : early morning update.

26 07 2012

Blog 25: When is a vacation like work?

+++

Ha, trick question…all vacations are like work. Planning, getting here or there. Schedules…etc etc

There is a reason everybody comes back from a vacation and says, “I should have taken a couple of days to recoup from my vacation.”

So I began my “vacation” with a 12 hundred mile drive. And now I am up at 6:30 to get ready for the third day of my “vacation”…many hours at Laguna Seca setting up paddock and tents…followed by group ride and dinner plans…a full day followed by other full days followed by 12 hundred mile ride home…I will need to recoup from this vacation for sure…but didn’t take any extra days, so will go to real work next Wednesday and complain that I should have taken a couple of days to recoup…rinse and repeat.

This morning I find my roommate is hogging the bathroom…I hate that about her…

+++

20120726-072538.jpg

A variation on “I park where I want”.

+++

Waiting for the helmet cam (which I forgot…because I’m an idiot) which is coming to the Motel by overnight delivery (thanks D 🙂 ) and then off to the Raceway.

The blog posts will be short, but I will try and post 2 or 3 a day for the next couple of days.

Then a big Magnus Opus at the end when I have a real computer in front of me…I love me iPad, but she is in truth a lovely toy…oh she does what she does well, but there are times when you need a full  computer..

Well gotta run, or ride…or fight the Enertia for some bathroom time.

Love and fishes…

G

+++

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

+++

Has nothing to do with this trip or blog post…but our “random photo of the day” is:

20120726-073347.jpg

Yep, me in Florida giving a Manatee a “tittie twister”. I find that I put on a mask and snorkel and suddenly I am the bully of the sea. Purple Nerkle an octopus? Can do. Wet Willy that sea turtle? You got it…though I’m pretty sure the turtle is already darn wet everywhere. And when you meet a manatee for the first time, well is it a normal reaction to grab his/her boob? And take a photo of it?
What is wrong with me?**

**well a lot probably…but in my defense…I blame society…plus Manatees like to be scratched and rubbed, which is what I was doing…scratching his/her chest, that he/she presented to me…they are basically the slow moving whores of the sea. Lounging around, eating a lot and wanting to be touched…heck, they are the stoned teenagers of the sea…or anybody at a Rave on E.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

Brammo Blog : Long, but beautiful day.

26 07 2012

Blog 24: where I lay in motel bed and listen to the Enertia charging in the bathroom.

+++

The battery fan droning is almost hypnotic…I doubt I can write much as sleep is pulling down my eyelids with gentle fingers.

But a brief rundown:

Got up at 6:30am to ride the strip. Last night the strip was beautifully bathed in neon glow and bustling bodies…and way way WAY too many cars. 9 miles took 1 1/2 hours. Painful.

I wanted to ride early the next morning hoping I would miss the crowds but still get some neon lights…

I miscalculated. No eastern mountain like at home to block the early sunrise and keep the brightness of day locked away for just that little bit longer.

(On the way home next week I will set the alarm clock for 4am…late enough to have less traffic, but still dark enough to have lights burn bright and shiny)

By 7am the Sun was a fair amount up in the sky, much more than expected. But I still had a nice little ride this morning before packing and heading out of Vegas.

+++

20120725-230404.jpg

First stop, Egypt
+++

20120725-230142.jpg

Then New York City. Riding on the strip for the second time helped me know where to park and not get hit by cars.

+++

20120725-230903.jpg

Then Italy

+++

20120725-231008.jpg

And finally, Paris.

+++

Then in the truck and off to Cali…hills that is…swimming pools, movie stars…

Decided that 8 hours and 500 plus miles was too short of a day, so took the long way…Coastal Highway 1. Beautiful road. But added 70 miles and 1 1/2 hours to the ride.

But got to see and smell the ocean. I don’t know what it is, memory or reality or a mixture of both, but the ocean air in Cali is different than the ocean air of the East coast. Stronger, saltier. Perhaps it is the fact that the wind comes off the ocean stronger and is held in more by the coastal mountains.

Whatever it is, I love it. For me it smells of childhood…of sand too hot to walk on, but dig  your feet down and the sand is suddenly cool and moist…it smells of goosebumps in August when wet skin and a cloudy day collide…it smells of sun stroke and ice baths…it is relaxing and exciting all at one time…

It is the one thing I miss about living in the desert.

+++

20120725-233128.jpg

+++

And then a nice ride up the coast through Big Sur, Carmel, Pacific Grove and finally to my hovel in Salinas with the bathroom taken up by my quietly droning Enertia.

I unloaded the bike and rode down to Laguna Seca raceway. it was in essence a scouting ride. How far is it? How long will it take to ride from the motel? How much battery will it use?

Mostly it was a reason to ride in the open air after being in a cage all day.

+++

20120725-233559.jpg

+++

Yesterday it was 100 degrees in Las Vegas. When I get into Salinas it was 60 degrees, overcast and moisture hung heavy in the air (not used to that in Albuquerque). The ride to Laguna Seca is colder than I expected. The road to Laguna Seca is 55 mph, some 65 mph. So I’m riding fast as dusk is falling and the temps are dropping and the cold, wet air seeps into bones. I only brought fingerless summer riding gloves and fingers groan a bit. No scarf and neck chills. It’s freaking SUMMER…why would I need gloves and scarf? Moisture…I have forgotten you…too many years in the desert.

I ride in the cold back at home. But the Sun and the dry hold the cold back…sometimes a lot, sometimes just a bit. But moisture grabs that cold and pulls it deeper. Drags it along and says, “Hey Cold, see that bone there? That’s your home now. Get in there and stay a while.”

I packed a weeks worth of clothes…but I packed a weeks worth of New Mexico summer clothes. I might be off to the store tomorrow to buy some long sleeve shirts and gloves with freaking fingers still attached.

+

Till Next Time…

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

+++


Comments : 5 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

Brammo Blog : bonus coverage…

24 07 2012

Blog 23…kinda

+++

As much as I love my iPad, I am horrid at blogging with it. At least the way I want to blog.

So I am adding a few photos and videos here, but don’t expect it to look nice or behave well with others…the blog has taken the social network to an anti-social place…Plus the internet absolutely sucks in my room…slow and painful, like the hangnail scene in Black Swan, but, without hyperbole, a billion times worse

+++

I have trust issues where I am in Vegas…I couldn’t do this at the Venetian, but then I probably wouldn’t have too either.

20120724-223212.jpg

+++

Holy Moley, driving the strip sounds fun…but the reality is like having Capt. Hook give you a prostate exam, but, without hyperbole, a billion times worse.
9 miles in 1 1/2 hours…a part of my soul died…but it could have been heat stroke.

I did go from end to end…and will redo it at 7am…I imagine the traffic will be much much less…jeez I hope so.

+++

20120724-223943.jpg

+++

I did some video…will look through it, but likely will get better stuff with less traffic.

In the meantime….a random collection of recent stuff.

+++

Hooligan!!

+++

Peek a boo…following my brother to Hotel Parq Central and taking a look at myself in the back window.

+++

A long video–10 minutes—of driving from Knob Hill to Hotel Parq Central and back through Knob Hill…at sunset.

+++

And have a few more…but will spare you…for now…

Have a great evening…

Gavin


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

Brammo Blog: Supporting the Three Day Weekend…but also Getting Ready for LAGUNA SECA.

20 07 2012

Blog 20.  A busy weekend coming up…followed by a CRAZY BUSY week next week.

+++

Friday is my official Non-Blog, Blog Day. So short and semi-sweet (and why is semi-sweet chocolate so sour? Or is it just me?)

Tonight…Not much riding. Will meet the wife and daughters for dinner and then hitting the 7:40 XD showing of The Dark Knight**. The Enertia does get a bit of attention at the Movie Parking lot. Last time I came out to a guy…wait let me rephrase that: Last time, as I was leaving the theater, a guy was taking photos of the bike and when I got on and turned the Enertia on, he said, “Hey, turn off the headlight, I’m taking a picture.” Rude, but I turned off the light so he could get his photo.

Tomorrow is Summerfest… http://rt66central.com/rt66summerfest.html

I’ll be there from 1:30 to about 5:30…showing off the Enertia and giving out some brochures…

+++

I would stay longer, but I “came into” a couple of Club House tickets to the Isotopes game Saturday night (thanks Haze) and my wife loves going to the games. And there are fireworks after the game, which is cool. Plus going to the Isotopes games is about the only time my wife will ride with me on the Enertia. Parking is soooooo much better on the bike than by car.  But mostly I can’t miss a chance to have D ride with me.

+++

We don’t actually park “here”…we park CLOSER.  🙂

+++

So Saturday is booked solid.

Sunday is a mildly down day. If things are quiet I hope to do a bit of filming. Maybe in Tijeras, definitely redoing the Hotel Parq Central through Knob Hill video that I lost the other day. (see Blog 19).

+++

But the real news is NEXT WEEK…because…

I am going to SECA. I am going to SECA. I am going to SECA.

(sung in Conga Line cadence– like this:)

+++

I’ve been practicing loading and unloading the Enertia by myself.

+++

Super Stoked about that…though the 1000 mile drive in a CAGE is not my favorite thing. But when I get there it will be fun. A lot of work, but fun.

I do get the privileged of helping Brammo set up their area on Thursday morning and do odds and ends with them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then help take down the set up on Sunday night…Hey, wait a minute…that sounds vaguely like WORK.

And it will be…I will get dirty and it will be hot and nasty down in the pit area…and LOUD with all the gas bikes. But it will be fun and a great experience. And hopefully I don’t lose a finger or two. But if I do, I plan to wear them around my neck like The Onion Knight.

+++

+++

If you get to Laguna Seca next weekend:  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday-from 8am to 6pm-I will be at one of the two circled areas 🙂

+++

Well a lot more at “S” or the Pit/Paddock area. The Beer Garden will have to wait for the end of the day…and then only 1 as I am riding the Enertia from Salinas to Seca and back each day. And I imagine that the cops will be out in force with all the event goers and tourist. Seca draws 100,000 people over the 3 day event.

+++

I will keep the blog running during all of next week. Updating the travel and the TXXGP racing news. But till then…Have a great weekend everybody.

+++

Till Next Time…

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

+++

ps…next week is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

+++

**I really don’t want to write anything about, nor even thing about, what happened at the midnight showing of The Dark Night up in Colorado. Horrible. Horrible. My thoughts are with the families who lost loved ones.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Electric Motorcycle, Rides around Albuquerque

Brammo Blog : i am no longer a God… :(

19 07 2012

Blog 19: And a Great Sadness has befallen the House of Gavin.

+++

I have heard the words that have caused me to fall Icarus-like to the ground…”No.”

Is there any word so vile in the human language?

+++

Background: Ever since riding this Electric Motorcycle, it seemed as though nobody ever said “No” to me. “Can I charge here?” “Sure.” “Can I park here?” “Why Not?” “Can I park in front of your Train? In your Bar? Etc”  “Of Course you can!”

Until just the other day.

Went to the Hotel Parq Central, a new and mildly trendy Hotel/Bar that was once a Mental Hospital. Kinda cool, a bit creepy. The rooms still have the thick hospital doors and other aspects of the Mental Hospital intact. And on the roof is the Apothecary Bar. A really nice place with a great view of the city.

+++

Bar on roof…notice balloons to the far side…comes into play later.

+++

So the wife and I, and my brother and his wife, stop at the Hotel around sunset…because the sunset is very nice from the roof. We have a “refreshment” and a nice time chatting…

+++

The Helmet is letting us know where we are at all times…it is very helpful that way.

+++

And, practicing my God Like powers (see blog 11), I go over to the reserved area where there is a surprise birthday party getting underway and ask them if I can get a nice photo of them holding the balloons in front of the sunset. “YES”. So at that point I have not fallen….

+++

I ask, people do…crazy…but cool…

+++

And then I get a thought in my head…an insane thought…I think, “You know what would make that photo look better? An ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE in it!” And in my head I picture:

+++


+++

So I head back to the table…my God-Like power still intact…I ask the wife, “How are you doing?” And get this look:

+++


So I’m feeling all is good in the world and decide to go with my crazy thought.^^

+++

I go inside the bar to ask our server (a great young lady who stops to compare tattoos with my brother’s wife. “I love your squirrel” could have more than one meaning I guess, but we assume it is about my sister-in-law’s shoulder tattoo), “Is there somebody in charge here tonight?” “Yep. We have two managers here tonight and they are right over there,” she said pointing to a table across the room where two men are sitting; one about my age, one about 30.

So I walk over and ask, “I know this is a bit usual, but I have an Electric Motorcycle downstairs and I wondered if I could bring it up on the roof to get some sunset photos of it. There is no gas or oil and it is very clean with no motorcycle smell. Here is a photo of it inside the Bar at Ska Brewing.” I had the photo up on my iPhone ready to show them.

+++

reminder photo of Enertia inside Ska Brewing

+++

I notice the young guy looking at the phone and looks about to say yes, but the older guy is shaking his head. “We can’t let it on the elevator. The Fire Marshall would have a fit,” says the old guy. Young guy looks over at him and slowly agrees. Damn…if only the young guy had been there alone, I know he would have said yes. Old Guy, “Now if it was the first floor, no problem, but not the roof.”

And it was at that moment that the wax melted from my wings and I plummeted to Earth. Broken, flawed…human again with all the pain and shame and hollow spaces inside. To have flown so high, only to crash so hard….eh, or something less dramatic…it was just a small “no” to an insane question. It was still a lovely night….

But then my second shame…

I had brought my helmet cam and taken a few nice videos of us heading to Hotel Parq Central…and a great sunset video leaving the Hotel and heading through the Campus and Knob Hill area…

I proceeded to download them and then, WRONGLY, thought I had them up on YouTube. So I then threw the videos away AND emptied the trash**. The next morning I was not able to find the videos online and freaked out. I then spend 99 bucks downloading a “trash recovery” program and found “some” of the videos…but they are all corrupted and useless….

So the Gods did not think it was enough to take away my “Yes” power, but also saw fit to take my videos too….and thus the great age of sadness was born…

+++

And I thought yesterday’s Photoshop was terrifying…This has to be the most Homo-Erotic image of Icarus ever made…”not that there is anything wrong with that”

+++

+++

Who knows how long this Age of Sadness will reign. Hopefully only til Sunday when I hope to recreate the sunset video….If I do, I will update….

+++

I was able to take a screen grab of the corrupted files…but no video.

1st: Leaving Hotel Parq Central. The Mental Hospital had 3 buildings: The Main Hospital, a smaller back area that might have been for staff, and a third very small mystery building with a large chimney. Probably a laundry building, but I tell everybody it is where they burned the dead.

+++

The sky was a nice color at that time…sigh, was probably my first “good” helmet video.

+++

2nd: I can grab one still image from the ride through Knob Hill at dusk. Also a nice video ruined. Just because I said I was a God and I get punished?? What’s up with that?

+++

+++

Till Next Time…

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

+++

ps…next week is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

+++

**I don’t usually empty the trash so fast, and won’t again, but I was on my wife’s Mac Air laptop and it only has 64 gigs and she doesn’t like me to clutter it up with my large video files…So the moral of the story is that Gavin needs to go buy his own laptop 🙂

^^The wife is gonna kill me for putting that photo online.


Comments : Leave a Comment »

Categories : Electric Motorcycle

Brammo Blog : Scooters, Baseball Bats and Strangely Dressed People. I feel like we were filming The Warriors Part 2.

18 07 2012

Blog 18: “Scooter Boys” clink clink clink “Scooter Girls” clink clink clink “Come out and Plaaayyyy”

+++

(ok, I’m just gonna come out and admit that is the most disturbing photoshop I’ve ever done)

+++

Saturday was the Show and Shine. Sunday was a Scooter Ride with the Pharaohs…or a few of them.

It was a ride from Joe’s Place near campus to some batting cages in the South Valley. And it was a great time. I haven’t really played any baseball since I was nine and in Little League, but I do remember how to swing a bat (I’ve watched The Warriors about a dozen times just to work on my swing) and I have fair eye/hand coordination. So I, of course, rocked the batting cage. And was the only one to try the Fastball cage. And I’m very HUMBLE too, just like Wilber. (hmmm, Wilber will be my next photoshop project.)

But I’m getting ahead of myself…We met at Joe’s Place:

+++

They look like they are getting ready to “slack”…

Hi Lisa…it kinda looks like your giving your bike a prostate exam.

+++

The only other fun thing at Joe’s, before heading to the batting cages, is that we met Nester. Well actually we met Nester’s scar (I want to write a story called Nester’s Scar). Now by funny coincidence in the last 2 weeks I have seen 2 people wearing Mummy Mayhem t-shirts that I don’t know. One in Durango and the other on Sunday at Joe’s Place. (**Mummy Mayhem is a Scooter ride in Phoenix.) Now it isn’t a crime to wear a Mummy Mayhem t-shirt and for me not to know you, but I had yelled out in Durango, “Hey, Mummy Mayhem!” to the one guy and got a blank stare in return. So I know he got the shirt from a friend or flea market or by rolling a drunk scooter guy, but that he hadn’t been on the ride and gotten it “legit”. And I suspected the same at Joe’s Place. So I yell out, “Hey, Mummy Mayhem!” Cuz I tend to repeat myself like that. So, after I tended to repeat myself like that, I followed up with, “So have you been on the ride?” And he admitted that he hadn’t and that he bought the shirt at a used clothing store. He quickly added,”I am a scooter rider, or at least I was until I got hit by a car and had my hip replaced.” And then, right in Joe’s Place, he showed us the scar. And it was impressive. Impressive enough that I pulled out the iPhone and asked, “Nice scar, mind if I take a picture?” And so, since I have an electric motorcycle that has given me god-like powers where nobody can say no to me,** he said, “Sure.” And so here it is…

+++

(and I can’t believe I just wrote all that just to show you Nestor’s Scar)

**see Blog 11 for more on my God-like power..but really, within 10 seconds of meeting Nestor I got him to drop his pants and take a photo…I am unstoppable!!

+++

The Batting Cages

I didnt bring my helmet cam, so I couldn’t take video of the ride from Joe’s to the Cages. Which is too bad as our ride leader forgot his turn signal doesn’t work and made one quick, unannounced turn that made that portion of the ride kinda interesting. I’ll leave it at that. Nobody fell and no scars. So no harm, no foul.

+++

We were a small, but energetic group. Or eclectic group…one or the other.

+++

Ok, I’m going with eclectic.

+++

+++

Yeah, probably not energetic.

+++

+++

+++

+++

At this point I stopped taking pictures as I was too busy timing my swing to the pitching machine….(photo by Beth)

+++

Very happy I did all those steriods before batting practice…really paid off. (photo by Beth)

ps. Riding gloves are not a substitute for batting gloves. I have the blister to prove it.

+++

So we spent an hour or so at the cages and decided to ride back to The Blackbird. And I was really sad that I forgot my helmet cam…but then I remembered I have an iPhone that shoots video…and a bike with no clutch….soooooooooo…Video Time.

+++

Crossing the Rio Grande River. I really need to do this video correctly some day.

+++

I am doing Sweeper duty again. Better to  film the group.

+++

+++


Love this…the Low-riders where whistling and giving thumbs up to the scooter riders…Respect.
+++


And finally we end up at The Blackbird.
+++

Till Next Time…

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

+++

Reminder: Saturday is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

+++

ps….and I did park there:


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , , ,
Categories : Electric Motorcycle, Rides around Albuquerque

Brammo Blog : Video Madness!!

17 07 2012

Blog 17: And by Video Madness, what I mean is I have some videos and some madness…not necessarily together.

+++

Ok, so yesterday I did a photo blog of Saturday’s Show and Shine. Today I am doing a video blog of the Show and Shine and the ride that followed. I am still a horrible noobie at using the video helmet. So forgive my shaky head and boring video…One day I will improve…I promise.

+++

 

 

Nice bikes, super cool Cushman Ape and tons of Neon….what’s not to like?

+++

Here is a walk down the line of bikes…Did this kinda early and some more bikes showed up. But is a fair representation of the bikes there. Holding the helmet cam in my hand is not ideal…I should probably use my iPhone Video for these shots next time. Or take that Michael J Fox drug as I am getting a bit spastic lately. Ok, yes I admit I have been spastic longer than “lately”, but it used to be all mental spastic and not physical spastic. Ok, dammit, that isn’t true either. I’ve always been a restless leg syndrome guy….years and years before they made up a name for that. My wife tells me that I’ll be fidgeting in my coffin…one of the reasons she plans to burn me…the other 15 reasons are really none of your business.

+++

 

The view from behind…No crude comments please. Though I did have this running through my head as I was filming…

Oh, my, god. Becky, look at that tire.
It is so big. It looks like,
one of those rap guys’ motorcycle.
But, you know, who understands those rap guys?
They only ride it, because,
it looks like a total prostitute, ‘kay?
I mean, that tire, is just so big.
I can’t believe it’s just so round, it’s like,
out there, I mean – gross. Look!
It’s just so … black!

+++

 

A close up of a couple of those crazy Modded Ruckus bikes. And those fat ass tires….

+++

 

A slow, and silent, ride though the group before taking off for the ride. It is a nice number of riders…I would expect Camp Scoot, the next big group ride, to have about twice as many.

+++

 

Taking off…I played “sweeper” for most of the ride.

+++

 

Just a bit of riding through town…The white Vespa you will see in these video is our “Blocker”…a very important job in any group ride. He did a great job. The red Ruckus I waved to move up is one of the Portland riders…he was doing some filming along the ride too.

+++

 

One of the bikes had pulled over…as sweeper I normally stop, but another bike stopped to help them. I did go to the lead rider and tell him we had two bikes behind and that I was going back to check on them…that is why I could get this shot of the riders going by. It was just a loose handlebar that they tightened before I even got all the way back to them.

+++

 

First stop…basically a pull out and turn around stop. One thing I love about riding Rio Grande Blvd (when not the freaking Lavender Festival) is that we have basically lush countryside in the middle of town. Very nice. The 25 mph speed limit and constant presence of cops looking for speeders is not one of the things I love about riding here.

Last time I rode down here I saw a coyote slowly stalking a Sand Hill Crane through the high grasses.

+++

 

Walking look at the rides at the stop.

+++

 

Stop signs…we don’t need to listen to no stop signs. Thanks Blocker. The ride itself is flat, slow and fairly boring…but it is always fun to ride with other bikers….especially when we can ignore stop signs.

+++

As sweeper I get to hang back a bit and chill and look about a bit. A pretty mellow ride.

+++

 

Watching the red Vespa in my rear mirrors a bit…and the thumbs up at 24 second is to a sign that says: “Share the Road”.**

At about 40 seconds in we start to hit the Lavender Festival parking…I still am baffled that anybody, let alone many people, go to a Lavender festival.

+++

 

Here I say goodbye to sweeping and head to the front to let Richard know I’m breaking off from the group.

+++

 

Heading home…I swear these two guys stole this Trolly car…No Trolly goes on this route.

+++

 

Ok, ok, so not very exciting–But it was a nice day, hanging with some nice people. I promise, PROMISE that the next video will be a ride up the Sandia Mountain…now that is a fun ride. Ohhh, maybe at night! Hmmm, no, that wouldn’t show on video at all.

+++

Till Next Time…

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

+++

Reminder: Saturday is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

 

+++

**Share The Road–words to live by…literally. Sadly my Helmet Cam did not catch the words…

 

I like to think it says “Shake Your Rump” in honor of MCA

+++


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

Brammo Blog : Coffee is for Closers…not sure how that fits, but I’ll make it some how.

16 07 2012

Blog 16: Riddle me this, when does 3rd place feel like 1st?

+++

When you didn’t even know you were in a contest….

 

Background. I went to a local “Show and Shine”. I know the person putting it on and I thought I would hang out, look at some bikes, chat a bit about their bikes and then chat a bit about the Enertia and just have a nice mellow time….yada yada yada…

+++

+++

And yes I brought along the Enertia, but I didn’t think I/it was in the contest. Basically I thought it was a Scooter and RUCKSTAR Show and Shine (they had some beautiful and crazy Ruckus mods…images coming up)…So I was surprised when the Judges yelled out, “And 3rd place in Best in Show is the Electric Motorcycle, because we think it’s cool and unique.” I was, “What? Sweet.”

+++

I love that scooter badge soooo much

+++

 

+++

Considering how nice the modified bikes were at the show, and that the Enertia is a 2-year-old stock Brammo motorcycle, well I was happy and surprised. I do remember that Richard, the guy running the show**, at one point said to me, “Gavin, we decided that since your bike has a chain that it is a motorcycle.” Me, “Umm, Ok?” Not sure at the time why he told me that. Now I know it was because they were deciding if they were going to include the Enertia in the Show.

**He was not a judge.

So that was nice. But more about the Show and Shine.

They had a wide variety of bikes (more Ruckus’s/Ruckii than I’ve seen around town, but I found out that the local Ruckus group was a co-sponsor of the Show and Shine and had bikes coming from a “sister” group in Portland), and a nice turn out. But the 2 main highlights for me: The heavily Modded Ruckstars…and LIVE Pin-striping. Nothing like adding an artist doing some pin-striping on a bike that makes me happy.

+++

The pin-striping area…everybody was staying in the shade as much as possible.

+++

+++

+++

+++

Seems like it was a lost art for a while. Making a nice come back, at least locally.

+++

But people don’t come here to see pinstriping…they come to see some bikes. (ok, not sure what constitutes “people”…but I like to tell myself “people” come here…and if being delusional is wrong, I don’t want to be right.)

+++

+++

One of these things in not like the others….

+++

3 crazy modded Ruckii…all local…Nice guys too. I snuck my bike into the photo…and a nice dune buggy too.

+++

Every Ruckus was different. Pipes, shocks, wheels, handlebars…so many variations.

Here could be Brammo’s Anti-Scooter.

+++

Gotta love the Spree…1976 I think and less than 1000 miles….I told the owner that if it ever goes “missing”, don’t check my garage.

+++

We did go on a little ride down Rio Grande Blvd (stupid Lavender Festival slowed us down…who the hell puts on a Lavender Festival? Who the hell GOES to a Lavender Festival?**)

**http://www.lavenderinthevillage.com/   it is real!!!

+++

I will put up video of the ride tomorrow…so you too can see the wonders of the Lavender Festival.

+++

 A couple of helmet photos…why? because…

Scary Clown=Crazy good helmet.

+++

Icon Carbon Helmet…I included this for 2 reasons: Icon is a sponsor with Brammo for the TTXGP racing circuit…and this helmet looks quite a bit like the one SteveO Atlas is wearing while he races for IconBrammo…and I plan to bug them at Laguna Seca to make me one too…:)

+++

I want that helmet!!! Except in my size…SteveO is a little dude. And I have a huge Irish head, so I doubt he wears my XL size helmet.

+++

And finally, a couple of photos from the Scooter Shop that allowed ScootNM to take up their parking lot on a Saturday morning.

 +++

That is one nice Cushman

+++

And the world needs more happy neon bears hawking wheel alinements**…Look how happy that bear is!! I want him to be my friend and make my car drive straight.

+++

**what is the proper spelling? Alinements? Alignments?

Tomorrow, Video from the Ride…and more….maybe…:)

+++

Till Next Time…

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

+++

 ps…next week is the StreetFest…but you don’t have to wait till then to buy a raffle ticket to win a Scooter or Fixie…Buy one NOW!…or buy many.

 

+++

pss…yeah, never did work in the title…too lazy to change it. or did I? Perhaps it is just a mystery…yeah, mystery is the route I’m going.


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : Electric Motorcycle, Rides around Albuquerque

Brammo Blog : Still supporting the 3 day weekend…but I can’t resist a Friday the 13th Blog.

13 07 2012

Blog 15…If I was smart I would have saved blog 13 for today…but, sadly and truthfully, i ain’t s.m.r.t.

+++

+++

Normally Friday is an off day for the world famous Brammo Blog, but then all my days are “off” days. But today is Friday the 13th! I love this day.


So today we do a little mash-up blog and cover a number of bases.

First….

+++

Jason doing what Jason does best…but now in Stealth Mode.

+++

Jason is thinking…”If I had the Plus version of this fantastic bike  I could do some stabbing twice as far.”

+++

2nd…Rides and Camping and “Festing”…

There is ScootNM to talk about…and Summerfest…and Camp Scoot (though that is next month, so it can wait for it’s own Blog)

+++

Tomorrow is a get together and a showing-off  of the various rides…followed by a group ride…I am on-call all this week and next, but will try and make as much of this as I can.

http://www.scootnm.com/

+++

Summerfest looks fun….But this is what I’m going for:

+++

Hanging out and showing off the ride…two things I love to do.

http://rt66central.com/rt66summerfest.html

+++

And finally some Crazy Blog called the “Wall Street Journal”, whatever that is, tells us that Brammo plans to raise 1 Billion Dollars!!!

http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2012/07/13/the-daily-start-up-electric-motorcycle-maker-brammo-aiming-at-1b-ipo/

and all I can say to that is….

+++

+++

Gotta Run…the weekend calls.

Till Next Time…

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

+++

ps…Saw this sign near work…I WILL PARK THERE next week…Bet on it.

after all, I don’t even have an “OTORCYCLE”

+++

Pss…Breaking News…

Finally a reason to go to Walmart…because it is no longer a Walmart…


Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

« Previous Entries Next Entries »