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Brammo Blog: The Fork in the Road.

13 02 2013

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.

Comments : 4 Comments »
Tags: Brammo, Brammo Empulse, Brammo Enertia, Eric Bostrom
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

BrammoBlog: From San Francisco to Albuquerque: with an ill-fated stop in Baker, Ca. Thank God for Abducted Cow Alien Beef Jerky or the stop would have been a total loss.

19 01 2013

Blog 63: The Pickup Part 3. Or: All Good Things Come to an End, so why do bad blogs go on forever?

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So Part 1 was about getting to San Francisco. Part 2 was about being in San Francisco. And this, Part 3, is about getting the bike back home.

Needless to say it should be the most boring. The ADVENTURE is always about the trip. The discovery. The conquest.

The Hobbit: There and Back…was about the getting “there”. Back was a few throw away pages at the end. The Legend of Zelda always has Link winning the fight and then “game over”. Once Ganondorf is slain you don’t see Link at home heating up a pot pie and catching up on missed episodes of Breaking Bad on his DVR. Hmmm, maybe I should come up with less geeky references. All my street cred is gone. Ok. I never had any to begin with.

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But back on topic. Getting home. Personally I hate taking a return trip that is exactly the same as the one going out. To me this seems, and is, redundant. So for the trip home I decided to veer north at Barstow and stop at a small town called Baker, California. Home of the World’s Tallest Thermometer. This path would take me closer to Death Valley and I thought a night in Baker could be fun. It was not. Though the next morning ended up being much much better than the night I arrived.

Ah…were shall I start? So it turns out that there is only one motel in Baker still open. And that motel is currently for sale and staffed by people who kinda just don’t care. Likely they are just poorly paid caretakers in the employ of a far distant owner. The room had a strange odor I’ve never smelled before and was heated by an old, in-wall heater. When I turned it on…well it just didn’t seem right. I was fairly sure it was putting out tons of carbon monoxide and that I would surely perish. I tried watching a downloaded episode of Shameless on my iPad and the image seems to shift and jump and blur just a bit. It could have been my tired eyes, a bad download or a number of things–poor electrical lighting in the room or the beginnings of my much expected psychotic break…but I chose to focus on one thing: The beginnings of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

I didn’t really want to die in Baker. I kinda didn’t want to stay overnight or even be in Baker for longer than a quick fill up of the pickup’s gas tank and go. But dying in Baker was pretty far down on my list of things to do on a weekend…or weekday. Especially now that I had just gotten the Plus back. Oh, and my lovely family…I would miss them too. So I turned off the heater and decided not to use it. I also decided I was going to sleep in my clothes on top of the bed. Yes, it was that kind of room.

Well the temperatures dipped into the 20’s and I found myself freezing without the use of heater or covers. So I decided to open the bathroom window for ventilation and turn the heater back on. Not only on, but on HIGH to battle the cold cold outside air. I figured the outside air would dilute the carbon monoxide enough to keep me alive. Possibly with some brain damage, but it likely wouldn’t be worse than any one of a thousand nights I had in college.

Which is how it came to be that; on top of the bed sheets, fully dressed, with the heater pumping hot air at me and the bathroom window allowing freezing air inside, I slept. Mostly I slept because of the comforting hum of the Brammo Enertia Plus charging in the room with me. A) I love sleeping to that sound. B) It’s always nice to get an overnight charge. And C) I didn’t trust the bike being outside. Heck, I wasn’t too sure I trusted it in the room with me. Cheap, old fashioned door locks with a key older than the one I used as a kid when I was a latch-key kid…in the freaking 60’s. So that door was little protection. That and…

THIN WALLS. I could hear the people next door talking very clearly. Not quite enough to hear exactly what they were saying, but close. And the conversation, the ebb and flow, the cadence and pattern, all suggested a friendly and flirtatious relationship. I was very very VERY worried that the talking was going to become “something else”. And I really didn’t want to be in that room, fully dressed and laying on top of the bed sheets, both freezing and overheating, having the carbon monoxide slowing killing me, while also listening to two strangers Go at IT. It would have been toooooo much. Luckily the room fell quiet and the people either left (if they were smarter than me), fell quickly to sleep or were good WASPs and did the nasty in complete silence.

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Bike in room…killer heater in the wall

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So, somewhat surprisingly, I survived the night. And it was a rather quick getaway from that room as I was already dressed 🙂 . I had looked at the shower and decided to skip it. My wife would be surprised. A) I always take a shower in the morning. It is what wakes me up. And B) I’ve bathed in some fairly sketchy places. For me to forgo a wake up shower means that the bathroom was pretty bad. And it was.

So I got up and packed up the car with everything except the Plus. I was determined to get a short ride in before leaving. After all I picked Baker so I could possibly ride into Death Valley. And to see the World’s Tallest Thermometer (which doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe they just turn it off in the winter? Or maybe, like almost everywhere else in Baker, it has been forgotten, neglected and finally succumbed to time, apathy, inertia. A Ghost Thermometer for a Ghost Town. An abandoned relic for future generations to puzzle over).

It was a pretty morning. Pretty and cold. I thought of Death Valley and assumed it would be warmer, even in mid winter. My ride was at 32 degrees exactly. And I had my Fall gloves. Grrrrrrr. The wrong gloves…it is a reoccurring theme for me. Heck, it could be my autobiography title. The Wrong Gloves and other mishaps and missteps.

But I soldiered on.

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World’s Tallest Thermometer. Not working. The building behind it was empty too.

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It seems the Thermometer is owned by Bob Big Boy…it also was closed.

YOU”RE HERE….(but really wish you weren’t)

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So the next stop, before I realized how cold it was, was to be a nice ride down Death Valley Highway. I didn’t go far. 8 am, 32 degrees, wrong gloves, 60 mph road, bad night of sleep and carbon monoxide poisoning all worked against me. The cold got to my hands pretty quick. But I rode a few miles north on Death Valley Highway and took a few photos.

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When I first looked at Baker and the Death Valley Highway I really wanted to go to Shoshone. A) I live on Shoshone Rd. B) Shoshone is the home to Death Valley High School. And I really wanted a photo of the Plus in front of Death Valley High School. The name alone makes it perfect for an old drive in movie plot line. But 56 miles each way was just too much for a photo op that could have been crappy. So that part got scrapped.

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Death Valley off-road Panorama.

As I said, it was a beautiful day. Now if only it had been 20 degrees warmer.

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Shoshone sign panorama

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So I did about 10 miles round trip on Death Valley Highway. Maybe in the Fall I’ll go back and do a proper trip. But the cold and lack of sleep forced me back into Baker to load up the bike and finish the trek home. BUT….

Next to the motel was a store front proclaiming: Alien Fresh Jerky.

How does one skip that? The answer: They Don’t. So I drove over, thinking it closed too, and took some photos. Which are here:

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I did my best DeNiro here: What are you looking at? You looking at me?

Sadly my DeNiro is more like a slightly mad pee wee herman. The Alien was not afraid.

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All together now: I Park Where I Want.

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While I was taking the photos a couple walked out of the store and into their car. So the place was open for business. Nice. And in I went. While inside I talked a bit to the man behind the counter. Telling him I liked the store and disliked the motel next to it. He commented that the motel was nasty but that the owner of the Alien Jerky store was planning an Alien themed hotel. I told him that I would have loved to had stayed in an Alien Themed hotel and it was a great idea. I also commented that I bet they get a lot of people taking photos of the store. He said yep, but that my motorcycle seemed to be getting more attention than the store. I looked out and a group of people were surrounding the bike. I told him, ‘Yeah, that happens all the time.

He pointed to one of the guys around the bike. “That’s the owner of this store.” Oh….So I went out and had a nice talk with him. About the bike. About his store. About his planned hotel (3 stories. Already breaking ground behind the Fresh Alien Jerky store. Should be completed and open in 2015). Nice guy. Hope it does well. But Baker seems a town already on Hospice care. Whether it can be saved/revived, who knows?

At least the nice little ride, and then the visit to the Alien Store, took some of the bitter taste from my mouth. That and the Jerky and treats 🙂

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After that it was a fairly uneventful drive home. And the next morning I got to ride the Plus for my commute to work…in a slowly increasing snow fall. Enough to delay school the next day. Sigh. Still it was nice riding, even if a bit wet and snowy and cold.

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Till Next Time…

Gavin

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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

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Bonus

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Wasn’t sure if I should be offended or flattered that they used my likeness…

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My Fortune was merely: “Your species, like your hairline, is doomed.”

Now that I was offended by.

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and

Driving away from Baker, this rock formation summed it up for me.

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Brammo, Brammo Enertia, Brammo Enertia Plus, Electric Motorcycle
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

BrammoBlog: In the immortal words of the great American poet, Steven Tyler, “I’m Back! I’m back in the saddle again!”

14 01 2013

BLOG 61: The Pickup.

Sung in the tune of Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll: “It’s been a long time since I blog posted…It’s been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely time.”

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Soooooo, Tiny backstory, then on to the meat and potatoes…On the Road with Gavin. (I ain’t no Kerouac, my prose is as pleasant as a 4-vessel disease heart attack…and that’s a fact…Jack.)

Out of extreme (and mildly confusing) kindness, Brammo first loaned me an Enertia Classic. I had it for almost a year and put 5000 miles on her. Brammo seemed to be fairly pleased that I rode her a lot, took far too many photos of her, wrote about her some and that I didn’t wreck her. So they loaned me a Beta version of the Enertia Plus (a classic with double the range and a few improvements). I had this for only a couple of months before Brammo needed her back in Ashland. She was a beta bike and they needed to do some tests and such.

It was with great sadness that I let her go. A) I was just getting to know her 🙂 B) It was the first time in a year that I didn’t have an Electric Motorcycle at my house and that made me “have a sad.” It is now known as The Time of Great Loss and Increased Petroleum Use. Known might be overstating it some.

And it was 2 long, horrible months of driving my pickup truck everyday. She’s a good car, but she is still a cage…and even a gilded cage is still a prison.

But then I received an email from Brammo that they were done with the testing and I could have the beta bike back if I wanted it. Silly question. I planned to drive to Ashland and pick it up myself. It would take weeks for shipping and I wanted it NOW.

And a road trip was hatched in my head like so many parasitic fly eggs. (a public service announcement: Traveling to sub-Saharan Africa? Get all the shots they recommend.) I would drive the pickup to Ashland, tour the Brammo headquarters and bring the Plus back to Albuquerque. Those plans were dashed when a big winter storm hit Ashland right when I would be traveling there. Luckily Brammo was making a delivery of Empulse motorcycles to San Francisco that same weekend and they were kind enough to place the Plus on the truck with the Empulses (I call this bike T’Challa…all my vehicles tend to be female in my head, but this one is definitely T’Challa** to me). But enough of the boring stuff…Photos and road trip info coming up….

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I was traveling alone and didn’t want to push the driving too much. Albuquerque to San Francisco–16 hours, 1100 miles–would be done in two days. I did forget that I have the ass of a truck driver and that I can spend all day driving. I got to my night’s stay, Barstow, California, in 10 hours and felt silly stopping for the night at 5 pm. 700 miles in 10 hours. Easy to do on our highways when you don’t stop to eat or drink or pee. One stop in Flagstaff to gas up and back on the road.

Boring and uneventful…though I did hit snow twice. Once outside of Flagstff—expected since Flagstaff is over 7000 feet in elevation–and again outside of Mojave—not, to me at least, so expected. Heck, Mojave is in the freaking desert very near Death Valley. I was not at all expecting snow there.

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Just west of Flagstaff, AZ

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Outside of Mojave. Nice wind towers.

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and just a bit further…out of the snow and I had to pull over to get a nice panoramic view.

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The ride from Barstow to San Francisco, 400 miles, was uneventful. I did see a ton of Golden Eagles along Highway 5. One even swooped down and picked up a small animal out of the grass beside the highway. Lovely to see. Unless you where the small mammal suddenly clutched in talons so tight.

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But this blog isn’t about boring rides from city to city. It is about ME :). Well mostly about the Brammo bikes. And so…off to Scuderia West to pick up my ride.

ps…the people at Scuderia West were amazing. Super nice, energetic…and handing out donuts and fresh made tea and coffee to a complete stranger…of course I have always relied on the kindness of strangers.

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The Un-Loading of Bikes. I stood back and watched as I did not want to hurt any of those lovely Empulse R bikes.

I think this white one was Bill’s bike.

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“T’Challa Unloaded”–not to be confused with “Django Unchained.” Now with mini windshield. Wanted to test it in Winter riding.

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Bill’s bike…nice bar end mirrors. Looks good. I almost stole this bike. 🙂

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A nice “batch of Brammos”. Or an “Enormity of Empulses.” Fresh off the truck and ready for their new homes.

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I’m a sucker for lens flare…though I could do without the purple fringing over the front tire.

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And what is a road trip to San Francisco without taking a little ride 🙂 But that is for tomorrow’s blog. Please come back as I have a few lovely photos. San Francisco is a beautiful city…a lovely city with horrible roads. And I had a 500 plus mile ride ahead of me. And I wanted to get to my stop before dark as I did not know the city at all (City is an incorrect description. “Tiny hell hole in the middle of nowhere” is a much better way of putting it.)

Ignoring the time, I did a couple of hours in San Francisco and left a bit later than I wanted. Oh well. It was just a beautiful day that I really didn’t want to pack up T’Challa and leave. Such a nice day for riding, and I had just gotten*** the bike back and…but the highway called and I had to go…

Tomorrow….Photos from around The City.

Till Next Time…

Gavin

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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

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Bonus

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at Scuderia West…Brammo needs to make this important accessory.

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An Enertia Plus LE…In Ashland. I wanted that model. Siren for the win.

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**T’Challa is the name of The Black Panther. I loved The Black Panther as a kid. No “real” super powers. Just strength and training and will.

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***I am not sure “gotten” is really a word. And even if it is, it is just a horrid word. It comes off tongue in just an harsh and ugly way. I shall not use it ever again….

Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: Brammo, Brammo Empulse, Brammo Enertia, Brammo Enertia Plus, Electric Motorcycle, road trip
Categories : Electric Motorcycle, Road Trip

BrammoBlog: A departure…A blog that is not about me?!?! It truly is the End of the WORLD…

12 12 2012

Blog #60: It is the Dawning of the Age of Empulse. And here is a nice 60’s poster to celebrate both the Brammo Empulse release and my 60th Blog post. One is much more important than the other.

brammo power

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So TONS of Brammo News…And I am totally not involved in any of it. Happy for Brammo…sad for me…but, like Gloria Gaynor sang, I Will Survive.

I am glad she’s still surviving, but I miss her funky fro…that was some sweet hair.

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But neither this blog, nor this post, is about Ms. Gaynor.

It is about Brammo and some BIG NEWS.

The First Brammo Empulse R has been delivered into a customer’s hands!

That is a big day for Brammo…and a Happy Day for one lucky guy (though many more people will be getting their happy days soon).

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The first delivery was at Scuderia West in San Francisco.

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A little Brammo Graffiti

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The first proud owner. Ain…a nice guy who we all hate now 🙂 Kidding. He has really stepped up and given a lot of information to the Brammoforum.com. If you are not a member…GO JOIN THAT SITE IMMEDIATELY.

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Here we see Adam from Brammo explaining to Ain how to throw a split fingered fastball.

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Ah, like the “Groom trying to leave and the Best Man holding the bottom of his Jacket”, here we have the obligatory ” The Handing over of the Keys” handshake photo.

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So that one red Empulse has been delivered. What’s next?

More bikes getting crated up for delivery!!

And what’s in the white box? I will assume the mirrors, the manual and warranty info (24 months now vs 12!) and the Brammo messenger bag Ain got with his Empulse.

The lovely and nice Sarah (last seen on this blog at 17 Mile Drive), checking out the Empulse. And in the background…Enertia Plus bikes? Probably just Engineering Test Bikes. But that leads to…

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This is the first, or one of the first, Enertia Plus motorcycles getting into a customers hands. In Europe.

Meaning that in the same week Brammo had delivered the first Empulse R to a customer in the United States and the first Enertia Plus to a customer in Europe. Now I’m just hoping for the floodgates to open and for there to be Billions of Brammos around the world…but that will take a while longer.

Empulses in the States, Enertia Pluses in Europe. What about Enertia Plus pre-orders in the States? Luckily we also got some info on that and have good news for us United States riders:

“And for those of you interested in the Enertia Plus,

we have a boatload coming over from Europe due to hit mid January”

From Brammo’s Facebook Page…If you haven’t already, run over and “Like” them.

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So, in conclusion….Bikes SHIPPING. It took a while, but that dreaded V word* can be put to rest. And the rest of us can look forward to some fun, fast and clean riding.

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Till next time,

Gavin is out…

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

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Bonus photos…or curse photos…not sure which.

Me as Grumpy Cat as I sat waiting for Brammo to get bikes shipping.

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Me as Honey Badger when I got the good news that bikes are getting into customer’s hands.

not sure which of the two is more horrible and scary.

Photos of the bikes, Ain and the Brammo personnel: gently borrowed from Brammo’s Facebook page and the BrammoForum. Horrible Photoshop images are borrowed from nobody…who would claim them???

* V word is vaporware…a word we can dismiss at this time 🙂

Comments : 3 Comments »
Tags: Brammo, Brammo Empulse, Brammo Enertia, Brammo Enertia Plus
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

Brammoblog: More unrequested advertising efforts.

4 12 2012

Blog 59: not really a blog…just bored at work and so….Wait…isn’t that the definition of 98% of all blogs?

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Obviously I am not a marketing person. And it shows.

For most people knowing their limitations is a good and healthy start. Me? I know my limitations and, like a Honey Badger**, I just don’t care.

Now the smart and sane thing would be to know one’s limitations and then either accept them or work at improving oneself….privately. Me? I know my limitations, don’t care, AND will share all my failings for the world to see (or at least the three people who read this…me, my mom, and my other personality).

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Today I “help” Brammo with their Advertising campaign. And I use the word help very loosely.

So why I am helping them? Because they asked??

Ha.

Because they might find any of my ideas helpful in some small way?

Nope…

If anything my constant emails and posts take Brammo away from needed work and further delay them.

So Why?

Because…well because I am neither smart nor sane and so there…

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BRAMMO: LET’S RIDE

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LETS RIDE: BRAMMO

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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

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**I Just Don’t Care…

Comments : Leave a Comment »
Tags: Brammo, Brammo Empulse, Brammo Enertia Plus, Electric Motorcycle, Honey Badger
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

BrammoBlog: Sunday was a GREAT day for Balloons in New Mexico

16 10 2012

Blog 53: A mostly non-Brammo blog today. But Sunday was just too lovely not to share.

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So Sunday was the last day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. And the weather was perfect for ballooning. Low winds, cool air and clear skies. AND it was the same down in Roswell, New Mexico where Felix Baumgartner was attempting to take a balloon up high enough to see the curvature of the Earth. And then jump out of that balloon. Crazy stuff.

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Linkage:

http://www.balloonfiesta.com

The World’s Premiere Balloon Event…it says so right on the web page…and is true. Crazy number and styles of balloons.

and

http://www.redbullstratos.com/the-team/felix-baumgartner/

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I love this image

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And of course I did poke a bit of fun about his upcoming jump in a blog last week…

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And while I don’t usually take requests, Brammofan sent me an image of Mr Baumgartner making his historic landing (and landed it perfectly! the only time I sky dived I was in a tandem and still ended up on my arse). He said I should “Brammo it up”…and how could I resist.

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I find it rather impressive that Brammo just happened to have an Empulse near enough to the landing site that Mr Baumgartner could aim for it and make a perfect “land, sit and GO!” 🙂

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But that’s all I have that is Brammo related today. The rest is Balloon Fiesta time, baby. And what a nice time it was. I went with my wife, my eldest daughter, her husband and their amazing and lovely daughter. And we met my mom, my youngest brother, his wife and their lovely and amazing son. My youngest daughter wasn’t there as she in charge of the mobile and online coverage of the Fiesta for the Albuquerque Journal and had been doing insane hours and was taking the day to sleep and sleep and then sleep some more.

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First things first. To celebrate a man taking a balloon to the edges of space and then stepping free and hurtling back to Earth like Icarus, here is my wife and I looking like idiots. Well at least me. My wife looks amazing doing anything.

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That photo was taken at the Balloon Fiesta, but a bit later in the morning. Ballooning is an early morning event and we arrived at 5 am to see the Dawn Patrol set up and take off. And to beat the crowds as 10’s of thousands of people go on the weekends.

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Arrival.

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more people arrive

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I always forget to ask why the launch officials dress as Zebras.

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In the early, pre-dawn AM of the high desert, the best place to stand it near the balloons as they inflate. Those propane tanks put out a lot of heat.

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The first few balloons inflate just before the Sun rises. This is the Dawn Patrol. Usually 6-10 balloons that take off before all the other balloons to see what the wind speeds are and which direction the balloons will go.

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More of the Dawn Patrol

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I liked the combo of the faces lit up by a balloon inflating just out of the photo…and the mountain silhouette lit up by a soon to be rising Sun.

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Ready to go.

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And off they go. I really fell in love with the look of the Mountain and the slowly lightening sky that outlined it. It was hypnotically beautiful.

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After the Dawn Patrol is when the many Many MANY other balloonist start to inflate.

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A panorama of some of the first wave of post dawn balloons inflating.

The Dawn Patrol is always “normal” shaped balloons. The first wave after the Dawn Patrol is also all “normal’ shaped balloons.

Special Shapes never fly with them for 2 reasons.

1. Special Shapes are much harder to fly and more sensitive to the winds. So making sure the other balloons ride easily is very important.

2. The people love them some Special Shapes. So it’s best to have them later in the morning when the bigger crowd has arrived.

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3 of the 4 most important women in my life. 3 of 5 as I should include Becki too.

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The crazy thing is just how close everybody can, and do, get to the balloons. Kids touching them, me poking my head inside one as it inflates.

Surprisingly you never hear of injuries on the ground. You would like one person (me) would get too close and have his hair set on fire…well I guess I’m kinda safe on that part. 🙂

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“Balloon, I am your Owner.” Dark Father was there.

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A nice panorama of a lazy Darth kinda chilling.

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And a few take off. It was a good amount of balloons. Not a great amount, but good. It was the last day and many of the balloonist go home before the last day. I was at a Fiesta one year that had over 700 balloons take off in one morning session…just wave after wave of balloons. It was “memorable”.

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Creamland: It’s Legen…Wait for it….Dairy.

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POW balloon (barbed wire balloon on far edge), SpiderPig (love it) and Simba (he’s new this year). The Baby Bumble Bee (Jolie) has her back to us.

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And probably my favorite balloons…The Bumble Bee family. And the baby is named after my youngest daughter.

When they take off the handlers on the ground spin the Mom and Dad to rotate and “kiss” as they rise…and they, if the winds are low, hold hands the whole time they are in the air. The “baby” usually flies off by herself. She is interesting as the pilot doesn’t ride in a basket. There is a two seat chair similar to what you use as a ski-lift at the mountains for skiing and snowboarding. So two people hang down below the balloon very exposed. Kinda cool.

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More balloons…and the beer garden was taunting me. No alcohol sales in New Mexico till after Noon on Sundays. Though I do wonder how much beer they sell at 7 am. On bitter cold mornings. But probably more than one would expect.

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More balloons….I admit that I didn’t get a lot of images of the mass ascension. I forgot to charge my iPhone the night before and it died…and that is a long story as I also got separated from the family (I have the attention span of a gnat drinking red bull and constantly wander off at events like this) and had to borrow a phone from the Lost Parents security station. Twice. Sigh.

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So that’s it for Photos. I am putting up two short videos of the Dawn Patrol.

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The Propane tanks are quite noisy. Most years we have a balloon or two fly right over our house (usually less than 50 feet above the house) and the dogs go CRAZY. They hate the balloons. And fear them.

The Crowd yells happily with every balloon that launches.

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Short.

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That’s it. Take care and bee safe 🙂 Till next time.

Gavin

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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

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Bonus Photo

The daughter and granddaughter getting a photo with one of Darth Vader’s henchmen. I love the look on her face.

“….What the @#$% is that…and why aren’t we running away from it?”

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Bonus 2—Stolen from my daughter’s Facebook

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Balloon Fiesta, Brammo, Brammo Empulse, Felix Baumgartner, Roswell Balloon Jump
Categories : Family and such, Uncategorized

BrammoBlog: White Sands and More. Ok, not more. Just White Sands. Believe me, just White Sands is Enough.

12 10 2012

Blog 51: White Sands was amazing. Got tons of photos, some nice panoramas and somewhat shaky video. I forgot to put a helmet cam connector on my new Icon Airmada Hi Viz Helmet, so I rode with the camcorder in my left hand. Actually it was kinda nice. I could video to the sides without turning my head.

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First Note: Head slowly clearing…Still I think this post will be mostly photos and videos and very little of my ramblings interrupting the flow. So, in other words, probably one of my better blog post.

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But less talk, more photos.

Added note: All the photo files are quite HUGE. Click on them and you will get a large image to look at.

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This video shows the ride into the park. I always forget that the road basically disappears under compressed sand that looks like packed snow.

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First of a number of Panoramic photos. Click to make bigger. Click that opened photo to make insanely big.

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I park where I want 🙂

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I like the people on the top of the dunes.

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So, as promised, few words, many images. Next will be the ruins.

Till then, ride safe.

Gavin

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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 Time.

from yesterday’s post that had the balloon photos…forgot I did a couple of seconds of video too.

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Second Bonus

Ha….as I was getting off the bike to take some photos with my iPhone I accidently turned on the helmet cam that I was holding in my other hand. So most of this video is up side down and weird angles. I get off the bike and walk to the middle of the road and take some photos and then some panoramas.

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Brammo, Brammo Enertia Plus, Electric Motorcycle, Icon Airmada helmet, White Sands National Monument
Categories : Electric Motorcycle, Rides around Albuquerque

Brammo Blog: Fat Man, Jumbo, So Much White Crystal and a Culture in Ruins…

11 10 2012

Blog 50: Sounds like a season on Breaking Bad, but instead is a weekend trip to The Trinity Site, White Sands National Monument and a couple of Pueblo Ruins.

Still sick, but pushing forward…I probably won’t be as witty, and maybe even more incoherent (if that’s possible)

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So I had a very busy weekend planned last week…and actually did everything I wanted. Pretty sweet.

There will be some stories to tell…but mostly just photos. In fact I have soooo many nice photos that I might spread this post over a couple of days.

We start at the Trinity Site. The site of the first Atomic bomb testing. It is only open 2 days a year for the public and is smack dab in the middle of nowhere…and right in the middle of a military base.

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And yes the site is too far away for riding on the Electric bike…soooooo…

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At the site…behind the bike is Jumbo….Aptly named as it almost got me in a jumbo amount of trouble.

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I thought, “Wow, It will be cool to take a photo of the Enertia inside of Jumbo. I’ll just sit here on the bike and take my turn…”

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Video of me riding from truck around the parking area and stopping in front of Jumbo to get a photo.

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Of course the Military Police did not agree with me and A) wouldn’t let me ride the Enertia into Jumbo and B) told me to go park the bike as this area was for people walking.

I have to admit that I thought it would be less crowded. The Trinity Site is far far from everything. I thought there would be a couple of dozen people spread out over the day. Instead the parking lot was full and there were likely a couple of thousand people just during the time I was there.

So I parked my bike a little bit away…hoping to catch a slow point to grab a couple of more photos.

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The bike did get a far amount of attentions. lots of questions, a few people sitting on her, etc etc.

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and I was able to get right up by the gate that leads to the short walk to the actual bomb site.

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And I thought, Hmmm, I could move the bike a bit and get a couple of more shots…and that was my downfall.

The same Military Police Officer saw me and started walking really fast toward me and held out his arm and did the universal sign for “Get your ASS over here right NOW.” And I can say that Military Police are not something I have any real experience with. The do take their job very seriously. They do not have much of a sense of humor nor an ability to handle change or an unexpected situation. Being rigid is probably a necessity for the job. I tend to think I can talk my way into and out of just about any situation. But on a Military base….not so much.

Now I was going to give a long run down of what happened next, but my head cold is telling me to get moving on. So long story short: I got a good “talking” to. Was almost thrown out, possibly arrested. Had left my license in the truck, wasn’t wearing my helmet…etc etc. Finally I was told to put the bike on the truck and then I could stay and finish the tour. Which was nice. I would not be able to get good bike photos, but I still could get some nice photos from Trinity and do a proper tour of the site.

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Ground Zero Plaque

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Trinity Site Marker.

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A close up…then off to…

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Fat Man…not me, but getting there 😦

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Self Portrait of a Man, a Bomb, a Marker and a Mountain.

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Next stop at Trinity was a Bus Ride to McDonald Ranch House. The house is 10,000 yards from the bomb site and was the place military and scientists watched from. Not nearly far enough in my opinion. But the first bomb was rather small, as far as Nuclear Bombs are concerned.

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Nice Panorama leading out to the Ranch house. I am in love, as you will see later, with Panorama. Works great in New Mexico.

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Leaving the Ranch House

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Next was driving to White Sands National Monument.

But that involves many many more photos…and my helium and mucous filled head is telling me to stop and do that tomorrow.

I will share with you about my bonus photo from yesterday.

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Take this:

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Search the internet for images of the guy trying to break the record for jumping from a balloon. That should be this weekend down in Roswell, New Mexico. Find this:

He is basically doing the jump in a space suit.

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Extract, resize and add some motion artifact to falling man and you get the finished photo…voila.

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Next Time: White Sands. Pueblo Ruins. And hopefully a clearer head.

Gavin

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Bonus….

Wonderful Sunset down in Alamogordo. I was leaving White Sands and driving back to my motel Saturday night when I had to stop and take a few photos.

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When we have clouds at sunset we often get pinks, salmon, gold and purple colors. It crazy. When I first moved here I saw a collection of New Mexico art that had the sky Purple, Red, Pink and Orange and I thought, “How gaudy. Why would somebody use those colors?” And now I know.

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Brammo, Brammo Enertia Plus, Trinity Site
Categories : Electric Motorcycle

Brammo “Weekly” Blog: Enertie gets some Culture.

26 09 2012

Blog 44: Culture: Not just for yogurt anymore. And, sadly, the Enertie (rhymes with Bertie) nickname has stuck in my head. Worst nickname ever. (though if I get a black Enertia Plus of my own I hope to call it T’Challa)

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So this weekend was a cultural weekend for me and the loaner Enertia Plus. We went on a multi-museum trip, caught a show at the Albuquerque Little Theater, toured Old Town and also found time for a breakfast ride through the North Valley.

Friday was a private showing of the Machine Wilderness show at the Albuquerque Museum. So expensive wine and beer and finger food for all.

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The Enertia felt right at home at the Electronic Arts show.

http://www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/albuquerque-museum/exhibitions/current-exhibitions

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Solar Chair. Moved around the Museum on it’s own. Cute…but not sure I understand the usefulness of a solar chair unless I truly do shine light out my @ss like my Grandfather accused me of thinking so many years ago.

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This car was GREAT. It was made to travel around the broken and abandoned railroads of Mexico. Can travel by rail or road.

Oh, and Hi Mom.

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The front and back had the railroad track wheels.

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I loved the little details.

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I thought the flash was off when I took this…the Museum guard wasn’t happy. I thought I should use this so the stern look I got wasn’t for nothing . Go visit the site.

Really some cool stuff for engineers…for design people…for exploration people.

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http://www.seft1.net

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http://vimeo.com/37751272

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Some unusual art at the show…

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...Made better…By Science!!

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Reminded me of the Aliens in the funky French cartoon movie I saw as a kid…Fantastic Planet (The Planet Wild in French).

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And out in front of the Museum… It was getting dark but I wanted to get a few photos.

A Cattle drive would be so easy on a Brammo…No loud pipes to cause stampedes.

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Friday night, after the Art Museum, I traveled over to Explora and the Museum of Natural History for some quick photos. I had to hurry as it was quickly getting dark and the iPhone doesn’t love the dark.

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First stop: Explora.

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Explora is great…but the outdoor photo ops are kinda limited. So I hurried over to my next stop.

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Next stop. There are a couple of fun outdoor things here… 🙂

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I wanted to do an “objects in mirror are closer than they appear” photo…but I had to shine the headlight on the dino to get a nice shot.

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Outline only and very grainy in this light.

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The light was a bit better toward “Sera”, but not great…I knew I had to come back when the light was better.

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I did play around with a couple of shots to see if I could get a nice image…

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Fun, but not what I was looking for…so….

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I went back on Sunday…after breakfast (more on that later), before riding through Old Town (more on that later) and before the play (more on that later too). I didn’t go riding on Saturday…see last post for info on why.

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First, a shout out to the Artist…These dinosaurs are beautiful. And impressive. Amazing job Mr. Thomas.

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Spike…I call her Sera.

Sera/Spike is great…but let’s face it, we love the Carnivores….

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After that a nice little ride around Old Town…Video at the end of Blog.

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Then, for fun, a quick stop at the Hot Dog House…

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And then to the Albuquerque Little Theater for an afternoon showing of The Hobbitt.

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The Parking Security actually stopped me and told me to park right by the Entrance and not in the parking lot.

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My eldest, when she was 14 and 15, was in a couple of plays at the ALT. Met her future husband during the second play.

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So a fairly busy weekend…and I didn’t include the Breakfast ride. Will put a video or two at the end of the blog post.

I will say that where we met to ride from is right next to a Breaking Bad filming site. Where Badger is arrested in the second season by DJ Qualls in “Better Call Saul.”

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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

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Bonus Video clips:

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shows a bit of the balance of the Enertia Plus…rides almost like a mountain bike in terms of balance.

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Showing the Engine Braking. The faster the speed, the more noticable. At 25 mph, not much breaking, but at 45 mph you go down to 35 mph fairly quickly.

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Downtown. EV Charging stations see at about 20 seconds into video clip.

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Group start to ride for breakfast. Not many riders as it is hard to get scooter people up at 8 am on Sunday.

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Group riding by Old Town.

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Solo ride around Old Town Church.

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Going Solo to a Winery in the North Valley. I love that we have this “countryside” in the middle of Albuquerque.

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Going to the Museums after Breakfast.

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DINOS.

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Parking at Little Albuquerque Theater. Everybody must know that I park where I want as the parking “dude” stopped me and told me to park right at the entrance.

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And the last two are a bit longer videos of the “small” group ride going through the North Valley.

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Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Brammo, Brammo Enertia Plus, Electric Motorcycle
Categories : Electric Motorcycle, Rides around Albuquerque

Brammo “Weekly” Blog: Some Photos, Some Phacts and Some Phun

19 09 2012

Blog 43: Review number 1 of 2 for the Enertia Plus.
Some Sunset photos. And a trip to Madrid….New Mexico.

IT”S BLOGNESDAY!!

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Starting with the easy part….PHOTOS. (reviews are hard) Friday night I was out getting some Vodka and hot dog buns at Costco because we needed big bottles of Vodka and an insane amount of hot dog buns. Costco is the place for that.

Saturday was our “End of Summer” party as we don’t want to have 3 birthday parties in one week (me, my wife and my sister in law’s birthdays are all within 6 days of each other). So as I’m driving to Costco I notice that the sunset is looking quite nice in my large Enertia Plus mirrors (will be discussed in Review part 1). And like I often…too often…do, I stopped to get some photos. And then I force you, the readers of this blog, to look at them.

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So first I drove to every inch of the Costco parking lot and couldn’t get the photo I wanted. So I left Costco and found a nice little construction site…but still no good….So off to a field across from the Nuclear Museum and BINGO. Photo one.

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And then I thought, “Hey I bet the Nuclear Museum** would be a nice backdrop” So…..

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But the lighting wasn’t quite right…and I was using just my iPhone…which does great in daylight, but not nearly as nice at night.

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But then I remembered a little trick. Focus in close and take a photo…and then focus out far and take a photo…and then “merge” them…So you have a nice bright foreground and a nice natural color background.

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And all these would have fit in nicely with my last blog of How I Learned to Stop Worrying…

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and then I had to get a little fancy and get rid of the wires overhead…

It was a nice little diversion…but there was Vodka to be bought…and Costco closes kinda early….

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That was Friday night. No driving on Saturday as it was our End of the Summer Party…and there is no driving for me that day for sure:

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A fun day….but not a day for driving.

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I made up for it on Sunday. A ride to Madrid, NM and back. 87 miles of mixed driving, but most of the ride was over 50 mph.

I love the ride out to Madrid. Up, down, flat, curvy, and mostly empty open roads. And then you end up in Madrid, a funky little ex-mining, ex-ghost town. It was the town used in Wild Hogs. An awful movie. And for the bar fight scene in Paul. A much better movie.

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But first I leave home to meet up with some friends for the ride.

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Leaving the house. The Enertia Plus and my Maxi-Scoot. My son-in-law now rides my Fuoco as I am always on the Brammo.

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First stop….Einsteins on Tramway and Central. All rides to the East Mountains start here.

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I had to ride up and talk to William…he had a new scooter I had not seen before.

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I like to ride in the back when filming

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That Ram Mount better hold…my iPhone is My Precious.

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Handlebar camera. I am now rocking two cameras…Now I just need to stop being lazy and edit the clips down.

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Heading into Madrid

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A couple of long videos will be added at the bottom of this post….

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And I always stop at the Mine Shaft Tavern for a Buffalo Burger.

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Fun and funky.

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At first I parked here…

but no outlets (Tavern is OLD…and haunted)

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so I moved and found me some free charging 🙂

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and it was a cool place to park…right by the entrance to the Old Mine Shaft.

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and leaving Madrid (pronounced MAD RID)

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more leaving….

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On the road back….this is the high point of the highway…7027 feet. I stopped to see what the elevation was.

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And yes my iPhone battery was almost empty…I was doing some video with my helmet cam and my iPhone on the ride. It was a “use up all your batteries” kind of day…but more on that in a minute.

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And that minute is now: I knew the Plus couldn’t make it to Madrid and back. It is 87 miles round trip from my house and I have done almost 87 miles on the Plus, but that was city/suburb riding. No way with a large portion of the trip being 50 mph or more.

So I get to Madrid with my odometer looking like so:

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60 percent used. Ok. I need to charge back up to about 60 percent before I leave.

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and an hour and a half spent in the Mine Shaft Tavern fit the bill perfectly.

Except…I rode home without the scooter people. I rode a bit faster heading home as I wasn’t staying back with the 150cc 2-stroke bikes that take the trip a bit slower than I do on the Enertia Plus. Thus I used more juice. Long story short, at 81 miles traveled and 6 miles or so from home I was at zero battery. Bike was still going, but I didn’t want to push it. I stopped at a Smith’s Grocery store, hooked up the charger and bought a soda. Drank the soda and unhooked and headed the rest of the way…And was at zero again at home. It still was going fine (I wonder how much extra distance you can go on zero?) but I did get a “hey dude, charge up you fool” warning.

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But all in all, a good day, a nice ride and “almost” enough juice. I should have stayed and walked around Madrid a bit with the scooter people, then it would have been fine. But I had Sunday Football at my brother’s house and didn’t want to be too late.

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Review: 1 of 2.

A short review.

This is basically a review of the differences from the Enertia to the Plus. It really won’t mean too much to anybody other than those who have owned an Enertia. For everybody else, the Plus will likely be the only commuter Brammo bike you demo or ride and won’t know what the Classic or Legacy Enertia was like….So.

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Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes…

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Range: The most obvious change. I was getting about 35 mile per charge in my city commute. I expected the Plus to go about 70 miles. I am getting 84-86 miles per charge on the same route. So the expected doubling of the range, plus about 15 miles more. Sweet.
Mirrors: Nice…I can now actually see something in the mirrors other than my shoulders 🙂 They are, in my opinion, perhaps just a bit too large. I see about 3 lanes on either side in them now. A happy medium would have worked. But better a bit too big than a bit too small.
Turning–Steering lock–The garage and parking lot maneuverability of the Enertia Legacy was fairly poor. She did great on the roads, but had a very limited turning radius at “walking” speed. Basically the times you move the bike within your garage or other tight areas. The new Plus has much improved turning. Very Very nice. In and out of my garage with no effort at all.

No more do I need to pretend to be Austin Powers as I make my 18 point turn in the garage (exaggerated for humor).

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O-Chain. Oh my oh my do I love the O-Chain. Nuff Said.
Top Speed. I could go an indicated 65 on the Legacy. It did 60 mph easily and as long as I wanted. I can go an indicated 70 on the Plus. It does 65 mph easily and as long as I want. I have not confirmed the speedo with my GPS at highway speeds. It seems fairly accurate. And I have ridden with the GPS in town and the speedo is about 1 mph high at 40 mph (GPS said 39 mph). Will try and GPS on the highway this weekend.
Engine Braking–Regen. The Enertia Legacy had no engine braking and no regen. The Plus has both. It is the one change I wasn’t completely happy with at first. I loved coasting. Especially at night. I felt, with no noise and no vibrations, that I was a piece of the bike moving through the wind. Like the nose cone of an airplane. It was fun. The Plus does not coast. The upside is that the engine braking gives some regen and it does make the Plus feel more like a “real” motorcycle. It is also killer fun in the twisties where engine braking is both joyous and helpful.

So I am still just a touch “torn” on the Engine Braking. LOVE it in the mountains. But I would like to turn it off with night riding. A clutch would solve that…but adds complexity. A “no-regen” switch would be nice. But that is for the future, if Brammo wants. The Engine Braking does make the bike feel more solid and it likely will be appreciated by motorcycle people. And really only myself and a few other Brammo riders will even know engine braking is a new thing. So…I missed the coasting a lot at first…now I hardly miss it at all….but still would love to have it for dark, still nights.

New Motor: The new motor does give a bit more top end…and a more powerful pull through the middle speeds. Again, feels more like a “big-boy” bike. It is a smidgen slower off the line, but quickly makes up for that with a faster middle. Again, for the future I would love a switch…City/Highway. City gives more speed off the line, but less top end. Highway takes off a bit of the low speed acceleration, but gives a higher top speed. Always looking for ways to help Brammo by giving them more work to do 🙂
Start up LCD screen: The start up LCD screen is, thankfully, the 3rd screen on the Legacy. The screen with all the information. The screen I always used.
Horn placement: Moved from body to under headlight. Not horribly attractive, nor does it jump out as a design error…so looks are neutral. But it is a far bit louder being outside the body of the bike. And louder, for a horn, is nice.
Noise: The new motor seems a bit louder than the old one. And the Legacy, with coasting, had periods of near silent riding. The new motor seems a bit louder with acceleration, but also louder overall because engine braking is making noise too. So, where before the bike was silent at stops and when coasting, the Plus is only silent at lights.

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Well, saying all that, what it comes down to is: “I like it. A lot”. I can go to the top of the mountain and back on one charge (70 miles and 5ooo feet gain in elevation). I can go to Madrid and back with a nice little lunch break. I can commute all week on one charge.

It is a big difference. But more on that with the “real” review. This was just a teaser review…a review for current owners only.

See ya next week.

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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

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Bonus video…longer, but has some pretty stuff.

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Long helmet cam ride towards and into Madrid

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leave no man, or woman, behind.

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The group gets separated a bit.

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longish handlebar camera (iPhone) video heading toward Madrid.

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Brammo, Brammo Enertia Plus, Electric Motorcycle, Madrid, New Mexico, Scooter Club, Sunday Ride
Categories : Electric Motorcycle, Rides around Albuquerque

Sol Power–BrammoBlog.com

Brammo Blog: The Fork in the Road.

BrammoBlog: From San Francisco to Albuquerque: with an ill-fated stop in Baker, Ca. Thank God for Abducted Cow Alien Beef Jerky or the stop would have been a total loss.

BrammoBlog: In the immortal words of the great American poet, Steven Tyler, “I’m Back! I’m back in the saddle again!”

BLOG 61: The Pickup.

BrammoBlog: A departure…A blog that is not about me?!?! It truly is the End of the WORLD…

Brammoblog: More unrequested advertising efforts.

BrammoBlog: Sunday was a GREAT day for Balloons in New Mexico

BrammoBlog: White Sands and More. Ok, not more. Just White Sands. Believe me, just White Sands is Enough.

Brammo Blog: Fat Man, Jumbo, So Much White Crystal and a Culture in Ruins…

Brammo “Weekly” Blog: Enertie gets some Culture.

Brammo “Weekly” Blog: Some Photos, Some Phacts and Some Phun

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