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[Richard230]

The November 2015 issue of Motorcycle Consumer News contains a 4-page, instrumented, full test of the 2016 Victory Empulse TT. In short: they liked the smooth power and acceleration, overall good looks and sporting capability.  They didn't like: the unreliable battery consumption gauge (they had to push the bike 1.5 miles home), poor range and power, terrible seating and they didn't care for the rear shock, which they said was hard to adjust and kept bottoming out during their rides.

Measured facts include 4750 rpm at 60 mph; "wet" weight of 473.0 pounds; 103.6V in Eco mode and 117.6V in Sport mode; a measured range of 66 miles over their standard route on which the 2014 Zero SR (with "Power Tank") achieved 98.7 miles; power was measured at a maximum of 49.51 HP at 70 mph (the Zero SR was measured at 72.79 HP on the same dyno); measured top speed was 96 mph; the quarter mile was completed in 15.47 seconds at 94.6 mph; 0-60 time was 7.3 seconds; and a really good 60-0 mph stop of 108 feet was achieved. The Empulse was given an "Overall Rating" of 3.5 out of 5 dots.

[Ranga]

0-60 in 7.3 seconds? Is that from slow shifting or did they run it in a high gear?

[protomech]

The last Empulse tested by cycle world was in the high 13s in the quarter mile, and the high 4s 0-60. Not sure how 7.3s 0-60 meant that they liked the acceleration.

[Richard230]

0-60 in 7.3 seconds? Is that from slow shifting or did they run it in a high gear?

From what I gathered from reading the text, they did use the gearbox.  Which would make sense as they were trying to achieve the best performance results.  And also look at the slow quarter mile time, although the top speed at the end of the quarter is not bad. 

I wonder if Victory neutered the low-speed power obtained from the controller?     There was some comment that the bike was slow off the line.

[MotoRyder]

Thanks for posting this Richard...I haven't received my copy of the MCN Nov. 2015 issue.

Seems like the Victory Empulse TT doesn't offer the performance that the 2015 Zero SR delivers, so one has to wonder how Victory will be successful in marketing a competitive EV motorcycle. 

Evidently, the power gauge is something that Victory needs to improve upon, since running out of power in traffic can be very hazardous to one's health.