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[Richard230]

You can read their long review here:   http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/2013-brammo-empulse-r-review-91479.html

[wainair]

That's a pretty glowing review. I agree with what they say about the transmission. Are 6 gears really needed?  I've often  thought a highway gear would be good to extend highway range and they seem to have only really used 2nd and 6th so maybe a 3 or 4 speed be something for an improvement in future models. You know, less complex more robust. Just a thought.

[Richard230]

That's a pretty glowing review. I agree with what they say about the transmission. Are 6 gears really needed?  I've often  thought a highway gear would be good to extend highway range and they seem to have only really used 2nd and 6th so maybe a 3 or 4 speed be something for an improvement in future models. You know, less complex more robust. Just a thought.

 

The reason that Brammo apparently used a 6-speed transmission is that it uses an off-the-shelf gear set.  I think if they could have found a 3-speed gearbox they probably would have used it.

[protomech]

The top gears are really only to enable super-70 mph speeds .. the Empulse is most efficient around 7000 RPM with an 8000 RPM redline .. so most highway riding will be done in 3rd or 4th gear most likely.

[wainair]

With all the other development hurdles I can understand why they would want to use an off the shelf transmission. Something else I thought of is a 6 gear transmission looks better from a marketing standpoint. Riders of ICE bikes have become used to 6 speed  gearboxes in sports bikes. Specs showing a 3speed or a direct drive might turn off some riders before they have even had a chance to try the bike. We've all seen riders scoff at direct drive bikes, thinking of them as just big scooters, a 6 gear trany gives a bit more credibility to these riders.

[s44captain]

Got to ride the Empulse some more today and found the kw draw was the least in the 4000-5000 range. If the gauges are right I was only using 3.5kw at 45mph.  The kw is in the lower section of the display when you scroll through the modes and the read out is very small so when I was probably on the outside end of the speed limit I was not really looking at kw draw.