At last – Brammo Empulse Assembly Line Shifts Into High Gear

Photos of the production line of the Brammo Empulse:

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(via the Brammole)

North American TTXGP Champions: Brammo

Congratulations to Brammo for winning the necessary points in the TTXGP North American series to allow it to clinch the title of “Champion.”

As I described in this post, Brammo needed to finish last weekend’s race at Miller Motorsports Park with a 7th or better placement — and this, only to defend against Mission Motors’ attack on the title.

Now we know that:

1. Mission Motors did not show at Miller

2. Brammo finished 3rd, behind first place (and new TTXGP participant) MotoCzysz, and second place Lightning.

3. There was no way for Brammo to finish the race and end up in any worse position than fifth (sixth, if the second Lightning bike had finished the race).

In the graphic, above, the points for Miller have not been posted but Brammo earned an additional 16 points for its third place finish, giving it a total of 57 points.  MotoElectra got another 13 points for its fourth place finish, giving it a total of 46 points and the Second Place North American Championship title.  Lightning received another 20 points, giving it a total of 45 points, and the Third Place title.  Lightning, once again, “missed it by THAT much” and, no doubt sorely regrets not competing in the race at Infineon in June 2011.

Congratulations to the Brammo Racing Team and rider Steve Atlas for putting on a consistent and reliable effort this season!

What does it mean?

The accomplishment represented by Brammo holding the “TTXGP North American Champion” title can be attributed to the spirit behind this comment by Brammo’s Brian Wismann from a post on the Brammo Owners Forum:

It’s been a great season and it was truly a team effort combined with a rock solid reliable race bike that made the championship a possibility.

Wismann would be the first to admit that the Empulse RR was not the fastest bike in the TTXGP paddock.  He and the team changed the gearing to take advantage of the bike’s available power but in the end, it was no match for the faster, one-off bikes of Mission, MotoCzysz and Lightning.  But, as they say, showing up is half the battle.  Here, it was showing up + finishing + staying in the game that gave Brammo the much-deserved title of champion.  As Wismann said,

Rest assured this technology will hit the street with the Empulse production bike and next year’s race bike will move our performance on to the next level!  What an exciting time to be involved with electric motorcycles!

Keep watching this space for more news and amazing developments that Brammo intends to share in the coming weeks.  No laurel-resting here.  There is work to be done.

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

With the release of the 3D video of Steve Atlas riding his little butt off at Thunderhill Raceway aboard the Brammo Empulse RR racebike growing imminent, I began to panic.

Having waited too long to order a pair of anaglyph (red and blue) 3D glasses from a reputable mail order dealer, my calls to potential sellers proved fruitless.

Instead of continuing my futile search for these elusive specs in flyover land, I decided to take matters into my own hands and I go0gled “DIY 3-D Glasses.”

Triumph!  ”How to make 3-D Glasses” had been addressed, already, by Wired magazine.  Unfortunately, it called for the purchase of “red and blue acetate “from your local craft store.”  Because my local craft store makes WalMart look classy, I try to avoid it.  Instead, I found, further down  on the same page, instructions for using a CD case and red and blue markers to achieve the same end.  Although I didn’t have a CD case handy (really), I found the next best thing: clear acetate.  And yes, red and blue markers:

MacGyver those glasses!

A few minutes later with the markers and some scissors:

Et, voilá!

Now, it’s just a matter of waiting on Brammo.  Should be on line any minute, right?

{INSERT PLACEHOLDER HERE FOR 3D VIDEO WHICH WILL ARRIVE SO VERY SOON}

Get your 3D glasses ready – Brammo Racing video coming this week

That’s not a sissy-bar behind Steve Atlas on the Brammo Empulse RR racing motorcycle, seen here testing at Thunderhill Raceway last week.  That is a GoPro rig behind him:

Two Gro Pro Cameras some fancy software and a superlight carbon fiber tripod. The footage will go up early next week…

According to Brian Wismann, Director of Product Development:

This footage turned out so cool… We’re just editing the clips together, so you’ve got some time to find a pair of red/blue Anaglyph glasses prior to the release.  It’s a great camera angle on Steve, you really get the feeling you’re “riding along” with him on the bike.

Anyone know where to pick up those glasses?  I asked around at my local Wal-Mart and got the usual blank stares.  Let me know in the comments, and no extra credit for links to Google searches.  I want to be able to buy these off the shelf, not wait on the U.S.P.S to send them through the mangler on the way to my mailbox.

Brammo – Still #1 in North American TTXGP Class

According to the Official Results page at eGrandPrix.com, Brammo still holds on to first place in the North American TTXGP standings:

With Mission Motors’ decisive win at Laguna Seca on Sunday, and Brammo coming in fourth, you may ask how this result could have been reached.  The TTXGP rules specify that first place in each race is awarded 25 points, second place 20 points, and third place 16 points.  Although Brammo placed first at Infineon Raceway in June, Mission did not participate in that race.  Brammo – 25 points. Mission 0 points.

Brammo was awarded third place points (16) under the TTXGP rules because the second place finisher, MotoCzysz, was only entered in the FIM e-Power series and was not a TTXGP entry.  Thus, Brammo was the third TTXGP motorcycle to cross the finish line at Laguna Seca.

Even if Brammo had been the fourth TTXGP bike to cross the line, it would remain in first place in the Class Standings, with a total of 38 (25 + 13) points.  In fact, if there had been 15 TTXGP bikes and Brammo had come in 15th place, it would remain the North American leader with 26 points to Mission’s 25.  The Point System for the TTXGP series is provided to each of the teams, but is somewhat hard to find on the site.  Nevertheless, for the sake of posterity, here it is:

ANNUAL AWARDS

The Team and Rider Championships will be decided on points as detailed below. The championship points at each round will be as follows for each team (machine) entered and for each rider:

To the Winner:	25 points	Ninth	7 Points
Second	20 points	Tenth	6 points
Third	16 points	Eleventh	5 points
Fourth	13 points	Twelfth	4 points
Fifth	11 points	Thirteenth	3 points
Sixth	10 points	Fourteenth	2 points
Seventh	9 points	Fifteenth	1 points
Eighth	8 points

Before you torch-wielding Mission fans (and herein, I happily state I consider myself a member of this group, minus the torch) cry “FOUL!” and prepare to storm the castle, consider the fact that Mission did make an appearance at the Infineon round, but chose not to race.  A consequence of that choice is that it can not claim to be the champion of the continent.  It was a consequence that they had to be aware of at the time, as the point system has been in existence since the beginning of TTXGP’s 2010 series. That’s racing.

But let’s take this a hypothetical step farther:  Although, as of the writing of this post, TTXGP has not announced a third and final round to replace the scuttled VIR race that had been scheduled for August 14, 2011, let’s assume a replacement round is scheduled for later this season.  Let’s further assume that Mission and Brammo both race.  And finally, let’s assume that Mission continues to dominate the track with their guided rocket on wheels, the Mission R, and comes in first place.  The only ways Mission can clinch the North American Championship are:

1. Brammo does not start.
2. Brammo does not finish.
3. Brammo comes in eighth place or worse, earning only 8 or fewer points.

While #1 and #2, above, are certainly possible (recall with me, in sadness, Brammo’s DNS in last year’s contest at Laguna Seca due to a mechanical failure), it is far less likely that #3 could occur, given the limited number of electric racing motorcycles out there and the fact that, in the TTXGP series, Brammo could quite easily place third.  The only other TTXGP bike faster than Brammo appears to be Richard Hatfield’s  Lightning motorcycle.

Brammo folks freely admit that there is nothing they can do, short of a completely new motor and controller design (not likely, but not outside the realm of possibility), that could result in them beating the Mission R’s current alien technology  configuration.  However, points is points and the fact remains that Brammo is #1 and is likely to retain that title for the 2011 TTXGP North American Class.