This always happens. I say I am going to take a break and then these guys come out news I’ve been waiting months to hear.
First it was the TTXGP, and now Brammo. They said this on their Facebook page:
We plan to contest every North American Round of TTXGP and the World Final in Daytona. Plus the FIM race at Laguna Seca. More details and announcement of our new sponsor coming soon….
Brammo has had me on am emotional “will they or won’t they” roller coaster ride over the off season. Finally some news, and it’s good news. Although after our interview with BrammoBrian, I highly suspected. So, Lightning is all in trying to get back the national championship they lost last year and Brammo is saying not so fast and will be back to defend what they took from Lightning. Its going to be great because these guys race. There will be no only if it make business sense BS because, like the Honda of yore, racing is in the DNA of both of these companies.
I have seen a lot of bloggers posting the recent video of Lighting’s bike at Chuckwalla and going on about implying it is a sneak peak of the new 2012 bike. Well, it seems like an exaggeration to me. I believe it is the 2011 bike we saw last year, only handling like it should. Don’t get me wrong those guys have busted their butts, and if Barney is back I’m sure it’ll feel like a whole new bike to him, but does proper ergonomics, dial suspension, and “Lightning” fast handling qualify it as a whole new bike? I don’t feel it does. It just makes all the other guys efforts seem a bit more lucky, and a tad less skillful. 240hp and proper race bike handling, for maybe the first time ever, with over 14kWr on board make this a beast to be reckoned with.
But Brammo isn’t coming with with a whole new bike either. Well, maybe. I have been told to expect a motor that is twice as powerful of the 2011 motor. It was all the Brammo Empulse RR was missing last year. It had the handling, a leprechaun sized rider that carries some serious corner speed, and a 13.5kWhr battery pack that was only less than a kWh less than the competitions. All it was missing was the oomph. This year it will have it. We’ll have to see how all this affects the weigh, because before the bump from 12kWr to 13.5kWh, the weight was comparatively svelte. Don’t expect Brammo to be any where near the monster hp figures of the Lightning. But do expect that they have crunched the numbers and will come with as much as they feel they need.
At this point the 75 class could end up being bigger than the GP class. I am thinking three 75 bikes (two college bikes) and two GP bikes. Maybe MotoCzysz will come out and play, but I’m not holding my breath. Laguna will continue to be the biggest international round in 2012.
TTXGPMatters 
A note on the “2012” Lightning bike. It’s the 2011 bike, just actually with some development under its belt. I hope that can put some speculation by the less informed to bed. At Chuckwalla, not only did Ted Rich get to take some laps, but so did Isle of Man TT racer John Burrows, so that should help discern their racing calendar this year.
Knowing what’s coming down the pipe from Brammo, I think fans of the Ashland, Oregon company are going to be pleased, as will electric motorcycle racing fans in general. Our little sport is growing up.
Good to see that by mid-February, TTXGP could figure out four of its five venues for the year — in college that would be a B- before grade reductions for an assignment turned in late. They should just save us all the trouble and cancel the “TBD” round now.
Hi Rich, this is funny you thought you could just leave and no one would notice. Now the season is starting up and you can’t just let it go. Now Mugen just anoucned it was entering the TT ZERO.
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/
LOL. Yeah, that’s the way of it. Like I said, I’ll post the big stuff that comes my way, but my biggest focus is finding a piano bench for my keyboard so I can practice my scales, and trying who figure out who it was that said I could transfer that online math course I aced. I think it will be quiet for the next month or two. At least enough so, for my purposes.
Thanks for the link. I’m not sure that is really news worthy. Clearly Asphalt & Rubber does, but they are mostly in the ICE world. I’m just not convinced that the Japanese, with the exception of Toyota (and only with American drivetrains) can make EVs. Maybe someday, but not this second. Look at the RC-E. Great chassis design, good looks, and a mouse cage for a motor. I know of a certain bicycle of doom that has a more powerful motor. Then look at the vehicle the motor comes from, the Insight. Now where near as successful as the Prius, and only using a 10kW motor in it’s hybrid system. It seems to me it’s just a really efficient gas car with an electrical drive system in there to help people be OK with the performance numbers. And then look at the epic fail that was team Prozza, that ran the IoM and were really slow. Then they were supposed to run the TTXGP European series. They DNF’d the only race they entered. And the major sponsor is supposedly the leading manufacturer of electric motorcycles in Japan. And I am pretty certain they were using the same Agni/Kelly drivetrain combo everyone else was using. Everyone thinks the Japanese are these big juggernauts that no one can topple, I don’t believe they are. Due to the economy and the tragedy that happened last year, they have been weakened. America has a rep for being the THE place for ingenuity and engineering for a reason. The only reason there hasn’t been an American dominance in sport bikes is because no one thought they could make any money at it. But, as the Asian dollar grows in value and and Americans continue to see the possibility to make money in this EV thing, I feel we will see that the Japanese can no longer sell really good bikes for way less than everyone else. Actually compare a Duc 848, Triumph 675, and BMW S 1000 R against their direct competitors. You will notice that they Euros are priced very competitively, and offer better performance. 2 years ago the Japanese had a choice. Enter the elmoto market can bury the upstarts, or concentrate on really cheap gas bikes for the Asian market. They chose, and I think they missed the boat.
I think Brammo is more likely to show up to Isle than Mugen, and that the stock Empulse would be faster. American’s have and will continue to dominate the elmoto world, with the only ones even close or on track being the German’s. But as my readers know, I’ve been wrong before. The Brit’s could join in, but frankly their society appears too closed minded to fork out the needed investment money. Just makes me appreciate even more what the TTXGP can, and is doing.
If ever there was a perfect way to sign off for a while and begin your hiatus from this site, that was it. I don’t entirely agree with the opinion that the Japanese (or specifically, Honda\Mugen) at this moment won’t or can’t be a major EV racing force, but it was well said.
I will very much miss your frequent updates to this site. They have spoiled me quite a bit with regards to e-bike news and tid-bits over the last few months. Do what you have to do, and I’ll keep hoping you surprise me with an update or two or twelve on your site from time to time… 🙂