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MN firm reveals 110mph electric motorcycle – and will beat Harley to market
bringmethenews.com ^ | July 30, 2015 | By Adam Uren

Posted on 07/31/2015 2:08:25 PM PDT by Red Badger

(Photo: Victory Motorcycles, website)

A Minnesota company appears to have beaten Harley-Davidson to the punch by unveiling its first electric street motorcycle.

Medina-based Polaris Industries, makers of Indian and Victory motorcycles, has this week revealed its “Empulse TT” high-performance sport bike, which runs without gas and has a top speed of 110mph.

The Pioneer Press reports that with the Empulse appearing in Victory dealerships by the end of the year, Polaris has secured a key advantage over competitors Harley, whose Project LiveWire motorcycle won’t be brought to market until battery technology has improved enough to allow for longer driving distances.

“We wanted to get in early, and so we are,” Victory Motorcycles product director Gary Gray told the newspaper. “At Polaris, we are pretty proud of our speed to market. We think it gives us a big competitive advantage.”

You can take a closer look at the Empulse TT here.

According to the Business Journal, the bike has a range of around 65 miles for “typical” riding, but those easier on the throttle might be able to get more than 100 miles out of a single charge.

The key to Polaris’s success getting the bike to market so early, Bloomberg reports, was its purchase in January of electric vehicle company Brammo, which provided the battery-powered technology that could be incorporated by Polaris’ Victory designers.

“Brammo is very, very good at electric technology and we are very, very good at motorcycle engineering, so there was a good marriage there,” Polaris VP of motorcycles Steve Menneto told Bloomberg, which says that the full recharging of the Empulse battery will take four hours on a 240-volt outlet, or nine hours on a standard 120-volt plug.

The bike will have a suggested retail price of $19,999, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Polaris isn’t resting on its laurels either, as it says it will continue to improve its products in tandem with Oregon-based Brammo.

“The day is coming when you’ll be able to ride 300 miles [on a single battery charge],” energy consultant Mike Cornwell told the Journal Sentinel.

VIDEO AT LINK........................


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Hobbies; Outdoors; Society
KEYWORDS: bike; electric; harley; motorcycle
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To: CodeToad

My old Honda 550 got 40 mpg, and my 1200 got at least 30-35..................


21 posted on 07/31/2015 2:28:01 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: Red Badger

This video showcases the technology well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USS95abE1uA


22 posted on 07/31/2015 2:29:17 PM PDT by Mount Athos (A Giant luxury mega-mansion for Gore, a Government Green EcoShack made of poo for you)
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To: Mount Athos

Burned rubber...........and his ass.....................


23 posted on 07/31/2015 2:31:55 PM PDT by Red Badger (Man builds a ship in a bottle. God builds a universe in the palm of His hand.............)
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To: Red Badger

Gas is 2 bucks a gal here and dropping.
The frackers are making the e-drive proposition a pretty lame one right now.


24 posted on 07/31/2015 2:32:51 PM PDT by nascarnation (Impeach, convict, deport)
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To: Red Badger

What good is a motorcycle you can’t hear rev up?


25 posted on 07/31/2015 2:36:47 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 ((VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!))
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To: Red Badger

I bought this bike (not this exact one), a BMW R1200GS Adventure. As equipped it gets 50 MPG +/-. At 55 MPH it gets 60 MPG. With a 7.9 gallon tank it goes 350 miles easy. Electric thingamabobs are just not of any interest.


26 posted on 07/31/2015 2:39:41 PM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
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To: CodeToad
Oops. Forgot the image.


27 posted on 07/31/2015 2:40:41 PM PDT by CodeToad (If it weren't for physics and law enforcement I'd be unstoppable!)
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To: Red Badger

Four hours of charging to drive one hour...they might sell two unless the government steps in.


28 posted on 07/31/2015 2:43:58 PM PDT by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: Red Badger

My 650 nighthawk gets around 45 unless I’m ripping around town.


29 posted on 07/31/2015 2:44:09 PM PDT by Crim (Palin / West '16)
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To: Red Badger

They raced some Victory electric bikes at the Isle of Man TT this year, racers were able to average over 100mph for a 37 mile lap. I don’t recall if they did more than one lap, though.


30 posted on 07/31/2015 2:45:49 PM PDT by dainbramaged (Get out of my country now)
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To: Mount Athos

I watched the vid. Wherever that was, they sure have a lot of fire extinguishers sitting around.


31 posted on 07/31/2015 2:57:39 PM PDT by LouAvul (There is no more GOP. There is RAT, and RAT lite.)
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To: Red Badger
I caught a bit of the Isle of Man TT racing this year on cable, and the segment I happened to watch was for electric only bikes. They seemed to keep pace with their IC brethren.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwHCnIJ0-Zw

32 posted on 07/31/2015 3:07:13 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (Is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Red Badger
You have to make the motorcycle noises with your mouth.
33 posted on 07/31/2015 3:09:48 PM PDT by Manic_Episode (GOP = The Whig Party)
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To: South40

The only type of electric vehicle I would consider at this point.


34 posted on 07/31/2015 3:11:35 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Sad fact, most people just want a candidate to tell them what they want to hear)
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To: shotgun

Loud pipes save lives...

...

They also annoy a lot of people.


35 posted on 07/31/2015 3:13:35 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: Red Badger

Anyone that wants to go one hundred and ten miles an hour on a motor cycle will eventually remove themselves from the gene pool. Not like they were in the deep end to begin with.


36 posted on 07/31/2015 3:17:55 PM PDT by Desron13
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To: US_MilitaryRules

Excellent point. Most people [mistakenly] think motorcycles are loud just to be annoying. Though there are some who overdo it.


37 posted on 07/31/2015 3:27:06 PM PDT by rbg81
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To: Desron13

“Anyone that wants to go one hundred and ten miles an hour on a motor cycle will eventually remove themselves from the gene pool. Not like they were in the deep end to begin with.”

That one hundred and ten really isn’t all that much anymore. Somehow I’ve managed to survive. There’s people now straddling 325 hp.

http://www.cycleworld.com/2015/03/17/2015-kawasaki-ninja-h2-and-h2r-superbike-motorcycle-review-first-ride-photos-specifications/


38 posted on 07/31/2015 3:37:12 PM PDT by Carthego delenda est
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To: Red Badger

It would work well in Southeast Asia where 240 is standard.


39 posted on 07/31/2015 3:41:54 PM PDT by JimSEA
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To: Desron13

Been 160 in a car a bunch and 140 on a few bikes....you wanna live forever?

Of course I was doing this where the road had restricted access and you could see a could miles down the road clearly...

You are more likely to get flat out run over doing 35 by a careless driver than die in a high speed run.

Been riding 37 years.

My Favorite bike was a Buell ST3 but the close second was my KZ 1300 powered by an inline 6 cylinder.


40 posted on 07/31/2015 3:42:55 PM PDT by Crim (Palin / West '16)
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