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Brammo announces Engage and Encite electric motorcycles, taking it to the dirt with six speeds


Brammo announces Engage and Encite electric motorcycles, taking it to the dirt with six speeds
When we heard that Brammo was hitting the dirt in a Las Vegas motorcross race we had horrific visions of a bright green Enertia with knobby tires struggling in the dirt, pitching its rider over the bars on the first yump it encountered. Thank goodness we can now say with confidence that is not the case. The company has announced it has not one but two new models coming, both specifically designed to handle questionable terrain. The Engage is a full-sized dirtbike, available in both motorcross (offroad) and supermoto (onroad, mostly) variants, and is just a few letters short of a beautiful marketing tie-in. It starts at $9,995 for the on or off road racing versions and then steps up to $11,995 for the street-legal SMS Super Moto, which you can see above wearing some pre-production bodywork. There's also the Encite MMX Pro, a more hardcore racing version that lacks a price. More details and a video after the break.


Interestingly these bikes forego the standard fare direct-drive systems found in most electric motorcycles (including Brammo's previous offerings), relying on a six-speed gearbox sourced from SMRE. Having a half-dozen cogs and a clutch on tap is standard for a normal bike but the (relatively) high torque and RPM range in an electric motor has usually meant they aren't necessary. Brammo's saying that the additional ratios will improve acceleration down low and speed up high, but unfortunately that remains to be seen as the company hasn't released any specifications whatsoever -- not even weight. What really matters is how it performs over the jumps, and for that we'll have to wait for the results of the Vegas Mini Moto SX race this Friday.



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