Victory reveals road-legal electric Empulse TT
Just four months after Polaris Industries took control of the Brammo electric motorcycle company, its Victory Motorcycles brand has unveiled its first battery-powered bike.
The Empulse TT is mostly an update of a Brammo model of the same name. Unlike the cruisers that Victory is known for, it features a sportbike style.
When it goes on sale later this year, it will be the first electric bike offered by a major, traditional motorcycle brand in a segment that’s currently dominated by electric specialist Zero Motorcycles.
Unlike most electric motorcycles that use a single-speed transmission, the Empulse TT has a six-speed manual that only needs to be clutched when changing gears, not pulling away from a standstill, or coming to a stop, when regenerative brakes help recharge the battery pack. But Victory says that, in most situations, you can just leave it in third gear and never touch the clutch.
Top speed is limited to 160km/h, but a modified competition version of the Empulse TT placed third at this year’s Isle of Man TT Zero race for electric motorcycles, where it hit 233km/h and set an American-made bike lap record of 111.62 mph along the way.
