Photos: Brammo Empulse RR

This is the Brammo Empulse RR that didn't compete at this weekend's FIM

e-Power race at Laguna Seca. That's too bad, by the looks of things, it

could have given Michael Czysz a run for his money. Brammo's still

trying to figure out what specs it's OK to tell us, but clearly apparent

is a liquid-cooled motor mounted to the standard Brammo Empulse's

frame.

With development of this race bike starting just eight weeks prior to Sunday's race Brammo would have been well aware of the competition they'd be facing from MotoCzysz. Michael unveiled his new liquid-cooled motor and its 250lb/ft of torque way back in February.

Liquid-cooled motors are able to produce more power than their air-cooled equivalents in a smaller package because less material is needed to serve as a heat sink. Czysz's motor is also able to function at continuous power levels that would see an air-cooled motor melting down. It seems reasonable to speculate that the Brammo motor would have been capable of some of the same tricks.

"Initial track testing was going really well and the team was excited for the race as we felt we had a strong and competitive package," said the bike's designer, Brian Wismann, pictured with the bike in the gallery above.

Brammo wanted the win so badly, they enlisted the help of ex-Superbike racer Aaron Gobert, pictured above.

"Unfortunately, the last test prior to packing the bike for travel to the race resulted in a custom component failure that made it impossible to make the race," explains Wismann.

"We are very disappointed," says Craig Bramscher, Brammo's CEO, "but you will see the Empulse RR race this year."