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It was a busy weekend in the A&R office, not only was John Adamo out talking on the EVcast, but our own editor Jensen Beeler took some time this Sunday talk (at length!) to Steve McQueen and the Motorcycle Nation podcast. Jensen and Steve cover everything from how Asphalt & Rubber got its start (spoiler alert: he lost a bet with Warren Buffett), A&R StreetLevel, electric motorcycle startups, American motorcycle companies, and just about anything else that came up in-between.

Listen to the podcast after the jump, subscribe to Motorcycle Nation on iTunes, and listen to Jensen learn what life is like on the other side of the interview table after the jump.

A problem derived using game theory, the Prisoner’s Dilemma was first put forth by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher. Adapted over time, the classical prisoner’s dilemma goes like this:

Two suspects are arrested by the police. The police have insufficient evidence for a conviction, and, having separated both prisoners, visit each of them to offer the same deal. If one testifies (defects from the other) for the prosecution against the other and the other remains silent (cooperates with the other), the betrayer goes free and the silent accomplice receives the full 10-year sentence. If both remain silent, both prisoners are sentenced to only six months in jail for a minor charge. If each betrays the other, each receives a five-year sentence. Each prisoner must choose to betray the other or to remain silent. Each one is assured that the other would not know about the betrayal before the end of the investigation. How should the prisoners act?

Making the most rational decision, and acting solely for themselves, the best option for both prisoners is to defect. Under any circumstance, betraying their partner by ratting them out will generate the best possible aggregate result for the prisoner. However, because the choice to defect is both prisoners’s best move, it assures that the outcome will be a 5-year sentence for both of them.

Flood and Dresher’s problem illustrates the challenges involved in acting beyond one’s own personal gain, choosing instead to act for the good of the group. If everyone acted in this non-selfish manner, the group would thrive more richly than it would acting solely in their own individual best interest. But, because of the issue of free-riders, and as this game theory problem illustrates, there are significant hurdles that must be overcome in order to achieve these non-self-serving results.

One of the biggest challenges facing electric motorcycle manufacturers comes in the form of customer education. These companies must wrestle with not only how they convert current internal combustion engine (ICE) motorcyclists to electric motorcycles, but also how they will bring current non-motorcyclists into the industry. Not an easy task to begin with, the problem is compounded by the nearly non-existent marketing budgets these companies operate on. There is no question that there is a need to putt forth the argument for electric motorcycles in the industry, but with making that case comes a marketing decision that exemplifies our Prisoner’s Dilemma problem.

Who will take on the burden and challenge of educating an industry centered around the internal combustion engine, when doing so surely means a great investment in capital and resources, and also when the desired affect will bring no exclusive benefit to the company? That is to say, what company is going to take the time and money to begin changing the way motorcyclists think about motorcycles, and develop a market for electrics, when the return on that investment helps them just as much as it helps their competitor?

Just a few weeks ago, Brammo began rolling-out their program to sell Enertia electric motorcycles at Best Buy’s along the west coast. Most companies would be content to rest on this accomplishment and catch their breath, but not the folks in Ashland, Oregon.

Maybe it’s all that clean-air they’re breathing, or there’s something in the water; either way, we’re happy to report that in the nexy 60 days or so, you’ll see a new product announcement from Brammo, secretly dubbed “The Anti-Scooter”.

Brammo has hit the sales floors of Best Buy with their electric motorcycle the Enertia. Debuting in the Portland Oregon area, instead of the previously rumored San Francisco/Bay Area, you can expect to see the green machine trickle its way down the west coast throughout the year’s time.

Right now, Brammo has their TTR race bike from the TTXGP on display at the Cascade Station Best Buy in Portland. Videos and pictures after the jump.

brammo-ttr-iom-ttxgp-practice-2

First to arrive on the Isle of Man, Brammo has been the most photogenic of the TTXGP contestants from the United States. If IOM gossip is to be believed, the team has been spotted swinging the occasional wrench in between pub hosted team meetings. 

Today on the Isle, Brammo was out testing the TTR on a 40 mile circuit. While they haven’t been out on the full Mountain Course yet, they were able to test the TTR over the 40 miles at a continuous race pace, with a focus on the increasing the endurance of the electric race bike. They were kind enough to shoot a couple shots of Roy Richardson putting the TTR through its paces. Photos after the jump.

brammo-enertia-ttr-1

Today is a double Brammo day. Earlier this morning we teased you with a picture of the . You may have noticed two things. 1) The bike is green…kind of like the Hungry Hunter, and 2) Best Buy is sponsoring it. We don’t mess with giant men that have brussels sprouts growing on them, so this article will solely focus on the latter of the two observations. More pictures after the jump.

brammo-enertia-ttr-5

With the TTXGP only a handful of days away, and with many of the competitors already crating and shipping their race bikes to the Isle of Man, we are starting to see more press releases and updates. This one from Brammo, we are admittedly a little late to, but its important none-the-less.

At the IOM TTXGP, Brammo will be fielding, not one, but two Enertia TTR’s in the event. So far this would seem to be the only team that is fielding a 2-bike team. Cocky or Confident, time will be the judge. Brammo has also released specs and deminsions on its Enertia TTR, you can find them after the jump.

brammo-enertia

Over the past few weeks Brammo Inc. has added some amazing talent to it’s executive staff as they prepare to of Toyota Financial Services. That is about all google turns up about Mr. Hom. Now that he is with Brammo, the EV king of social media, we have a feeling that will change. If Brammo stays true to form we should see a press release soon complete with twitter handle so you can congratulate Ron personally. Just keep it under 140 characters.

Source: Brammo