Brammo - Shocking Barack
The journey to present our president with the most energy efficient electric vehicle in America
Follow our Journey
WE GIVE A BIKE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
I never shut up. Brian, on the other hand, is pretty soft spoken. Which means that when he says something, it usually has substance. And his summation of how we finally gave Barack Obama an electric motorcycle is as humble and genuine as he is: “It isn’t a fairytale ending, but it’s real, and in the end, maybe that’s better.” Brian uttered those words shortly after we locked Barack’s bike to a pole at an undisclosed location in the Greater …
READ MORECRAIG MEETS WITH US SECRETARY OF
ENERGY AND SELECT CAPTAINS
OF INDUSTRY
As Brian and I watched a dialed, well-dressed Craig Bramscher effortlessly clear White House security and walk through the same type of gate we were nearly shot at, we had to admit that maybe we weren’t White House material. I have stuff on my neck and hands, and after two weeks on the road, Brian looked like he’d just rolled out of a cardboard dwelling situated underneath a highway overpass. Still, as much as we wanted to be on …
READ MOREWE RECEIVE SOME PRETTY HUGE NEWS
Since we arrived in Washington we’d been pounding the pavement and banging on doors all over the capitol, right up to the White House itself, trying not to run afoul of the United States Secret Service or any other government agency in our attempt to get an electric motorcycle to President Obama. But at times it seemed like we had gotten nowhere. At least, that’s what we thought. Then, just when we were starting to reconcile ourselves with the fact …
READ MOREMEETING THE PRESS ON CAPITOL HILL
Well maybe we didn’t have momentum in government circles, but it was nice to find out we had a little momentum in pop culture. Thanks to all the people who’ve been following us and the growing popularity of the site, we landed an interview with a reporter from the Associated Press. There weren’t any Senators or Congressmen there, but a few of them sent staff members, who were kind enough to drop by and say hello despite the cold rain. …
READ MOREWE TRY LEAVING THE BIKE AT
A BEACON OF THE FUTURE
The Secretary of Energy, Dr. Stephen Chu, was quoted recently as saying that if it was up to him, he would spend every penny of automotive funding on electric vehicles. So if the Smithsonian wouldn’t take the bike, maybe the Department of Energy would. We had heard they display energy-related things in their lobby, and the bike seemed to align with Secretary Chu’s thoughts on transportation. When we pulled up we saw security was taken very seriously at the DOE, …
READ MOREWE TRY LEAVING THE BIKE AT
A SHRINE TO THE PAST
Being the first American production highway-legal electric motorcycle seemed historically significant, so we decided to visit the Smithsonian Institute, and specifically, the Museum of American History, since that’s where they display transportation industry exhibits. Brian became hopeful as soon as we entered the building, because C3PO, the chattering gold robot from Star Wars, was on display- clearly the museum was open to accepting futuristic donations. But, as we soon found out, the Smithsonian is every bit as bureaucratic as the …
READ MOREWE RING THE WHITE HOUSE DOORBELL, AND
SOMEONE ACTUALLY COMES OUT TO MEET US.
After dozens of fruitless attempts to contact someone, anyone, who could get us in the door, we finally resorted to simply walking up to the White House and ringing the doorbell. Well, it’s not a doorbell in the normal sense. Sure, the button thing you push is almost exactly like a normal doorbell, but instead of a door, it’s mounted to a heavily-guarded iron gate. And instead of sending a melodic chime into the home of a …
READ MORERAY OF HOPE GENERATED BY FANCY
SWEATERS QUICKLY EXTINGUISHED
BY SOILED SHOES
Shortly after we parked near the White House, a group of distinguished looking gentlemen wearing pleated slacks and government-issue White House sweaters gathered excitedly around the bikes. It seemed like this was exactly the kind of break we’d been looking for. We just needed to get the bikes in front of the right people, and now that we’d stumbled into this group of strolling Cabinet members, a meeting with Obama was a foregone conclusion. As I watched …
READ MORETHE COUNCIL FOR “WHATEVER, DUDE.”
There’s no such thing as the CWD, but for us, today, that’s what the Council for Environmental Quality was. The CEQ is a division of the Executive Office and coordinates all federal environmental efforts. We got as far as the reception area, where a kind lady having noodles for lunch informed us that they could not help us get to the president or accept the bike on his behalf. Though very friendly, there was a strong hint …
READ MOREWHO NEEDS A PLAN WHEN YOU
HAVE AN ANSWER?
So we’re not exactly the world’s slickest operation, and we didn’t really work the system or do lots of planning. How are you supposed to work the system from the side of the road in Lorain, Ohio, or on some guy’s pull-out couch in Pittsburgh, PA? We’re just happy to have clean socks. Anyway, a plan is what you make when you don’t have an answer. And that’s what these bikes are. A rolling answer …
READ MOREINVITE SENATORS OR CONGRESSMEN
FROM YOUR STATE
On Tuesday Brian and I will be on Capitol Hill, meeting Senators and Congressmen, talking about our journey and the future of EVs in America. Attach this video as you contact lawmakers from YOUR state and let them know that if they’re interested in a homegrown solution for the American transportation crisis, we’ll be on Capitol Hill Tuesday, at 2PM, on the Senate side. Thanks for your help.
NOW THAT WE’RE HERE,
THE REAL JOURNEY BEGINS
We’ve ridden through big cities and small towns, past lakes and over
mountains, through rain, wind and sun, recharging in the homes and
businesses of generous Americans, and sleeping on their couches when we
needed a rest. Through it all the bikes performed superbly, hitting 70 mph
on flat stretches, and going hitting up to 50 miles between charges once the
batteries broke in. Aside from swapping out a motor controller, we were
mechanically trouble free. But as excited as we are to have covered the
distance, …
DISCOVERING NO ONE HERE
WORKS ON SATURDAY
No one in government works on Saturdays. Actually no one works on Friday either, and from what we’ve heard, they take it kind of easy on Monday, too. But that didn’t stop us from making some preliminary calls. For the most part we got answering machines, but we did speak with an officer of some sort on the Department of Energy’s emergency hotline. We thought we had called a number for urgent business, but it sounded more of a …
READ MOREWE’RE WELCOMED BY THE EVADC
Our next stop was Silver Springs, Maryland, just outside DC. It was hard to believe we were so close to the Capitol, and we kept peeking at the top of the trees, expecting to see the Washington monument poking out. But our destination tonight was not the White House. It was a restaurant called Fajita Coast, where we were invited to a dinner being hosted by the Electric Vehicle Association, a Washington EV club. The fact that electric vehicle clubs …
READ MOREAN ILL-CONCEIVED PLAN NEVER EVEN GETS
OFF THE GROUND IN WINCHESTER, PA.
We are no one. But George Washington was someone. So what if, on our way through Winchester, PA, we stopped at George Washington’s old office and tried to call Obama from there. Surely the Whitehouse has caller ID, and one can imagine a call from George Washington might carry serious weight. Yes, there are some obvious flaws in the logic. For instance, neither Brian nor myself can do a colonial accent. Plus if they quizzed us, like, “Which foot …
READ MOREWE GET AMPERAGE FROM A FOSSIL FUEL FAN
Many people who’ve reached out and offered us electricity through the website are into things like alternative energy and sustainability. It stands to reason that green types would want to help out a couple of guys on electric vehicles. So we were a little confused when we pulled into the Leesburg home of Chris Smith. There was no recycled birdhouse. No tumbling composter. No found-object wind chime. But there was a Porsche GT3 RS with a roll cage, smart …
READ MOREAN UNLIKELY ALLY
It was still brisk at daybreak, cold enough to see our own breath, but by mid-morning the sun was high enough to warm us, not to mention set the gold and red leaves ablaze with light. As we raced through the hills it was clear that electric vehicles have no problem with steep grades. I asked Brian about that (he’s smart), and he explained that as the load increases on an electric motor, the toque automatically increases right along with …
READ MORETHE SECOND REBELLION TO
COME OUT OF BERLIN, PA
As night fell we rolled into the historic town of Berlin, Pennsylvania in search of a charge. About the only thing open was a little place called the House of Miracles, an unlikely amalgam of coffee shop, religious book store and historical site. We plugged the bikes into an exterior outlet and ventured inside, where our senses were immediately assailed by colonial architecture, gregorian chant, and fresh espresso. The door was guarded by a life-sized Roman soldier, but the interior …
READ MOREHAPPY FEET, AND A COIN-INDUCED
ECONOMIC REVELATION
A person’s mental outlook is directly attributable to the state of their feet. Just look at the Grinch. Shoes two sizes too small turned a benevolent dog-loving homebody into a psychotic sled-driving misanthrope, and were in fact the impetus for his devastating unilateral attack on Whoville. To avoid precisely this kind of podiatric disaster, Brian and I have gone to great lengths to keep our feet happy, swapping from sneakers to boots in the cold, and even resorting to gortex …
READ MOREWE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO
Despite inclement weather, road weariness, and a few fleeting moments of self-doubt, our trip has been marked by warmth and laughter, and a strong sense of hope. But there was nothing hopeful about Monessen, PA, and as we rode past boarded-up businesses, crumbling homes, and the mile-long remains of a dead steel mill on the Monongahela River, it was hard to be positive.
1500 people lost their jobs here in July as faith in US-made vehicles evaporated, eliminating demand for the …
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Help Us
Help us meet the president
If you know Barack Obama, or you know someone who knows him, or you're friends with someone who knows someone who knows him, please contact us. We'd be grateful for any help you can give us in meeting him.
Contact the White House
If you'd like to see the White House accept a gift from the whole country, drop them a note.
Share an outlet
If you can give us access to a standard household electrical outlet, we can top-off and make it to our next stop. A full charge is only 30¢ and we're happy to reimburse anyone interested. So please email or tweet us so we can connect.
Share a couch
If you live along the route and we can crash on your couch or floor let us know. We'd be genuinely happy to meet and hang out with you, and we'd be considerate guests in your home. You can email us or use couchsurfing.com.
What We're Doing
Our plan is to retrace the route of the automotive CEOs who went to Washington DC asking for government loans. But instead of looking for aid, we'd like to present President Obama with a homegrown solution to the transportation crisis. And instead of flying in a corporate jet, we're riding Brammo Enertia powercycles. We're just a couple of guys who work for Brammo, but we want to show that there's a better way to get from Point A to Point B. And we want to have a little fun while we're doing it. So join us as we surf from plug to plug in a quest to meet Obama, fueled by nothing more than electricity and the kindness of everyday Americans.