MOTUS: New Sport Tourer built in Alabama

I'm thinking by time it gets in production everyone will have forgotten about it...

My wife and I have take a handful of two week+ trips here in the states and we usually see quite a few Harleys touring around.

we just got back from three weeks in Mexico..... On our trip we did quite a bit more dirt than I thought we would - didn't bother me, hell I enjoyed it. But the entire trip we only saw two Harleys....

Many riders tend to think of all cruisers as "butt jewelry" And some are. But many are not. I mostly ride cruisers on the road because of their comfort and their practicality. You can spend all day in the saddle and not hurt all over. There are plenty of options for loading them with lots of stuff, and you can put a windshield on them. Unfortunately many newer cruisers are not practical and don't handle as well as '80s cruisers. The Yamaha Viragos and Kawasaki Vulcans were excellent all around bikes. My current Vulcan 750 has over 75,000 hard miles on it. It is dirty, scratched, and shows wear. But those were some of the most enjoyable miles I have ever put on any bike. It is a 1985 design.

There are always a few people who will pay a ridiculous price for a piece of rolling artwork which is virtually worthless as a motorcycle. But as was said, those who want a functional motorcycle are not going to be into that kind of thing, and bikes like the ST1300, FJR1300, Concours 1400, and a number of others are far better sport tourers than the Motus, at less than half the price. So, the Motus comes up short on looks, performance, and functionality compared to many bikes half it's price or less. So what is there about it to like?

Jerry -

Not to rain on your mini rant, and I've not ridden the Motus, but I'm going to say that based on weight and power alone the motus isn't going to come up short on performance. That thing is loaded with top shelf performance parts and carbon (s model) or forged rims. The looks, well, I agree its kind of homely, but I could live with it. The price, well, thats a tough one to swallow. I still look forward to being able to see one in the wild.

One of the things I like about the Motus is it's simplicity in design so it will very easy to work on. No smorgasborg of acronym'd gadgetry to cause problems. Should be as easy as a R100 to keep running. Styling is fine with me. It's functional and well integrated in relation to the rider. For what it offers, as is said, it is easily more than twice the price it should be offered at if it were offered in the same quantities as more established marques. In the limited quantities is will be in now, $25k would seem ok for a first year run. However, I'm not one who's willing to pay off their investment loans competely in the first year

One of the things I wish it had is ABS and I wish the direct injection would have come to fruition. With the addition of these, $20k would likely be a proper price in reasonable production quantities.

You'd cross shop the lard-assed Honda custom cruiser with this lithe sport-touring machine?

Really?

:huh

And to me that's getting more and more important. Follow any of the threads on the BMWs, the Multistrada, and even the Kawi Concours and how many riders have experienced problems with their fancy electronic keys, suspension etc. My new Tiger 800 is pretty darn archaic compared and I still enjoy the simplicity of my DR650. There's something to be said for simple designs that just work. I totally agree about the pricing as well, had they added ABS and kept the direct injection it may have been worth the money they're asking.

Motus needs a manufacturing partner to drive prices down (with economies of scale) and to tap into a sales infastructure - i.e. Polaris.

Polaris could buy Motus and get the vehicles into production and launched for March of 2013 (15K seems about right price-wise). Polaris could sell Motus alongside their existing (and new "Indian") dealers and it would save them having to design their own proprietary street bike powerplant. Motus would still be a "Made-in-the-USA" brand with the added bonus of engineering/R&D ties to one of the best engine builders in the world.

Of course, this is would never happen.... I'm guessing for Motus the hard part now is gonna be securing dealers and floor financing. Their pricing is nuts.

That would have actually been a way smarter move on Polaris' part than buying Indian? :huh They already build very good cruisers, Motus could have been a way to move into another market.

How do you know those others are "far better sport tourers"? How do you know the Motus comes up short on performance and functionality? You're speculating at best, because you haven't ridden it and you don't really have any factual info to base that on. When it hits the market, some tests of the actual production versions are conducted and written up, and you've taken a decent ride on one, THEN you have some basis for these statements.

PhilB

As the current owner of both a cruiser and a Goldwing, the FB6 makes perfect sense for me. I know how the Goldwing performs, and it is a comfortable all day ride, important to me if I actually want to go somewhere. And it is dead reliable. The FB6 is just a stripped down restyled Goldwing for $10K less.

I was unable to ride a stock Ninja 500 very far without pain, so I would probably have the same issue with ANY sport tourer. And yes I am speculating, as I have never ridden any of these bikes, though I have sat on the C1400 and FJR. I am going by motorcycle magazine road tests, and they have all been very positive for the 3 Japanese bikes I mentioned. They have been around long enough to be pretty well known. There are multiple threads on here for each one of them. The Motus is up against some pretty stiff competition, and at over twice the price, I don't see anyway it can win.

I'm not one of them, but most motorcyclists these days put a high value on the latest technology. All 3 Japanese bikes have a lot more of it, including ABS and shaft drive, than the Motus. Plus they are proven. The Motus is not. I doubt it would compete well with those other bikes at their price. But at over twice as much? Yes, it is speculation, but I just don't see how it can work.

Ummm...shaft drive is hardly new technology.

I also love the look of the Guzzi motors, as well as the old Honda CX/GL500/650 motors, and the ST1100/1300 motor would probably have looked great if Honda hadn't covered it up. But $40K plus? How many Guzzis can you buy with that?

If post content on Advrider equaled work, Jerry would have long and accomplished career in speculation.

oh. Ok...

He lost me when he said the Virago was a comfy cruiser. One of my riding buddies in highschool had a Virago 750 with forward controls and it had one of the worst saddles. Ever. So soft 20mins had your tailbone bouncing off the seat pan, I rather do 1000km on a RZ500...oh wait, I did do that.

Hey Jerry...be happy riding your 80's cruisers on the occasional summer weekend, if that's all you can afford fine. But shitting all over a bike you'll never be able to own, and have no concept as to it's abilities...really why bother even posting?

Motus will never be legal to plate in Canuckistan so the issue is moot for me, but a pair of guys built a bike to suit them, all the power to them if they make a buck out of it. Looks to be my perfect bike that all other "do-all sport tourers" shoot for but miss the mark somewhere.

As I said, speculation, but based on very real information. Nobody can ride every bike made. I consider magazine road tests and owners feelings about their bikes to be pretty accurate, and if so, the Concours, FJR, and ST are some pretty great sport tourers. Would anyone here who is not rich seriously consider paying over $40K for a Motus? Does anyone here actually intend to buy one IF they ever they are ever available, or is this thread just one really long argument. I look forward to the unlikely day when a real Motus owner shows up on this thread.

As for the Virago, along with the Vulcan it is one of the most comfortable bikes I have ever ridden. I'm referring to the '90 and up dual shock 750 and 1100. These were bikes that could be ridden all day in comfort (by me anyway) and even handled great. Yamaha didn't seem to realize what they had. They made a huge mistake replacing them with the Harley copy V-Star. As for an RZ500, or any other sportbike for that matter, I wouldn't last 100 miles on it until the pain became unbearable. (again, for me) That's what I like so much about the FB6. It's both a cruiser and a touring bike, and it is NOT a Japanese v-twin. I hope it does not go the way of the Valkyrie, another great touring cruiser (or was it a sport tourer, considering it's great handling) It was comfortable anyway.

The 3 bikes you mentioned make about 40 less horsepower than the top spec MOTUS, and also weigh more. I'm confident that its level of performance is a notch or 3 above the others, and could likely also make a better track-day bike for those inclined.

Horsepower is never cheap, and 185 is a LOT.

Having owned and ridden many 80's bikes I can see your Virago's forks wiggling now.

You are talking about these things, right?




I spent a few days on one back when they were first released. It was surprisingly entertaining and even comfortable for an hour or so. And ridden within its limits, it did indeed steer quite well.

Nevertheless, those limits were somewhat restrictive.

If you are happy with the way one of these handles, then I understand fully why you cannot not see the value in a Motus. And you are quite right.

The Motus makes sense only for people who would describe a Virago, after riding one through some curves, as a weaving, grinding pile of junk.

So now the Motus makes 185 crank hp? I read 160 crank awhile back in one of my motorcycle mags...and thats before they downgraded the intake system. So they're claiming a 25hp increase on the top spec 40k dollar bike, with the same engine, with just bolt-on upgrades? I'm a little skeptical on the 185 number, I suspect it'll be substantially less on the actual showroom production bikes. But then most all bike makers get a little optimistic with crank hp numbers
Even if it does come with closer to 160 worst case tho, its still going to be a very quick sports tourer....the power to weight ratio will be very nice compared to its competition.