Motus Tour of the USA

[miles]

THAT is cool.

No, that's hot.  Cooked, roasted-leg type hot.

[veefer800canuck]

I figure they are going to have to lose the Brembos and Ohlins to make the thing affordable to the masses.

[Schneegz]

From Motorcycle Daily:

Motus: In Person



The average age of the American motorcyclist is creeping ever upwards, and because of that, our needs are changing. We still appreciate good handling and lots of power, but we want our bikes to be all-day rideable.

So did the brains behind Motus Motorcycles, Lee Conn and Brian Case. They wanted to build an all-day comfortable sport-tourer that could, in the parlance of their Alabama home, haul ass. You’ve seen the press-kit photos of the resulting product, but you can make anything look good in a photography studio, right? What’s the bike like up close?

I heard the Motus and its creators would be riding through my Bay Area backyard on the Monday after the Laguna Seca MotoGP round. Right on time, as we were eating ice cream on the porch at Alice’s Restaurant in Sky Londa, we heard the barely muffled roar of V-Four motorcycles.

For those who are worried about the build quality and/or appearance of the bikes...

The current bikes are third generation, built to test components and gather data—the fourth-gen examples will be for homologation and certification, and the fifth (or fifth and a half) gens will go to the 25 dealers Motus hopes will be offering its products. They say it will happen next year, and from what I saw, there’s little reason to doubt their word.

That’s because these were some pretty well-developed prototypes. Some of the 1000-odd bits needed to make one of these are still clearly one-off items, like the body panels and tanks, but I saw plenty of items that looked much like what you find on a mass-produced bike, like the brakes, instruments, suspension and even footpegs.

And for those who are worried about performance...

That commitment to performance has paid off. Conn claims his laptimes on the MST are the same as on his CBR600 trackbike at the Barber Motorsports complex where they do much of their testing and development. But he wants economy, too; Lee says the benchmark is 50 mpg, which would give the bike a 300-mile maximum range. The standard MST weighs in at 530 pounds wet, and with a claimed 161 horsepower (and 122 ft.-lbs. of torque at 4500 rpm) it should go fast—really fast.

There's more at the link.  And here are two video clips linked in the article.

[roadrunner]

really hope they make more than 500 a year a keep the price around 20k.  At 30k it will be nothing more than a dream.

[miles]

really hope they make more than 500 a year a keep the price around 20k.  At 30k it will be nothing more than a dream.

500 bikes a year divided by 25 dealers equals 20 bikes per dealership.  That seems like quite a stretch.

[zenwhipper]

The Motus guys (and girls) were at Laguna with Neale Bayly taking pics of the weekend.  Good looking bikes and really good folks.

Durn thing looks like an old flathead. Is it an overhead cam?

Scott

[nantahala]

Nope.  Pushrods with hydraulic lifters.  It's a half of a 'standard' V8.  There were probably some automotive engineers sitting around with nothing to do so it was relatively pretty easy/inexpensive to make the baby block based on historical V8 engine design. And as others have said, there are lots of other applications for a baby block engine like this.

Matt

[BentAero]

The guys at Pratt-Miller designed the engine:

http://prattmiller.com/motorsports/

From their website;

"The Pratt & Miller team has played a key role in eight consecutive GT1 manufacturer and team championships for Chevrolet and Corvette Racing in the American Le Mans Series. With design, fabrication, and trackside support provided by Pratt & Miller, the Corvette factory team has scored 72 victories in 102 races, including an overall win in the 2001 Daytona 24-hour race and five GT titles in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Pratt & Miller implemented Cadillac’s factory race program in the SCCA World Challenge GT that delivered manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships and changed the public’s perceptions of GM’s premium brand. Pratt & Miller-built Pontiacs have earned team, manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, while privateer teams using Pratt & Miller-prepared vehicles have won races and championships across Europe. "

[Mr Sunshine]

Why does this crappy bike keep getting threads? It really isn't special at all.  It has many issues with it actually.

[Croak]

People were asking the same thing about the MTS1200 last year.  

[Orson]

"crappy bikes" with their rough hewn, unfinished quality will always have an advantage over highly refined vehicles due to their character.

It's just something you need to deal with if you ride a souless machine.

 

[FirstVtwin]

"crappy bikes" with their rough hewn, unfinished quality will always have an advantage over highly refined vehicles due to their character.

It's just something you need to deal with if you ride a souless machine.

 

I will second that...I just wish my d@mn speedometer would work...

[atadaskew]

I figure they are going to have to lose the Brembos and Ohlins to make the thing affordable to the masses.

Well, since that stuff came standard on my Ducati St4S, I see no reason for downgrading to this Motus.

[HipGnosis]

P-M engineered the engine that the Motus engine was based on, not the Motus KMV4 engine;

To develop the engine, Motus worked with Michigan-based Katech Engines. Katech has an extensive history developing engines for Trans-Am, NASCAR and American LeMans racing.

“Katech is thrilled to finally announce our involvement with Motus,” says Fritz Kayl, co-founder of Katech. “The KMV4 is an exciting project that fits well within our capabilities and experience. We incorporated technology from our race programs to increase durability, performance, and efficiency. We are ahead of schedule and are refining the KMV4 into the most reliable motorcycle engine made.”

[TheWarrior17]

Ah yeah, thats right, Katech built them. Either way though, a 1650cc V4? Half of a V8? P-M or Kateck, don't matter to me.  

I'm just glad its a V4, aren't enough of those IMO.

[919]

Riding. The two founders are riding, and another of their crew has a chase vehicle.

serious respect points if that is true.  I would love to see this company do well.   I feel the more motorcycle companies work in the U.S. (not just American bikes but foreign factories on U.S. soil) the better it is for the motorcycling community.  What better way to make our passion and preferred method of transportation more visible and viable in our society than having the industry pump money into our economy?

[Rincewind]

Motus Tour is now due to come to the Northeast, October 8th thru the 15th.

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2011/09/30/motus-sport-tour-heads-to-the-northeast-usa/

Locally they are coming to Fast by Ferracci in Philly.  I wonder if FBF will become a dealer?