Motus hasn’t made much news lately, but the upstart made-in-America manufacturer is still working on bringing their cycles to market in 2014.
The V4-powered bikes won’t feature gasoline direct injection, as originally planned, but they are still building them around a motor that’s based on a Chevy small-block V8. However, unlike other bikes that were built around car motors simply for bragging rights (cough cough, Boss Hoss, cough cough), the Motus machines are designed with actual sporty performance in mind.
You can see the Motus MST and MST-R undergoing road testing in Utah in the YouTube clip below.
With a loaded BMW 1600GT going for about $23,000, the choice for people looking for this class of motorcycle will be an easy one.
I suspect you’re right. But the age of the “boutique” motorcycle, for lack of a better term, has come, and small-volume, high-dollar bikes are actually selling much better than you’d think.
Perhaps they could add a shaft drive and produce a sport-touring model as well. The longitudinal crank V-4 is well-suited to a shaft drive, and could make the Motus a worthy competitor to sport-touring bikes from Japan and Europe.
A competitor only where price is not part of the equation. I understand exclusivity, but for what they’re asking, you could get two or three comparable bikes.
I think that transverse V-4 sounds absolutely fantastic. It’s a shame the price is astronomical and that there is no Canadian dealer network. It’s a very, very interesting motorcycle.