V4 streetfighter coming from Motus?

Mostly, this time of year is all about tasty rumours from the Euro moto-press: hot new Italian nakeds! Brusque, business-like Beemers! You know the drill.

However, we might be seeing something pretty interesting coming out of the States in the near future instead. Motus, the performance-focused US-based manufacturer behind the MST sport tourer, is teasing a new streetfighter on its social media platforms (we noticed it on Asphalt & Rubber). You can see the prototype doing some dyno testing in the video above.

A streetfighter would make a lot of sense for Motus. It’s a tiny company, and couldn’t compete with the established superbike manufacturers; a move towards high-end sportbikes would simply end up with another ending like the Erik Buell Racing story. Discerning sport riders have come to expect things like multi-level traction control, leaning ABS, and other advanced electronics that are expensive to produce.

However, a streetfighter can get by on muscle and handling alone, and Motus is much better-equipped to provide those. The MST sport tourer has gotten plenty of positive press since its debut, impressing many riders with the “adequate” power output from its V4. American riders have always had a thing for uncompromising naked bikes (see also: most of the good machines Buell made while it was part of Harley-Davidson). Could this machine be another made-in-America success story? Given the MSRPs of the previous entries in the Motus lineup, we doubt this will ever be a machine for the hoi-poloi, but it will likely be a very competent machine for real-world riding—for those who can afford it.