MOTUS: New Sport Tourer built in Alabama

Find were I said that. You didn't read the post did you!?

As far as the spelling! I'm just not that anal.

But I do agree with you on the manufacturing part, its how countries build wealth from raw materials. Unfortunately the American mindset is to NOT get their hands dirty, students go to colleges/universities to get clever or learn how to massage the system so they can suck the fast drying tit and the cleverest will be millionaires if not billionaires. As an example, in Europe the Manufacturing Engineering degree is a grueling 5 year program, which tells us they take it seriously cause they understand the impact. As far as being a pessimist, I believe they are based in reality, while optimist is a pessimist wishing for the best outcome which is different than hoping where people put their money where their mouth is. I guess you are hopemist.

Motus may have formulated their plans years ago and are stuck with the current economy, that's unfortunate. But to make it now when so so many niche bike manufacturer's have closed and more on verge I say Motus better have a more than terrific plan. I do wish them the best and if they can sell me a bike for around 20K I may just be an hopemist myself, as I do love V4 especially in that size.

Thank you for ignoring all of my other valid points.

Your welcome.

I for one wish them all the success in the world. Make it comfortable, reliable and fast. Put a big alternator on it and hopefully it can be a platform the aftermarket will love. Would I spend more on a bike because it's American? Yes I would.

Found this ten-minute interview with Lee Conn:
http://youtu.be/Cbn_uZ2Z3EY
<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Cbn_uZ2Z3EY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I believe it will have all of that. Would I buy it because it is American? Probably. Would I buy it because 525lbs, 160hp, etc.? Oh, hell yes!

Hmmm...that video said exactly the opposite of what some nay-sayers are predicting. Imagine that. hand built, hard to get, premium parts, attention to detail.

he's right. Moto Guzzi is a great bike that does nothing better than anything else. This guy gets it. They will do well.

http://www.motusmotorcycles.com/job...2718330288-Motus_Updates_v10&utm_medium=email

Just gotta Ask why Americans keep bringing old technology to market in trying times. V4 push rod motor ? Survivors of the great depression were innovators ! Then again maybe they understand technology the same as they understand finance ?

nothing wrong with pushrod motor as long as you dont expect it to rev to the stratosphere,as a plus it is much simpler,lighter,easier/less costly to service and less top heavy than a ohc motor,pluss these babies have direct injection,a first for a motersickle

Maybe the technology suits their intended goals without over-complicating things. What are the valve adjustment intervals on the MOTUS?? Hmmmm...

it proly has hydraulic roller lifters,no adjustment needed if that is the case

Yes, single cam-in-the-valley, hydraulic lifters, pushrods, and dual overhead valves that never need adjustment.

yepper and at a claimed 100hp per liter it is not highly stressed,comparatively speaking

^^^Exactly^^^^

Chains, sprockets, tires and oil changes. There's your maintenance manual right there. I haven't owned a bike with hydraulic lifters since my 2004 Kawasaki MeanStreak, that bike had a shaft drive so maintenance was pretty much oil changes and tires. Even though I only have to do the valves on my Honda CBF every couple years with my mileage, I just did them, had a couple valves out of spec so had to pull the cams and replace shims. I'd rather not do that if possible. I like hydraulic lifters.

I wonder how long before they ask for bailout money from the tax payers to keep their doors open?

Very informative, thanks for posting.

And after watching it, I think we may all be in for a case of sticker shock.

There is no plan at all for mass production. As in, they are planning this as a hand-built bike.

They want it to be the sort of bike where, "you're lucky to get one".

They are hoping to build 200 or 300 bikes next year.

Before getting into designing the bikes, they examined the business case fror building them. And it sounded awfully like they are planning to make money from the few hundred bikes a year that they build and sell.

Add that up and what do we have?

- They are hoping there will be a waiting list of buyers for the few hundred bikes built.

- They will charge whatever they believe they can get away with while maintaining that wait list.

- They will avoid charging so little that the wait list is enormous (because if they did, then the real money would be made by people earlier on the wait list selling at a premium to those further down).

So (and as usual, assuming the bikes turn out to be as good as they hope), what sort of price tag would ensure they get only a few hundred people a year placing deposits?

Oh, and speaking of videos, this is well worth a peek (just up, at the Motus site):<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px">

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3DByGC5AlY0?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="390" width="640"></object>

A couple of bike writers comment after riding a prototype. And some ride footage - looks very good.

And an interesting post here on another forum from a Ducati rider who it appears followed a Motus test rider through a nice stretch of road recently. Sounds like it was a case of :eek1

Edit: and having pointed out a few weeks ago that their website had begun quoting the weight as 240kg (530lbs) dry, I see today they have switched back again to 240 wet. Must have been a proofing glitch (of course we still don't know what wet means in Motus-speak).