MOTUS: New Sport Tourer to be built in Alabama

[Reverend12]

Trust me they're coming... soon

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by JerryH

Another Excelsior-Henderson here, except they sold a couple thousand bikes before going belly up.

^ ^ ^
Another idiotic post here except - well, except nothing. Just another idiotic post.

[RedRocket]

Originally Posted by JerryH

Another Excelsior-Henderson here, except they sold a couple thousand bikes before going belly up.

Stick to what you know best; Vulcans

[pmelby]

Originally Posted by kirb

You should do more research. The biz model of EH is nothing like Motus. EH had to have major sales to keep the massive infrastructure afloat. Motus doesn't have that problem.

EH built less than 2k bikes, not all have yet sold.

Research isn't one of his strong suits.

Back to the bike, I would like to see how they manage to couple the longitudinal crankshaft to the transverse gearbox/clutch shafting. I suppose that the gearbox has the right angle gearing built into it? It appears from the pics of the KVM4, that there is a starter gear on the output end of the crank. I suppose that the crank is splined for connection to the gearbox input. Does the motor and gb share the same lube or are they separate?

cheers,
melby

[kirb]

Originally Posted by pmelby

Research isn't one of his strong suits.

Back to the bike, I would like to see how they manage to couple the longituding crankshaft to the transverse gearbox/clutch shafting. I suppose that the gearbox has the right angle gearing built into it? It appears from the pics of the KVM4, that there is a starter gear on the output end of the crank. I suppose that the crank is splined for connection to the gearbox input. Does the motor and gb share the same lube or are they separate?
cheers,
melby

I would assume the gearbox is bolt-on as they plan on the engine serving double-duty elsewhere. They look like different castings when you look at photos and the development photos/tests. Pratt/Miller designed the gearbox, kaytech the engine.

[Sierra Thumper]

Originally Posted by Reverend12

Trust me they're coming... soon

I hope you're right...I like the Motus and think its a very cool ride. I might even pick a used one up a few years down the road, when the price/value ratio becomes more reasonable...thats if it turns out to be a good running, reliable machine.
I guess for now we continue to wait and wonder

[pmelby]

Originally Posted by kirb

I would assume the gearbox is bolt-on as they plan on the engine serving double-duty elsewhere. They look like different castings when you look at photos and the development photos/tests. Pratt/Miller designed the gearbox, kaytech the engine.

I wonder why the Motus people don't start leaking some CAD/SolidWorks type of images of the production bike. Seems like it would help to peak (pique?) interest in forums like this one. I for one, don't give a crap about paint or Givi bags, but would like some details on construction and design, clutch servicability, etc.

cheers,
melby

[bk brkr baker]

When E-H brought their first bikes to Bike Week way back when-ever I went to check them out. I picked up the literature , bought a T-shirt and got on the mailing list.
Why ? It wasn't my cup of tea, another overweight and over chromed cruiser. That didn't really matter to me . I was excited that somebody was going to build a new motorcycle in the U.S.A.
The U.S. had nearly been run out of the motorcycle bussiness by the Japanese brands. H-D pulled some strings and got Ronnie to put a tarriff on the Japanese bikes. In a way that sucked but in the end it worked and American bikes are still with us.
I'm not surprised that E-H failed . The Brothers Hanlon seemed to feed on their own B.S. and their egos helped kill the company.
I have hope that Motus does succeed. They are building a bike that I would like to own.
Still doesn't mean I will . It has to work right and be at the right price for that to happen. So now let's watch and learn.

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by bk brkr baker

H-D pulled some strings and got Ronnie to put a tarriff on the Japanese bikes. In a way that sucked but in the end it worked and American bikes are still with us.

They also went to the government and said they didn't need the tariffs any longer. The AMF days brought good and bad. When they got the company back they needed a little help for a time before they could compete head to head with the metric bikes on sales numbers.

It worked.

I wish the government regs were not so thick now so it would be a little easier for Motus.

[Hog Rider]

Originally Posted by DAKEZ

I wish the government regs were not so thick now so it would be a little easier for Motus.

It would be easier for us all

[wpbarlow]

Originally Posted by bk brkr baker

... H-D pulled some strings and got Ronnie to put a tarriff on the Japanese bikes. ....

You must have missed the part about the International Trade Commission agreeing that the Japanese mc manufacturers were in fact engaging in anti-competitive behavior at the time.

[bk brkr baker]

Originally Posted by wpbarlow

You must have missed the part about the International Trade Commission agreeing that the Japanese mc manufacturers were in fact engaging in anti-competitive behavior at the time.

It seems my wording says to you I thought that Reagan was wrong to inact the tarriff. I don't feel that way. It's a fact that the Japanese manufacturers were dumping on the U.S. market.
To me my post leans strongly in the direction of waving the flag. Too bad you can't see that.

[baloneyskin daddy]

Harley was producing junk and asking a mint for it ,thats the reason they were dying a slow death.The bikes the Japanese were suposedly dumping were mostly smaller models that were not competition to HD. The tariff was bogus just like the recent HD bailout in PA. Funny how once they built better quality bikes and invested in their lineup how they couldn't build them fast enough. Then they flooded the market with them,just like the Japanese, started offering 7yr payment plans and got themselves into a financial pinch and cried to the government again for help. This was after 20 yrs of record sales and profits . Greed at its finest,capitalism at its best.

[kirb]

Originally Posted by baloneyskin daddy

Harley was producing junk and asking a mint for it ,thats the reason they were dying a slow death.The bikes the Japanese were suposedly dumping were mostly smaller models that were not competition to HD. The tariff was bogus just like the recent HD bailout in PA

The tariff only impacted bikes over 700cc for 5 years. Honda, in bikes like the Magna, took sizes from 750 down to 699 to get under the tariff. HD asked the tariff be lifted a year early in '87.

Bogus? maybe. It helped save HD during some dark years. It wasn't the only thing, but it helped.

[Worroll]

I wish the Japanese dumped(sold?) more bikes in the us market in the 80's, then I'd be able to find a V65 or CB1100F or CBX dirt cheap.