MOTUS: New Sport Tourer to be built in Alabama

[apessino]

Originally Posted by chadhargis

The Motus is a premium product.

Suspension by Ohlins
Seat by Sargent
Brembo monoblock brakes
Paniers by Givi
Exhaust by Akrapovic
The list goes on....

This isn't there cheap OEM brand crap. It's the good stuff. The premium products.

None of that makes the bike "premium," at least not to the extent of mid-$30K. Lots of other bikes use the same components for half the price - and they add heritage and support for good measure.

Originally Posted by chadhargis

The engine alone is worth buying the bike. There is NOTHING in the world like it. Anytime you bring in a guy who has worked at Cosworth and built F1 engines to design your all new engine, that's pretty dang special.

Fair enough... If you feel that way then great, I don't see anything all THAT special about that engine. If to you it alone justifies the cost of the bike and makes it appealing then good for them.

Originally Posted by chadhargis

Now, if it's a turd, I'll call it a turd, but I don't believe that will be the case.

I doubt it'll be a turd - they seem like really nice bikes.

At the end my problem with it is that I still can't get over how much of a missed opportunity they are. Priced at around $20K for the base, $25K for the R they could have been a real contender - still "premium," but meaningfully placed against its competitors in what is already an uphill race to even get noticed.

If it were my business I would have structured it to do whatever it took to reach that competitive price point. Make the initial investment realistic, take the losses over the first few years but make a product that has a chance to find its market.

Oh well... at the end WTF do I know, I make video games...

[acejones]

P.T. Barnum was right

[PhilB]

Originally Posted by apessino

... At the end my problem with it is that I still can't get over how much of a missed opportunity they are. Priced at around $20K for the base, $25K for the R they could have been a real contender - still "premium," but meaningfully placed against its competitors in what is already an uphill race to even get noticed.

If it were my business I would have structured it to do whatever it took to reach that competitive price point. Make the initial investment realistic, take the losses over the first few years but make a product that has a chance to find its market.

Oh well... at the end WTF do I know, I make video games...

I think the opposite. They already did that, dropping the direct injection and skipping shaft drive, to keep the price down. I think I'd have been *more* likely to buy one at $46K with those things, than at $36K without, and quite possibly many of the others who might be in the market for such a bike would feel the same.

PhilB

[Gadget Girl]

Originally Posted by apessino

At the end my problem with it is that I still can't get over how much of a missed opportunity they are. Priced at around $20K for the base, $25K for the R they could have been a real contender - still "premium," but meaningfully placed against its competitors in what is already an uphill race to even get noticed.

If it were my business I would have structured it to do whatever it took to reach that competitive price point. Make the initial investment realistic, take the losses over the first few years but make a product that has a chance to find its market.

You're starting with an assumption that Motus wants to sell a lot of bikes. Or become a big player in the mass market.

You've missed the mark by a mile!

It has never been the intention of Motus to be a mass market bike. Their top maximum they ever want to produce per year is about 500 bikes. PERIOD. They don't intend to compete with anyone.

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by Gadget Girl

It has never been the intention of Motus to be a mass market bike. Their top maximum they ever want to produce per year is about 500 bikes. PERIOD. They don't intend to compete with anyone.

And they are doing a damn fine job of it.

[Mr. Canoehead]

Originally Posted by Gadget Girl

You're starting with an assumption that Motus wants to sell a lot of bikes. Or become a big player in the mass market.

You've missed the mark by a mile!

It has never been the intention of Motus to be a mass market bike. Their top maximum they ever want to produce per year is about 500 bikes. PERIOD. They don't intend to compete with anyone.

Just curious - what do you base that on? Do you have inside knowledge? I doubt that they are telling Ohlins, Akro, etc, "we never want to sell more than 500 bikes a year".

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

[acejones]

I've been reading a bit on some other sites about Motus. My important opinion is the bike won't do anything that a lot of other bikes will do just as well and at a lower cost.
They are good looking bikes, but I just can't see the price differential with other bikes.
I don't care if they succeed or not.

[Gadget Girl]

Originally Posted by Mr. Canoehead

Just curious - what do you base that on? Do you have inside knowledge? I doubt that they are telling Ohlins, Akro, etc, "we never want to sell more than 500 bikes a year".

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

This is a hand built bike. No robots. This is intended to be a finely crafted machine, not a mass produced functional tool.

I'm sure the guys would be more than happy to give you a tour of the facility in Birmingham any time. You could sit on the bike and chat with them yourself. They're really nice folks.

[chadhargis]

From the emails I've exchanged with them they seem like very nice folks with a solid business plan.

[Mr. Canoehead]

Originally Posted by Gadget Girl

This is a hand built bike. No robots. This is intended to be a finely crafted machine, not a mass produced functional tool.

I'm sure the guys would be more than happy to give you a tour of the facility in Birmingham any time. You could sit on the bike and chat with them yourself. They're really nice folks.

If my work ever takes me to AL, I'll do that.

I'd love to ask them if they intend to sell in Canada.

[10/10ths]

....Motus is offering another fine choice in the market for enthusiasts.

It's not for everyone, obviously.

Why hate on it?

As far as the hard parts go, they chose chain drive on purpose. It's in their mission statement. Chain drive for less weight, better handling, no shaft jacking, and ability to change gearing.

The seating position is PERFECT.

The engine is exotic, yet parts can be found at any NAPA store or Chevy dealer. No valve adjustments. Sounds bad-ass. Huge power and torque.

So it's expensive, so what? Don't buy the darn thing, but don't crack on it because it doesn't work for you.

I probably can't afford one, but I sure am interested and might be pushed into actually buying one once I've seen a production bike go through some testing by the mags.

Cheers.

[acejones]

The mags will pretty much wet their pants over it. They usually do especially if there is potential for advertising dollars.

[10/10ths]

..Hell for Leather?

[RedRocket]

Originally Posted by Mr. Canoehead

Just curious - what do you base that on? Do you have inside knowledge? I doubt that they are telling Ohlins, Akro, etc, "we never want to sell more than 500 bikes a year".

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

I've read that their aim is 200 to 300 per year. I don't think they were lying.

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by 10/10ths

....Motus is offering another fine choice in the market for enthusiasts.

Not yet, they're not.