MOTUS: New Sport Tourer to be built in Alabama

[606XXZIP]

Originally Posted by HarveyMushman

And H-D makes more expensive factory production models than Ducati.




Motus is not producing bikes yet. I don't know what their stance re: unions is. Given their base in Birmingham, I could wager a guess though.



I don't know what their "Euro Design" is exactly, but I think the bike looks okay. Understated, with the engine featured prominently.




And for the second time, Motus doesn't support its bikes because it isn't producing them. They have two prototypes. They have not announced any affiliations with Polaris or any other established companies. When the time comes to support customers' bikes I'm sure they will have a plan. Will there be a boutique on every suburban corner? Probably not.

Euro Design

More directly I will say that whoever the Chief Designer is for Motus MUST have been heavily influenced by the Design Masters of our generation Pierre Terblanche and Fabio Taglioni.

You can see their concepts on display in the Motus motorcycles.

The Motus looks visually appealing because it is based in part on concepts that have already been proven successful by previous designers mentioned above.

Horse beaten enough ?

[JALnSC]

Personaly I don't care who designed the bike or what there petagree is. I (myself) think the bike looks great, sounds great, hell it most likley smells good.
If someone dosent like it, that's fine. But don't go bashing it like a wack-a-mole. Would I like to have one, yes. Would I pay for it? Yes. Would I need pain killers to cope with my face from cramping due to the constant smile? YES.

How to distribute? Individual sales associates working directly for Motus. Pick 8 or 16 regons. Have a tech and salesman for each. You buy the bike and deal with your local rep and tech. Have a problem with your bike he comes and picks it up. Leaves you a loaner untill yours is back.
Every dealer out there now has pissed off people in the past, people want a personal connection. There is no better way to make it than the manufacturer being at the level of the customer. Yes I will work for them if they call.

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhaRdPJI3sU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

new vid I found today.

[606XXZIP]

Originally Posted by JALnSC

Personaly I don't care who designed the bike or what there petagree is. I (myself) think the bike looks great, sounds great, hell it most likley smells good.
If someone dosent like it, that's fine. But don't go bashing it like a wack-a-mole. Would I like to have one, yes. Would I pay for it? Yes. Would I need pain killers to cope with my face from cramping due to the constant smile? YES.

How to distribute? Individual sales associates working directly for Motus. Pick 8 or 16 regons. Have a tech and salesman for each. You buy the bike and deal with your local rep and tech. Have a problem with your bike he comes and picks it up. Leaves you a loaner untill yours is back.
Every dealer out there now has pissed off people in the past, people want a personal connection. There is no better way to make it than the manufacturer being at the level of the customer. Yes I will work for them if they call.

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhaRdPJI3sU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

new vid I found today.

Direct sales - hmmmm - interesting business model.

It just might work. God knows everybody hates dealerships.

I would love for a Ducati tech to come pick up my bike for an oil change and give me a loaner while I wait for its return.

[JALnSC]

I brought it up I got dibs on it.

It always sort of irked me about paying an $86 an hour Shop rate for a $12 dollar an hour kid to learn how to take apart your bike. I guess that's why I work on my own stuff.

Most service can be done out of the back of a sprinter van. I have done ATV engine swaps in much less space.

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by JALnSC

Individual sales associates working directly for Motus. Pick 8 or 16 regons.

Per State?

Your scheme "might" work East of the Mississippi, but in most States/Regions, the distances required for these two guys to travel between bikes would basically mean you'd have to hire gypsies for the positions.

[Bueller]

This has been a great thread with the exception of the denigration into "everyone hates dealerships" and gypsy service model discussions. What a load of shit. "Everyone" doesn't hate dealerships. Not even close, though I do start to wonder if almost everyone on Advrider hates dealerships sometimes. And the talk of personal sales/service tech teams with loaners? Congratulations, you just turned a bike that possibly costs $25,000 into a $35,000 bike in an attempt to support all of those traveling people and loaners.

No, Motus will use a franchise or dealer agreement model just like everyone else. Why? Because it works. Some brands better than others, and certainly none are perfect and they all have some warts. Unfortunately some here are always more focused on the warts than they are on the host, and the majority of dealership experiences that are good get lost in the vocal sniveling, whinging minority. Think about it. If the dealer model really failed as much as a few around here would suggest it would have been replaced by manufacturer owned and controlled outlets/distributors/whatever you want to call them a long time ago, when manufacturers might have had enough money to pull it off.

Motus is focused on developing and manufacturing what looks to be a great product. They will not have the resources to own and run the retail end of the business or deal directly with the end consumer. I'm not sure any production manufacturer has those kinds of resources available nowadays. To think Motus would go that direction is a pipe dream

[kirb]

Originally Posted by Waco Kid

Looks like somebody started with a clean sheet of paper. I can't think of any other sport bikes with a longitudinal V-4. I like it.

Sportbike, no. St1100/st1300, yes.

[606XXZIP]

Originally Posted by Bueller

This has been a great thread with the exception of the denigration into "everyone hates dealerships" and gypsy service model discussions. What a load of shit. "Everyone" doesn't hate dealerships. Not even close, though I do start to wonder if almost everyone on Advrider hates dealerships sometimes. And the talk of personal sales/service tech teams with loaners? Congratulations, you just turned a bike that possibly costs $25,000 into a $35,000 bike in an attempt to support all of those traveling people and loaners.

No, Motus will use a franchise or dealer agreement model just like everyone else. Why? Because it works. Some brands better than others, and certainly none are perfect and they all have some warts. Unfortunately some here are always more focused on the warts than they are on the host, and the majority of dealership experiences that are good get lost in the vocal sniveling, whinging minority. Think about it. If the dealer model really failed as much as a few around here would suggest it would have been replaced by manufacturer owned and controlled outlets/distributors/whatever you want to call them a long time ago, when manufacturers might have had enough money to pull it off.

Motus is focused on developing and manufacturing what looks to be a great product. They will not have the resources to own and run the retail end of the business or deal directly with the end consumer. I'm not sure any production manufacturer has those kinds of resources available nowadays. To think Motus would go that direction is a pipe dream

It is called sarcasm - Reread what I wrote with that in mind. There is not going to be direct sales of motorcycles with Motus or anybody else.

[JALnSC]

Not saying every dealer out there is bad, but every city has a MC dealer they would take there bike to and another dealer they wouldn't think of darkening the doorway. I know I deal with both.
1. This is a place where ideas can come to life. The idea of excelent customer service is still out there and I hope it can be grasped.
2. Many builders of products (not only MC) look only as to who will pay the most for a franchise fee to carry there product. Concern should be placed on who can service the end user the best.
3. Independent dealers are having more pressure every year to support larger floor plans, increasing stock on hand, and purchasing in bulk. This is the exact same thing with the car dealerships from the 50's to the 90's. That is why you see few truly 1 front dealers.
It seems like the guys at Motus are trying to buck the trend and I hope they do well. He'll I hope they blow the socks off the entire market.
Enough of this serious talk I am going back to having fun. I get paid to do the other.

[LuciferMutt]

Here's another "I hope Motus succeeds" post.

Some of you guys are real wet blankets!

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by DevilNinjaDog

Here's another "I hope Motus succeeds" post.

Some of you guys are real wet blankets!

I hope they succeed as well... I just do not see how it is possible. With Sport Touring bike making up what?.... 2% to 3% of the bikes sold in the USA and well represented by Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Moto Guzz... Carving out a piece of the pie from such a small piece of the pie just does not seem viable.


Who knows...

Maybe Polaris or Harley Davidson will pick this up and run with it? It certainly seems like a worthy bike. Maybe it is one of their projects anyway cleverly disguised as an upstart to garner press and public feedback?

I'm skeptical of the 2-3% sport touring sales, probably depends how they defined sport touring. They make up a much higher percentage of the bikes that I see on the road.

I imagine a good many have them because there is no domestic alternative. What they'll pay and how good the Motus is remains to be seen.

[606XXZIP]

Being a small business owner myself - I wish the best of fortunes to Motus.

The odds are stacked against any startup company especially one relying on such a niche market (Premium Priced Sport Touring Motorcycles) in a time when people are out of work, taking shorter close to home vacations, and disposable income for toys is at an all time low.

I don't have any documentation but from what I see on the streets is alot of scooters. It seems that vespa style scooters are really taking hold in the american culture and I believe it has to do with the $4.35/gal gas. This may be a viable market to exploit for profit. The thing is that there are tons of cheap chinese scooters available.

[mrbreeze]

I don't think Motus will need to sell these in huge numbers in order to survive. They are apparently targeting upscale buyers, who are probably recession proof to a large extent.

I hope there are enough Harley and BMW owners out there who will find this interesting enough to want to own one.

[Moronic]

Originally Posted by DAKEZ

I hope they succeed as well... I just do not see how it is possible. With Sport Touring bike making up what?.... 2% to 3% of the bikes sold in the USA and well represented by Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, BMW, Triumph, Ducati, Moto Guzz... Carving out a piece of the pie from such a small piece of the pie just does not seem viable.

The "adventure tourer" market seems to be doing okay. If Motus walks the talk, I can't see why they wouldn't make inroads there with this bike.



People don't buy categories. They buy bikes that do what they want a bike to do. And notoriously, most people who buy adventure tourers don't want them to go far off the tarmac.

They want comfort, character, longevity, grunt, sporty steering, sweet suspension, not too much fairing, good fuel range ... the list goes on and Motus may well have most bases covered.