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Motus V4


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Yep. They think that made in the US will trump any concerns on price vs value or equipment spec level.

The engine is a V4 developed by Katech in Michigan who has experience with pushrod V8's from NASCAR.

Price around $35k last I talked to them.

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Yep, and found out the dealer is literally right up the road from me! Still haven't found time to get over to see about a test ride...

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My son and i have been following these guys for a few years. The are now shipping motorcycles in production and rolling out a small dealer network. We took a trip down to the factory in Birmingham AL and received the royal treatment, tours, test rides etc. They even took us out to dinner. Lee Cohn and his guys are fantastic people. The hospitality was first rate and you can tell they all have great pride in their product....and no, i was not there to buy a motorcycle, they knew that. We were just fans of the product.

The motorcycle is very different from the Japanese and German sport tourers. It has a character all of it's own and the V four has monster power and torque and it is a very unique riding experience. I think it may be one of those love it or hate it things - kinda like Harleys. The motorcycles are not cheap, they come fully optioned out with ohlins suspensions, Sargent seats, hard bags etc. It is one of those motorcycles you really have to ride to appreciate.

I think their business plan is to be a small producer of several hundred to a thousand motorcycles a year. I think there market demographic will turn out to be older more experienced riders, with disposable income that want a touring motorcycle that is a different from the cookie cutter bikes on the market;; ST1300, Concours 14, FJR, BMW RT. Not to start a flame war but the Japanese bikes are all incredibly similar and I am not a fan of the BMW boxer. Disclosure - I have a C14.

Being US made will appeal to some. I, for one, would like to a US motorcycle industry offering something other than cruiser style bikes - especially now that EBR is gone.

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Yep, and found out the dealer is literally right up the road from me! Still haven't found time to get over to see about a test ride...

All I know is I want!!!!

Maybe when I come down we can go and check it out D

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Motus and the Monster on Hwy 1

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Welcome and nice bike . Can give us any feedback on what it ride like?

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Would love to see Motus get their heads out of the clouds and price a bike in the 15k range where normal people can hope to afford one. 35k is a chunk of change for a motorcycle.

Having said that, I've seen one up close and I really liked what they had going, hoping to see them succeed and become a major manufacturer of American motorcycles!

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Take off the top shelf parts from top of the line vendors and produce them in mass, then you can have a bike for $15k.

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Maybe a naked version for less $$$

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The V4 is why you buy and love this bike! It is truly unique, sound, torque, power, fun. I am glad Motus bolted the top shelf parts on this bike, so I didn't have too. It is hand built with extreme attention to detail. I have had several experts pull off the body work and take a close look. They were blown away with the craftsmanship and ease that all the parts go together. The one exception is the frame makes it a bit tight to adjust the rear ohlins shock.

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Take off the top shelf parts from top of the line vendors and produce them in mass, then you can have a bike for $15k.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

b6d82f35ab3b5af23b3a916853a8f95d.jpg

Maybe a naked version for less $$$

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The V4 is why you buy and love this bike! It is truly unique, sound, torque, power, fun. I am glad Motus bolted the top shelf parts on this bike, so I didn't have too. It is hand built with extreme attention to detail. I have had several experts pull off the body work and take a close look. They were blown away with the craftsmanship and ease that all the parts go together. The one exception is the frame makes it a bit tight to adjust the rear ohlins shock.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

db782aa8cf5a6280660ceaf2e6ec601c.jpg

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Nice tease!

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A Motus in the wild!! That will turn heads and have people ask you many questions for sure.

Just like me on my Moto Guzzi Lemans 1000 in the spring of 1990 riding through East Germany. Each petrol stop I'd be surrounded by astounded motorists.... :-)

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Just curious what does this bike weight ?

Oddly their "Full Spec" sheet does not give final vehicle weight but it does list the engine w/6 speed transmission as 225 lbs.

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Just curious what does this bike weight ?

Oddly their "Full Spec" sheet does not give final vehicle weight but it does list the engine w/6 speed transmission as 225 lbs.
I saw 598 wet somewhere

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Take off the top shelf parts from top of the line vendors and produce them in mass, then you can have a bike for $15k.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

b6d82f35ab3b5af23b3a916853a8f95d.jpg

Maybe a naked version for less $$$

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The V4 is why you buy and love this bike! It is truly unique, sound, torque, power, fun. I am glad Motus bolted the top shelf parts on this bike, so I didn't have too. It is hand built with extreme attention to detail. I have had several experts pull off the body work and take a close look. They were blown away with the craftsmanship and ease that all the parts go together. The one exception is the frame makes it a bit tight to adjust the rear ohlins shock.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

db782aa8cf5a6280660ceaf2e6ec601c.jpg

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

13f8451895c34d594df453bbab433046.jpg

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm not saying it isn't a great machine, but the fact of the matter is top shelf or not, not everyone can drop 35k on a bike, or a car for that matter. I think it would be nice to see Motus make it big and develop their brand as a USA bike maker, but what I am saying is they will have to find a way to price the bike in line with competitors machines in order to be more than a niche bike maker.

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All I can say that the motus has to compete with the VFR1200 which is a great machine (just bought one) The VFR is top quality, and even if you put full olins and every option and bought at full retail, it is still cheaper than the Motus. It looks more refined too, and has a few more features, such as SSSA, shaft drive and ABS. Plus you have Honda's dealer network for parts and service. Honda also struggled selling the VFR at full retail, so they could be had for a bargain. This is a VFR forum, and I might be bias, but I can have my 1200, and brand new VFR800 and a brand new Africa Twin for the price of the motus. Best of luck to Motus though. I hope they can lower their prices and become more competitive.

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Just curious what does this bike weight ?

Oddly their "Full Spec" sheet does not give final vehicle weight but it does list the engine w/6 speed transmission as 225 lbs.
I saw 598 wet somewhere

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That's too heavy for me. Thanks.

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Just curious what does this bike weight ?

Oddly their "Full Spec" sheet does not give final vehicle weight but it does list the engine w/6 speed transmission as 225 lbs.
I saw 598 wet somewhere

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

That's too heavy for me. Thanks.

But it has like 857 HP to cover the weight!

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I noticed first group of pictures didn't have the appendage on the left side of the engine (stock) and the latter have what appears to be a turbo! How much power did that add?

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Take off the top shelf parts from top of the line vendors and produce them in mass, then you can have a bike for $15k.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

b6d82f35ab3b5af23b3a916853a8f95d.jpg

Maybe a naked version for less $$$

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The V4 is why you buy and love this bike! It is truly unique, sound, torque, power, fun. I am glad Motus bolted the top shelf parts on this bike, so I didn't have too. It is hand built with extreme attention to detail. I have had several experts pull off the body work and take a close look. They were blown away with the craftsmanship and ease that all the parts go together. The one exception is the frame makes it a bit tight to adjust the rear ohlins shock.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

db782aa8cf5a6280660ceaf2e6ec601c.jpg

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

13f8451895c34d594df453bbab433046.jpg

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Just checking out your posts and screen name....did you buy Motus serial number balls 5 or are you the 5th Motus owner on VFRD?

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Take off the top shelf parts from top of the line vendors and produce them in mass, then you can have a bike for $15k.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

b6d82f35ab3b5af23b3a916853a8f95d.jpg

Maybe a naked version for less $$$

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The V4 is why you buy and love this bike! It is truly unique, sound, torque, power, fun. I am glad Motus bolted the top shelf parts on this bike, so I didn't have too. It is hand built with extreme attention to detail. I have had several experts pull off the body work and take a close look. They were blown away with the craftsmanship and ease that all the parts go together. The one exception is the frame makes it a bit tight to adjust the rear ohlins shock.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

db782aa8cf5a6280660ceaf2e6ec601c.jpg

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

13f8451895c34d594df453bbab433046.jpg

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm not saying it isn't a great machine, but the fact of the matter is top shelf or not, not everyone can drop 35k on a bike, or a car for that matter. I think it would be nice to see Motus make it big and develop their brand as a USA bike maker, but what I am saying is they will have to find a way to price the bike in line with competitors machines in order to be more than a niche bike maker.

All I can say that the motus has to compete with the VFR1200 which is a great machine (just bought one) The VFR is top quality, and even if you put full olins and every option and bought at full retail, it is still cheaper than the Motus. It looks more refined too, and has a few more features, such as SSSA, shaft drive and ABS. Plus you have Honda's dealer network for parts and service. Honda also struggled selling the VFR at full retail, so they could be had for a bargain. This is a VFR forum, and I might be bias, but I can have my 1200, and brand new VFR800 and a brand new Africa Twin for the price of the motus. Best of luck to Motus though. I hope they can lower their prices and become more competitive.

I am going to respectfully disagree with this line of thought as I think what Motus would deem a success is far different from what we expect from Honda and other main-stream manufacturers.

From an automotive perspective it would be akin to comparing Porsche (pre 4 door and SUV days) to one of the Detroit big 3. Of course the Ohlins parts dont account for $20,000 in added value. Motus has to price the bike at that level to recoup the Katech development costs but they want to price it there to create an aspirational brand.

I think they would be more than happy to be selling 250-300 bikes a year in 3 years at $35k each instead of trying to sell 750 bikes at $15k each to reach the same total sales dollars or more than 1,000 per year to generate the same margins.

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