| Author | Message | ||
     Glitch |
When I said start small, I meant production numbers, not quality. I'm liking that test mule, it's more my style. Naked, that's my style!  | ||
| Blake |
Thanks to Jeremy for all the great photos! Where you finding them? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Thanks to Jeremy for all the great photos! +1 to that. Maybe Jeremy and/or Tom went to the unveiling? | ||
| Clrobins |
I think Motus will sell more engines than motorcycles at first, it just isn't that special of a bike. People will die for this in custom bikes, smaller race cars, dune buggies, and hopped-up VW bugs. Hopefully their design will get better over time. | ||
| Rex |
Very nice bike. what the USA should have built vrs. the Excelsior Henderson, the Indian, and to some extent the Victory. Nice bike. I think they have an uphill road to go, unless they tie into a deal with someone else? Other dealerships, like how Can Am has tied in with dealers. I wish them the best. I agree with the motors. this could be a neat motor in other vehicles too. REX | ||
| Glitch |
Very nice bike. what the USA should have built vrs. the Excelsior Henderson, the Indian, and to some extent the Victory. I know what you mean, and agree. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
When I said start small, I meant production numbers, not quality. When I said must enter at the top levels, I meant quality/performance not quantity. | ||
| Glitch |
Hey were on the same page! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
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| Ft_bstrd |
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| Blake |
Look how small that bike is. Figures they'd have a glamour model posing on the thing. Nice shirt. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The bike really is pretty small. What was amazing is how narrow the seat section is. It's probably only about 7-8" at the front of the saddle. There was a guy who is 5'6" and he was bent legged sitting on it. | ||
| Chadhargis |
Very cool bike! | ||
| Blake |
I'm guessing there ought to be some significant weight reduction in that engine and tranny down the line. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
It sounds like two Ducatis running at the same time. | ||
| Blake |
I hate that. Down with the Siamese Ducati noise! | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
No, it's a good thing. Sounded awesome. | ||
| Clrobins |
whats up with the huge red horn on the left side? That should be carbon fiber too. | ||
| Blake |
Who couldn't like a double Ducati sound must be horsewhipped. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Back to the bike... I wonder why, with all the fantastic development and widespread use, we don't see some turbocharged motorcycles? I wonder how much weight the Motus engine could save by dropping two cylinders in exchange for a turbocharger? I've yet to meet a turbo-charged engine I like. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I was told that with either turbo charging or supercharging and a modest bore job that the power output of this motor was over 300HP. Yeah, the red horn was the target of much musing. I believe the designers were taken back by the interest in the naked bike. Super duke front fairing and speed triple tail, and that could be a looker. The yellow plugs go to the data logging system. Look at how narrow the seat is. The one pictured is the "low" seat. | ||
| Moxnix |
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2011/03/why-the- motus-mst-01-needs-design-strength/ Repost? I like the naked version, being an old guy from the days when we liked to "see" the engine. Some years back I spoke with a retired Honda/Ducati/M.Guzzi dealer about Buells. He didn't like the look of the XB series and wanted to see the motor. My opine is that the younger riders are so used to seeing fully faired street machines, it's not as much of an issue. Buell has a built-in audience, which will gain traction quicker that a start up when they get back into street bike production. If I were Mr. Buell, and I'm not, I'd probably look for a way to establish a "bread and butter" line of bikes for we proletarians as a way of underwriting the racing ventures. I'm wrong about many things and can be wrong about this without wringing hands or gnashing teeth. | ||
| Hughlysses |
So, Jeremy, how'd you wind up there? The pics are great. Motus posted a video this morning on which they say the bike will be publicly unveiled at Daytona, and then will be ridden on a tour of ~250 locations in the U.S. I'll be very interested to see it. | ||
| Blake |
>>> I've yet to meet a turbo-charged engine I like. Then you've not met many. Our household has two and both are excellent. What is not to like? The modern turbochargers are amazing, little to no lag, great power down low. Not anything like the kitted stuff of years past. | ||
| Xl1200r |
Blake - no, I haven't much experience with them, but my car uses a small turbo and turbo enthusiasts describe it as "not laggy". To me, the lag is pretty substantial and generally annoying driving around town. The power, once it comes on, is great, though. That non-linear driving dynamic would scare me in a motorcycle I know that dual-scroll and twin-turbo setups are supposed to have nearly no lag, but after my experience I'm really not interested. For the horsepower my car makes, the turbo 4 cyl isn't near effecient enough to make up for the PITA driving dynamics. For me, if you want boosted, supercharging just seems like a much better solution for an application where engine speeds and loads are constantly changing, as in a car. Nope, it'll be a naturally aspirated V8 for me next time around that will be faster and more fuel effecient. | ||
| Hootowl |
Variable vaned turbos are more linear. One with a moderate amount of boost that came on early would be fairly easy to manage. Wonder what the torque curve looked like on the turbo XB? (FUHD) | ||
| Blake |
>>> supercharging Horribly inefficient, always on sucking tons of fuel. Michele's Saab 9-3 with 2L turbo is wonderful. No lag. | ||
| Xl1200r |
The supercharger in my cobalt SS ran in vacuum until you decided to get lively with it (about 10 in on the highway, even), and got considerably better mpg than my current turbo. I'll have to try a fancy turbo because I hear so much good about them, but I just don't think they're for me. | ||
| 1324 |
Awesome pictures and videos, thanks for sharing! This is the first bike since the XB that has generally piqued my interest. I am curious, though, about the weight. The bodywork (or lack thereof, especially on the MST-R), the frame, subframe, and swingarm don't look terribly heavy. Sure, you can save some weight with castings, but you'll sacrifice some of the aesthetics they're after. So that leads to the engine and transmission. Obviously, this engine has been in development for a while, and the architecture is already proven. It'd be interesting to see how much weight can be pulled out. Or better yet, how much weight can be eliminated by downsizing in conjunction with a higher specific output down the line. As a first step, this is superb...although I definitely echo some of the comments floating around about the styling of the faired bike. The conceptual sketch looked better. If nothing, it looked more current. This, to me, looks a bit dated already. A belly pan and a few creases would do wonders. Oh...and windscreen! Still, I see one of these in my garage one day...but not likely for a long, long time. I wish them all the best. |
