"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
06/29/2015 at 10:19 • Filed to: None
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"bob and john" (bobandjohn)
06/29/2015 at 10:19 • Filed to: None | 6
| 3 |
Went to a Motus test ride day. I found his experiance VERY intresting. This might put me off from them.
So I went and test rode the legendary “Motus MST” on saturday at “Rocket Moto Sport” in Nashua NH. I’ve been following the motus story for about 3 years now and am a huge enthusiast of what they are doing. I signed up for the test ride mailing list last September. When I got the call last month to confirm my spot I was downright giddy. The woman from Rocket Moto asked a series of questions ultimately driving at how serious of a potential buyer I was. I told her that with EBR out of business the Motus MST is currently the ONLY new bike I would be interested in buying but that 35k WOULD be in the stratosphere of what I could ever imagine spending on a bike. Day of the event, Lee Conn the president and Co founder of Motus was there and was leading the test rides. No Doubt looking over my well seasoned “Bilt” and “Fieldsheer” riding gear while I was signing the paperwork Lee aproached, and without introduction his first words where “are you thinking of buying a Motus?” I told him what I told her and he made brief mention of 84 month financing and walked away.
A bit later outside, listening to him talk to our group about the bike I was exited to hear about all the ways the MST was a better designed and engineered bike. What we got instead was a pompous lecture of how EXPENSIVE the literal nuts and bolts of the bike where to produce vs the hardware that ducati uses, the obligatory stats and impressive numbers, and a condemnation of the rest of the entire motorcycle industry for fooling us stupid consumers into buying a bike that doesn’t already have a Sargent seat, Givi bags, Heli Bars, and Akripovic exhaust. There was not one bit of enthusiasm for the way the bike rides feels, sounds, inspires, or exites the rider. Just a 20 minute “my toys are more expensive than theirs” speach.
After test riding his (truly wonderful) machine I shook his hand and thanked him for the ride and began to explain what I loved about his creation. He very quickly and coldly cut me off asking “Yeah? What color are you going to buy?” I asked when they are going to be available and he replied “pre order today and they will be here in 8-16 weeks, that’s why I am here, to SELL BIKES” then abruptly turned and walked off to sniff out richer blood.
For me buying a motorcycle is nothing like buying an appliance. Nor is it like buying posh cloths or jewelry. It’s much more emotional than that. I want to feel viscerally connected to the machine, and have a mutual appreciation for the engineering and craftsmanship with its creators and fellow enthusiasts. Unfortunately it seems to me that Lee Conn is trying to cultivate a community of elitist Motus OWNERS rather than passionate Motus RIDER’S. (But hey I guess that buisness model has worked out pretty well for other American motorcycle manufacturers so what the heck right?)
The Bike was however INCREDIBLE to ride and the fit and finish really was second to none. Unbelievable power everywhere, very compliant chassis, and sporty yet all day ergonomics. Most importantly it does inspire admiration of the mechanics and the kind of emotions you only get from an American hot rod. If I do decide to buy one I would be happy to deal with the friendly and knowledgeable folks at Rocket Moto Sport who probably spent more one on one time with me happily discussing the “IXS carbon mesh 3” gloves I ended up buying from them than Lee did “selling” me the bike.
Story and Photo by Dan white.
BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
> bob and john
06/29/2015 at 10:56 |
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I was afraid of that.
Touting half of a small-block pushrod V8 as some sort of new innovation was the first clue...
The *frankly INSANE* pricing was the second, mostly damning clue...
This account of arrogance and condescension is the last nail in the coffin.
I would love a new-think American-made motorcycle. Motus is not the company to do that, nor was Erik Buell Racing. Brammo’s electric stuff isn’t technically convincing enough to abandon internal combustion at this point.
Why are they so worried about making their own fasteners? ARP, and many other industrial suppliers can supply first-rate fasteners, and also guarantee spare parts availability for them. Custom-made fasteners is a needless increase in expense, and would give me pause if a fledgeling company were to fail, spare parts as simple as a fastener, might no longer be available. That can be a LITERAL deal breaker, by being a bike breaker.
Motus and EBR evidently are, or have gone about this all wrong.
The deal isn’t to sell rich toys to rich boys, or finance them for 7 years, which is excessive for a CAR being driven every day... and most bikes aren’t used that much.
How about selling a REALLY FANTASTIC $7K-12K bike or two, and selling it to any and all interested customers. Let the quality and price bash the competition, not the sales pitch.
A Cafe-racer/Scrambler/standard bike could be based on the same platform. A cruiser, bagger, and bobber could be based on a secondary frame geometry. Two basic forms, adapted into 6 different models... all affordable.
THEN, when the company is established, has a reputation for quality, and has a good revenue base... only then, build an expensive high-dollar toy.
Nissan didn’t build the GTR first, nor did GM build Corvette first, nor Porsche with 918 Spyder, or Ford with the GT... they didn’t build halo cars first. They built cars for everyone first, then built the flashy toys with the profit from a solid business. (well, maybe not a Porsche for everyone, but the point still is that Porsche needs volume models before halo models, too.)
I wasn’t convinced by Motus before... and since I have no reason to doubt this report, even if I had the money, I would probably dismiss them entirely now.
Racescort666
> bob and john
06/29/2015 at 10:56 |
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Kind of disappointing to hear about a bike that sounds awesome. It sounds like they tried making it the Bugatti Veyron of motorcycles though: despite the performance, it’s really to talk about how much money you’ve spent.
The Ghost of Oppo
> bob and john
06/29/2015 at 12:44 |
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It angers me that someone like Lee is still in business and Erik has had to go through all this bullshit time after time. I want to see the nice guy finish first in business and on the track