2018 Motus MST-R: Born In The USA – Adventure Rider

If you were a regular reader of American motorcycle magazines through the 2000s and 2010s, you might remember much ink spilled on the subject of The Great American Sportbike. Unlike the many attempts to write the Great American Novel, there were only a few bikes in this niche, and most of them were built by Erik Buell. One non-EBR machine stands above the rest: The Motus MST-R. In the years since the brand closed down, it’s interesting to look back and think what might have been, if everything had worked out instead of going sideways.

The Motus backstory

Motus was actually founded by Canadian ex-pat Lee Conn in conjunction with Brian Case. Case came over from Confederate Motorcycles, so he knew the moto manufacturing industry, but the idea at Motus was to build something far different from the cruisers and muscle bikes that Confederate made in Alabama. Motus built sport-tourers with a made-in-America 1650 cc V4 engine.

The engine was the main attraction of the Motus lineup. This V4 was built mostly from over-the-counter car parts, and had potential for easy hot-rodding as a result. Photo: TheR1Kid

This V4 was not built from scratch. It was made from existing ideas and parts from the automotive industry. To over-simplify: Motus took a Chevy V8 (as seen in the Corvette), chopped it in half, and built a motorcycle around it. This was quite exciting to many sport touring fans. The idea sounded like it would offer reliability, a lot of power, an American-built parts supply chain and quite a bit of bragging swagger as well. It was no Boss Hoss, but putting a big Chevy engine into a motorcycle would still grab attention at Bike Night.

Motus had other interesting design ideas, such as a gasoline direct injection system that should have improved efficiency or power output, had it come to market. Unfortunately, GDI did not make it to Motus’ two production models, the MST and the MST-R.

Top-shelf suspension and brakes came from third-party suppliers. As a result, you can still order replacement parts today. Photo: TheR1Kid

The bikes were built with considerable help from the tuning gurus from Pratt & Miller as well as Katech. Motus didn’t make a lot of the parts in-house. Most parts were ordered from a catalog (Ohlins NIX fork, Brembo brakes, Sargent seat, HeliBars, etc.). Of course, this is how many Euro bikes and even a lot of machines from the US, Japan and China now. Although this may work somewhat against the romanticized “made in America” image, this is a sensible approach to building a bike. You can take advantage of others’ expertise in design and manufacturing and just pass the bill on to the customers, instead of doing a poor job yourself. It also means that owners can find parts outside the traditional dealership network now.

The Motus lineup was sold to the sport touring market, but had the brand stayed in business, it’s possible we would have seen other exciting ideas for this engine. At one point, the V4 powerplant was also sold as a crate engine for DIY projects. Photo: TheR1Kid

The first test rides of Motus prototypes appeared in the media in 2011. The Motus MST and upgraded MST-R officially hit the market in 2014. Only four years later, the company went out of business, but not before it built a reputation on very fun-to-ride machines. That 90-degree V4 had mitt-fulls of roll-on power, with a claimed 165 hp in the MST model and 180 hp in the MST-R. Motus even set a couple of records at Bonneville for an engine with pushrod top end, and famously the record-setting bike rode home on public roads after the feat.

This bike here

The machine here is for sale in ADVrider’s Flea Market forum. Inmate TheR1Kid has it listed for sale in Camas, Washington, with 2071 miles on the odometer. Here are the bike’s basic details, posted below the walkaround video:

It has every factory option:
BST carbon fiber wheels
Carbon fiber bodywork
Full ohlins suspension
factory saddle bags
Heated seat, grips
Cruise control
Adjustable Helibars
auxiliary lights
Dual heated gear outlets and a dash outlet
Full LED lighting upgrade
upgraded shift and brake levers
Cox radiator guard
Fresh engine and transmission oil change, and the chain has been adjusted and lube
I also have a large digital library with: Factory service manual, full parts list, Vender parts source list ect. It’s everything you need to do anything to the bike.

Leakdown test performed and It is clear no apparent valve seat issues. It looks like it has the early heads which did not have issues. The 2nd run of heads had the valve seat/valve guide alignment problems. (you can tell visually which is which by where it’s powder coated or not in certain areas)

It was low sided rather gently as the damage was minimal and strictly cosmetic. I had the left fairing repaired and the full bodywork repainted by SBKpaint in San Diego. Damaged items were replaced with new.

It has a clear Washington Title
No issues, runs and rides great.

 

Asking price is $24,000. See the ad here.