| Author | Message | ||
     Hughlysses |
Announced a few months ago, upstart U.S. company says they're going to produce a new state-of-the-art sports tourer. There's an article in the February issue of Motorcyclist, available on Motus' website: http://www.motusmotorcycles.com/PDF/motorcyclist_F EB_2010.pdf Interesting- water cooled V-4, with pushrods and 2 valves per cylinder, I'll bet adapted from some proven automotive V-8. It'll be interesting to see if they can get this off the ground. | ||
| Spatten1 |
They must be basing it on a V8 auto engine. Building a new liquid cooled push rod two-valver makes no sense at all unless you already have the tooling for many of the parts. Why limit your RPMs like that with a clean sheet liquid cooled engine? Sounds like something Harley would do. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Boss Hoss light? | ||
| Cataract2 |
From the styling concept all I can do is face palm. Sigh. This makes me miss Buell all the more. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I always thought that the S&S X motor would be great if they downsized it to "human being sized" and made it available less expensive. I think mostly the cost prohibits its entry to the mainstream builders. | ||
| Lovedabueller |
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| Rex |
I wonder how S and S will ever make money off of their X motor. they must have invested a ton of money into that motor......but it does not fit normal HD frames, looks a little different, is huge, and I don't see a lot of people using it. A lot of the things they did in this motor sounds good and reasonable, but if no one uses it, ? It would have to take them a lot of time to recoup their money on this one, with the economy the way it is.. | ||
| Spatten1 |
I wonder how S and S will ever make money off of their X motor. they must have invested a ton of money into that motor......but it does not fit normal HD frames Something makes me think the chopper craze would have to have kept its 2006 trajectory for another few years for that to have panned out financially. The odd thing with that engine is that they solved all of the inherent weaknesses in the HD design, but it still doesn't make a ton of power. Kind of weird. | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Doesn't Orange County Choppers use the X-Wedge motors ??  | ||
| Xl1200r |
Seeing as how it's being engineered by Pratt & Miller (Corvette Racing), I'd venture to guess it's based off of a Gen V GM small block. Before anyone gets in a huff over a 2 valve head, you need to remember a few things. If this is in fact based on a GM small block, the stroke is going to be long, resulting in a torquey motor. Long stroke means a small bore and that means less room for valves. It also means a more compact design. There are merits. | ||
| Kustomklassix |
"There are merits." Agreed. | ||
| Hootowl |
Any guesses on what the insurance industry will do to your wallet when they find out you're riding a 1600cc+ motorcycle? Sure wish there was some intelligence there, and not just paint-by-numbers. | ||
| Theironmaiden22 |
I've got a friend who rides one of those Star V-Max bikes which are 1679cc V4s and his insurance isn't bad at all. It is a f*cking monster, more hp and torque than you can possibly want, and loud...my god is it loud. Still, it's just another ricer in my book. | ||
| Teddagreek |
Reminds me of a Guzzi.... | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I'm very intrigued by this bike.  It's much about what I like about a Guz without all the things I don't like. Would be interesting to see what a shorter stroke, higher revving motor would look like as well. | ||
| Malott442 |
I don't understand why they don't try to package a shaft drive into the equation. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I would prefer no shaft drive. Lighter, less lash, and cheaper to maintain. A nice, light belt drive would be perfect. | ||
| X5thxgearxfreak |
I'd like to ride one to compare to my RSV4. Assuming they get one built that is. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Dunno about the bodywork...but the frame shot looks like a V4 tuber. Neat. | ||
| Bartimus |
Reminds me a lot of my ST1300 | ||
| Jon |
Well it looks stupid. Is this what get's sucked into the Buell Vacuum? It doesn't exactly fit. | ||
| Blake |
"Why limit your RPMs like that with a clean sheet liquid cooled engine?" Scott, if you ask that question, then it would seem that you are uninterested in considering the answers. They are the same now for this as yet to exist motorcycle as they have been for all the Buell air-cooled machines and even for the Buell 1125R/CR when compared to other much more higher revving bikes. Peak HP at high revs is NOT the be-all end-all of motorcycle performance. Heck it isn't even the be-all end-all for racing machine performance. The bike is billed as a sport tourer. In that class, good broad low-end power is very important. As long as power is adequate for high speed cruise at a gentle engine speed, job well done. | ||
| Blake |
As to the Motus, it's not a bike I'd ever consider owning, both due to yucky appearance and overall configuration, class of machine. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I doubt you can read very much into the appearance at this point. That looks like something an artist knocked out in an afternoon. Final bike (IF it ever gets built) could well look radically different. I wonder what 1/2 of a small block Chevy weighs cast in aluminum? I found an article that said an all-aluminum V-8 SB weighs about 435 lbs. I'm sure a V-4 would way more than 1/2 that but it'll be interesting to see what they wind up with. (Message edited by Hughlysses on January 06, 2010) | ||
| Jaimec |
"Cheaper to maintain???" There's nothing cheaper to maintain than a shaft. A fluid change every 20,000 miles or so is all that is required. Supposedly Buell's new belts are supposed to (but not guaranteed to) last the life of the bike. That's great on paper, but it has a long way to go to catch up to the miles I've put on the drive shaft of my BMW. | ||
| Theironmaiden22 |
Drive shafts cost quite a bit more to fix than a broken belt or worn tensioner. My boss paid 1/7th of what his Shadow cost to fix his shaft drive, a belt would've been like 1/50th-ish. I'll take a belt or chain over a shaft any day. | ||
| Jaimec |
And just how often do shafts fail? In over a half a million miles on various shafties, I've NEVER had one fail. Two bikes had over 100,000 miles each on their shafts (one bike was stolen (and never recovered) at 158,000 miles, the other is still going strong at 135,000 miles). EVERYTHING "might" break, but I'd bet on a shaft being more durable than belts or chains any day. | ||
| Nik |
http://www.bmwfinaldrive.com/ I know I've also seen a pic with a bmw shaft drive on fire floating around somewhere... (Message edited by nik on January 06, 2010) | ||
| Blake |
I'd still rather have a belt, lighter, no maintenance, easy to change if needed, excellent performance. I think they look cool too. A shaft? Not so much. | ||
| Jaimec |
The final drive failure was NOT the drive shaft... it was the rear wheel bearing. Try again. |
