• Articles
  • Motorcycles for Sale
  • Motorcycle Parts
  • Motorcycle Manuals
  • Models
  • Collectibles
  • Contact

The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Motus American V4 Sport Tour Hits the Road

By Paul Crowe

Motus American Sport Tour - first leg - additional destinations coming soon
Motus American Sport Tour - first leg - additional destinations coming soon

What better way to test a brand new motorcycle than to ride it across the country in all kinds of weather and riding conditions? That’s the idea behind the Motus American Sport Tour. From July 11th to July 30th, Motus will be on the road, riding the Motus MST and MST-R from Birmingham, Alabama to Laguna Seca and back, with visits to locations all along the way where you will be able to see the bikes up close.

The tour will make stops in Texas, Arizona and California on the way out and return by way of Bonneville, Denver, Nashville and Athens, Georgia. If you have any suggestions for “don’t miss” roads along the way, send them to Motus and they might be able to work it into the trip. If you’re anywhere near the route, why not join them on the ride?

There’s a new American motorcycle on the way and this is a great chance for you to see it up close and on the road. Maybe you should check your calendar.

UPDATE: Just got a note from Lee Conn:

This is the first of several legs of the American Sport Tour. Where this trip will take us from AL to CA and back, we will have several other legs of the tour to follow including one that will take us through the Midwest, one through the North East and likely several around the South.

I think this trip will have us riding about 5500 miles over 20 days after which we will come home to our families, analyze our subjective and objective data sets, iterate the bikes to include any identified changes, and then head back out again.

They modified the map up above in response to your comments to make it very clear that this is only the first stage of the tour. Hmm, … it looks like they’re making this their own version of the Iron Butt, only at a more leisurely pace. 🙂

So, for those of you who were feeling a little left out from the route shown here, hang on, there’s likely to be another ride that will come closer to your hometown.

Link: Motus for date and location of each stop

Posted on July 5, 2011 Filed Under: American Motorcycles, Motorcycle Builders, Motorcycle Business, Motorcycle Travel


-- Subscribe to The Kneeslider --

Be the first to know when something’s new!


Be sure to check out The Kneeslider’s motorcycle models listings.

Your purchases through ebay links on The Kneeslider may earn a commission for this site.




« BMW 1232 – A Brand New Look for an Original
Triumph Small Displacement Single Cylinder Rumors »

Comments

  1. leston says

    July 5, 2011 at 8:17 am

    Is there a schedule of the ride anywhere?

    • Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says

      July 5, 2011 at 8:37 am

      Yes, just follow the link to Motus for date and location of each stop.

  2. Nortley says

    July 5, 2011 at 10:01 am

    From Bonneville, go north through Idaho or western Montana, then down to Sacramento via eastern Washington and Oregon, then down the Feather river to Sacramento. There are too many good roads, places, and views to name, but stay off the freeways and you won’t go far wrong.

  3. Smith Motor Works says

    July 5, 2011 at 10:24 am

    Awesome! I wish they were coming closer to Indy, though.

  4. B50 Jim says

    July 5, 2011 at 10:29 am

    Take a detour north through Chicago, please! OK, that might not be practical for this tour, but I’d sure like to see and hear a Motus in person. I wish them all the best, and hope they can get the effort off the ground and into production, if only for that wonderful motor that screams “Hot Rod”!

  5. B50 Jim says

    July 5, 2011 at 12:39 pm

    Looks like they’re doing it right; giving the bikes an actual road test, then back home to make any changes necessary, then back out again, and so forth. It’s sort of like the English manufacturers used to do at Brooklands — ride the test bikes to Brooklands, run the living daylights out of them on the big high-banked oval, fix what breaks and alter the design to strengthen up the weak points, and run them again. I’ll be eager to see a Motus when it comes to my part of Illinois. If they need a Midwestern test rider, I volunteer. I’ll have to get used to the shift and brake on the wrong sides, but that’s minor. I did ride an XS 650 for a few years.

    • Klaus says

      July 6, 2011 at 5:10 am

      “I’ll have to get used to the shift and brake on the wrong sides” – I don’t get it, does the Motus have the shift on the right? That wouldn’t make sense!

  6. Walt says

    July 5, 2011 at 12:58 pm

    No problem on the shifting, Jim. My three rides include left and right hand foot shifters and a tank shift, foot clutch model with front brake at the left hand. You’ll adapt to the change from one bike to another pretty quickly, after a couple of crashes.

  7. bblix says

    July 5, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    What!?! No stop in KC? I mean, you’re going right through. I’m sure the boy’s up at the H-D plant would love it if they stopped in for a plant tour.

    • Tanshanomi says

      July 6, 2011 at 9:26 pm

      I thought the same thing. You’re going from Nashville to Denver, with a little red line going right through Kansas City…but no stopover?

  8. Jarred says

    July 5, 2011 at 1:27 pm

    Why come through town for only 2 hours? Give us working folks a chance to come see it. New Braunfels, TX (Tuesday) July 12th 4-6pm.

  9. rohorn says

    July 5, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    Don’t miss FAQ #5 in the Motus link above…

    • Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says

      July 5, 2011 at 2:34 pm

      Yep, but the questions will continue anyway.

      I think #6 is good news. Crate engines will be available and I can’t wait to see where these things turn up.

  10. scritch says

    July 5, 2011 at 2:20 pm

    Guess Motus thinks no-one in the Northern Tier wants one.

    • Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says

      July 5, 2011 at 2:28 pm

      You looked at the map but didn’t read the post …

      • scritch says

        July 7, 2011 at 1:16 pm

        You are correct, sir. But in reading the article it appears that the Pacific Northwest has yet to be mentioned by Mr. Conn.

  11. Hawk says

    July 5, 2011 at 2:37 pm

    Where do I offer my services as a “test rider”?

    I wonder if a few hundred thousand kilometers, spread over almost 60 years, of Canadian Rockies would count?

  12. B50 Jim says

    July 5, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    A crate engine at a reasonable price would be incredible! I can see someone linking three of them in a row and building a fabulous 1930’s-style V-12 Grand Prix roadster. I can’t even imagine how it would sound. Realistically, the motors would find their way into street rods, boats, bikes — anywhere rodders can imagine them. Various racing series would be good outlets for lots of affordable fun.
    I’ll be a big fan.

  13. Jim says

    July 5, 2011 at 5:30 pm

    Looking forward to seeing it in Dallas!!!

  14. Bigshankhank says

    July 6, 2011 at 8:38 am

    Well hopefully the second round of this tour will include another run through Daytona for Biketoberfest. I missed it during Bike Week, and would surely love to get a good look at it.

  15. Phoebe says

    July 6, 2011 at 9:42 am

    Ooh, I would LOVE to check them out once they come to the NE. Hopefully it will be near me.

  16. Caveman says

    July 6, 2011 at 6:48 pm

    Now If I could mount this motor on my road glide

  17. Brian says

    July 7, 2011 at 7:58 am

    Great another plastic fantastic bike. Color me board. Wonder if I striped it down to the frame and took all that poly off it…

  18. Cowpieapex says

    July 7, 2011 at 2:20 pm

    Brian
    One sure cure for boredom is to pick up where the builder finishes and alter it to suit your own taste. If you have the talent fabricate your own frame, tanks etc. Lacking skill bolt up some cool J.C. Whitney parts. Ride it around to learn what works well and what makes school kids giggle. Trust me, you wont be bored when you open your garage to reveal a bike you cant find in any advert. magazine or website.

  19. Cameron Nicol says

    July 8, 2011 at 3:08 am

    I had some guy on a Honda ST1100 follow me into a parking lot because he thought my Moto Guzzi Griso was a Motus! Obvious the Motus is attracting lots of attention!!

    • Cobalt says

      July 11, 2011 at 10:57 pm

      The MST looks nothing like the Griso. That dude must be crazy.

  20. Karl says

    July 9, 2011 at 7:34 am

    Rather than “making this their own version of the Iron Butt” they should have just given a bike to one of the riders in the Iron Butt, which just completed a couple of weeks ago. Now *that* would have been a great test.

  21. Russell B! says

    July 12, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    Just saw the Motus in Houston. Very impressive

    Looking forward to seeing pricing and a more naked version.

    Off topic, but has anyone heard if Highland is going to survive?

  22. GP - NH says

    July 15, 2011 at 5:38 pm

    Okay, so I order a t-shirt from Motus’ website (got to be the first on my block) and Motus messes it up. I receive a nice email from customer service explaining they had an internal glitch and needed to cancel and they politely asked me if I’d submit another order. Sure – no biggie. I place another order and get a confirmation e-mail thanking me for my new order, etc. Then later I receive another e-mail from Lee Conn, President of Motus, apologizing for the inconvenience, thanking me for the business, promising me some extra goodies and assuring me my order will get priority shipping and so forth. Now I’m pretty freaking impressed. The president of the company took the time to reach out to me over a mistake on a $22 order. This guy is launching a brand new motorcycle so I’m sure he has more important priorities on his plate. Needless to say I’m a raving fan of Motus’ customer service. I had been in retail for 25+ years and have trained hundreds on the importance of great customer service so I am doubly impressed with Conn’s actions. If this incident is a harbinger of how Motus plans to treat their customers they’re definitely getting off on the right foot. Good stuff – had to share.

Subscribe to The Kneeslider

Be the first to know when something's new!

Search articles on The Kneeslider


Do You need motorcycle parts?

Everything from normal maintenance items to hard to find out of production parts, look here first.
Be very specific for best results! Use part numbers if you have them.


Be sure to check out The Kneeslider’s new motorcycle manuals and literature listings.



Your purchases through ebay links on The Kneeslider may earn a commission for this site.



From The Kneeslider Archives

H16 engine by Andreas Georgeades from 4 YZF600 engine top ends

16 Cylinder H16 Engine to Power New Motorcycle Under Construction by Andreas Georgeades

Bottpower XR-1 transforming old Buells into Flat Trackers

Bottpower BOTT XR-1 – New Life for Old Buells

RSS What’s happening on HorsePowerSports

  • DeLorean Motor Company is Coming Back with an Electric
  • Ford Shares Open Source CAD Files for 3D Printing Truck Accessories
  • If You Need a New Car, Buy an Old One Instead

Motorcycle Engine Powered Cars

Copyright © 2025 · The Kneeslider · Website by Crowe Computer Services
US Army veteran owned and operated
This website proudly Made in the USA!
Made in the USA