First verdicts on 161bhp Motus V4 sports-tourer

New American V4 sports-tourer the Motus MST-01 has completed the first leg of a multi-thousand-mile public development ride. The joyously coarse-sounding pushrod-actuated, direct-injected engine is the star of the soundtrack in this newly released video recap, which also features soundbites from the first journalists to ride the bike.

Although to call them independent might be pushing it (both are ‘friends’ of the project lending test rider feedback) it’s interesting to hear anything from outside the purely corporate mouthpiece.

The result is perhaps a little muted from the often effulgent Alan Cathcart (“I know the bike I rode was a prototype, and so far so good”) and Cycle World Senior Editor Blake Conner restricts his praise to a “lovely neutral steering and front end feel”, but these are early days and development hacks tend to take giant strides from this stage on.

The test ride is currently in recess while data and feedback gathered on the trip’s first 6000 miles is acted on before the mules back return to the road.