2012 bike tech takes new twists

American upstart Motus readies a radical V4 sport-tourer, Ducati unleashes its most advanced V-twin, and electronic controls continue to migrate into the bike industry.

“This has been a monumental undertaking,” noted Brian Case, Vice President of Design for Motus Motorcycles, a new U.S.-based start-up that is preparing to produce its first bike later this year as a 2013 model.

Recent history doesn't exactly favor emergent U.S. motorcycle OEMs, but Case and Motus President Lee Conn believe their product will beat the odds. The Motus MST and MST-R are premium sport-touring machines more akin to European bikes than to cruisers in the Harley-Davidson mode. They're powered by an all-new 1650-cm³ V4 that is fundamentally half of a General Motors LS-7 V8-two overhead valves per cylinder actuated by pushrods, hydraulic lifters, and a single camshaft in the linerless aluminum block. The nickel-silicon-carbide coated bores are set on 4.27-in (108-mm) centers.