PowerSports Business

May 1, 2017

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www.PowersportsBusiness.com MOTORCYCLE Powersports Business • May 1, 2017 • 29 American character and DNA," Conn said. "We don't compete with Harley or Indian; the bikes are much closer to Ducatis, BMWs, Tri- umphs, KTMs, but they have this American flavor. That's why people tend to get a kick out of them." Motus doesn't focus on proximity to inter- states or big cities, or population numbers when partnering with a dealership. In fact, one of the company's best dealerships is in a rural town with 20,000 people, but the staff knows how to sell motorcycles and take care of people. "What I look at is a focus on customer expe- rience, and some of these are big shops that do higher volume, and some of them are small moms and pops that do lower volume," Conn explained. "I'm not focused on the number of machines that they sell overall. What I'm focused on is: Do customers drive past three other stores to get to them? They know how to handle customers and create an enjoyable buy- ing experience." The dealer requirements in terms of inven- tory are low-risk, he said. "The model that we've put together is much simpler and makes a lot of sense for the right store," he said. "It's a low risk, and it's just appealing for the right shop that's the right fit for us. It's not a burdensome, high-risk, high- volume deal. It just makes sense for the right shops. They can make some money, bring in some customers that wouldn't be there other- wise, and that's kind of our goal." With little marketing done so far, those who are buying Motus motorcycles are often enthusiasts who have discovered the bikes on their own. What attracts them is the American manufacturing quality, Conn said. "We have a foundry in Indiana that we work with. They pour each one of the alu- minum castings, one at a time. There's a lot of handwork that goes into the bikes, and there's real craftsmanship and American pride and quality that goes into these bikes," he reported. "It's not a mass-produced kind of a thing, and the guys who buy our bikes really value that. The panels that come on the bikes, they're all hand-laid carbon fiber panels that a robot comes and trims, and the seats are hand- stitched in Florida, and the frames are hand- welded, so it's a real labor of love, and it comes through in ride quality." The MST model is priced at $30,975, and the MSTR is $36,975, giving them a slightly higher MSRP than other premium brands, but a price that's still affordable to Motus' upper middle class clientele. "It's not the rich and famous riding Motus. They're electricians and nurses and small busi- ness owners; they're regular people," Conn said. "It's been really gratifying for us to get to know a lot of these riders; they're lovely guys, just a really cool group of owners, real hardcore motorcycle enthusiasts, but they're riders. These are guys who put a lot of miles on their bikes. We don't build living room bikes; we build bikes designed to ride." Motus has launched the Motus Own- ers Group International, which has about 230 members on Facebook. "It's really gratify- ing to see all of these people connecting and doing rides together and sharing tips and tricks and sharing feedback with us and with each other," Conn said. Though Motus hasn't done much market- ing, the brand has earned spots on CNBC's "Jay Leno's Garage" and AMC's "Ride with Norman Reedus." For 2017, Motus will focus on getting the word out by expanding its dealership base and through grassroots efforts. "You're going to just see us adding more dealers and doing more demo rides, doing more events, the typical organic growth that companies do as they start the snowball effect," Conn said. "You'll see us have a little bit more promotional stuff, some new product that we'll talk about later." With dozens of improvements to the MST and MSTR since the 2015 model year, Conn is confidence the 2017 bikes are the best ones they've built. "We're a pretty small team, and we work really hard to make each bike what we know it can be," Conn said. "We're happy with the '15s and '16s, and we're really excited for 2017. We're off to a strong start." PSB MOTUS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25 Motus Motorcycles are sport touring bikes built in the U.S. pany's creative director. San Francisco-based Fictiv, a rapid prototyping and distributed manufactur- ing company, used the show to introduce FOSMC: Fictiv's Open Source Motorcycle. With FOSMC, 57 open source modular part designs can be accessed, easily assembled with no welding, and produced with standard prototyping technologies. Designed to work with Amazon Web Service's innovative new IoT (Internet of Things) platform for motor- cycles, Fictiv claims that in a weekend, a custom-designed, street-legal motorcycle can be built with a wrench and some hand tools. Drake, the One Show's founder and creative force, collaborated with Fox Racing's Moto X LAB, the engine for new products and ideas that drives innovation across both performance and cultural spectrums, linking products, ath- letes and culture with a fresh perspective. Prod- ucts with the LAB moniker are created with a special amount of thought and ingenuity, developed outside normal day-to-day con- straints. The Moto X LAB serves both the Fox and Shift brands. Brisbane, California's Alta Motors designs and manufactures some of the most advanced electric motorcycles in the world. Its goal is to create bikes that are easier to ride fast than anything else, with instant throttle response, flat, endless torque and more rideability than gas bikes. The ST displayed at the One Moto Show is Alta's latest. As a full scale OEM, Alta looks to not only advance the field of motorcycle technology, but to also apply its technology and advanced engineering across transportation markets. Advertising legend Jay Chiat often said that his agency would continue to expand until it was no longer good, and the One Moto Show echoes that sentiment, although its stewards seem to have a firm grasp on what makes the event different and exciting each time. PSB Jason R. Sakurai is a Washington state-based freelance writer. ONE SHOW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28 Fictiv's Open Source Motorcycle is a product of rapid prototyping and distributed manufacturing.

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