Man, I hate to jump on news like this. At 4 PM Pacific this afternoon, the official Motus Motorcycles Facebook account announced in the Motus Owners Group Intl. (MOGi) Facebook group: “Motus is forced to shut down operations, effective immediately.” Reason: investors have pulled out.
Here’s the entire announcement:
To all Motus customers, dealers, staff, suppliers, friends,
After an amazing ten year ride, Motus is forced to shut down operations, effective immediately.
This week, Motus’ financial backers unexpectedly informed management that they will not provide sufficient capital to maintain operations and grow the business. We were surprised and disappointed, especially because we have been working so hard preparing an October 2018 product launch into a new and exciting segment as well as new features on the MST series. This is very unfortunate timing and we will work to quickly find a new path forward for Motus Motorcycles and our American V4 powertrain division.
We are very grateful to Team Motus, truly the finest group of professionals and people, who have each dedicated so much of their hearts and soul to Motus. We are also thankful to our dealers and the many customers and supporters who have cheered us on and put gas in our tanks along the way.
For Motus owners, hang on to those motorcycles. As you already know, they are heirlooms, unlike any other motorcycles ever built.
Very sincerely,
Lee Conn and Brian Case, founders
Even though I had yet to purchase a Motus myself—they ain’t cheap—I counted myself as a true believer in what Lee and Brian and the rest of the Motus team were doing from engineering and experiential perspectives, and sincerely hoped they’d succeed where previous American companies such as the various iterations of Buell failed. The Fuller Motus we rode and shot last year was one of the most exceptional motorcycles I’ve had the honor of riding, and the entire CityBike Wrecking Crew was looking forward to the coming-soon naked Motus. It’s also worth noting that both Fish and I own Buells, or “American Ducatis,” as An calls them.
Perhaps posting this announcement in the MOGi group was triggered by another post earlier this afternoon by Facebook user Jae Stutzman: “I just got a call from my dealer who said my MSTR is being refunded and Motus has closed their doors. Anyone know anything? It was built and ready to be picked up in a couple of weeks!”
Feeling heartbroken indeed, Jae.
I’ve reached out to Motus for comment, and will report back as I learn more. As we went to press, or whatever the hell we call it now, there was still no official announcement on MotusMotorcycles.com or the Motus Facebook page. So let’s all pray together and hold on to the slim hope that this is just some disgruntled intern putzing about with the Motus Facebook account, but as the magical eight ball says, “don’t count on it.”
Beyond that, I hope that “we will work to quickly find a new path forward for Motus Motorcycles” is a hint that there is some kind of feasible funding arrangement on the horizon. But no matter how I shake the eight ball, it keeps giving me shit answers like “Reply hazy, try again” and “Ask again later.”