Motus Weighs In On Victory Motorcycles Closure

Evans Brasfield
by Evans Brasfield

How does a manufacturer address customer fears?

In an effort to make sense out of the end of Victory Motorcycles, Motus founders Brian Case and Lee Conn posted a blog entry that looks not only at Polaris’ decision but all the way back to 2007 to the end of Pontiac. While this is a valid comparison regarding tough business decisions, the posting gains power when it describes the ways in which Victory didn’t adapt to the changing market and points to how those changes may tend to favor the type of bike Motus is building. As proponents of motorcycling at large, we hope that Motus has the opportunity to capitalize on this space that will be opening at some dealerships. The more successful manufacturers there are, especially ones manufacturing motorcycles in the USA, the better it is for motorcycling as a whole.

While we’ve quoted the entire post below, you can read it on the Motus site, here.

The Victory and Pontiac Effect

“This Motus rides like a dream, but will they be around in 5 years?”

We hear that a lot. And, it’s a fair question. Customers buying a Victory in 2016 or a Pontiac in 2007 probably didn’t consider their purchase risky from those brands. But, why not?

As entrepreneurs/patriots/motorcycle nuts, we are saddened by the demise of Victory Motorcycles, but not surprised. Polaris is an incredible American company making the best business decisions for shareholders, as they should. Maybe similar to decisions General Motors made with Pontiac.

Conceived in Polaris’ boardrooms to grab some of the (then growing) v-twin market, Victory remained target fixated as demand for heavy cruisers shrank by half. At the same time, the European brands grew like wildfire by offering appealing bikes in other segments – and there was no American competition. While Victory marketing showed intriguing sportbike concepts under the fuzzy brand promise of an “inextinguishable passion for American performance”, Victory dealers only offered 800 pound/90hp cruisers.

So, what does any of this have to do with Motus? The Motus customer seeks a comfortable American sportbike and values attention to detail, premium quality, and character. For riders with a Motus already in their garage, the test ride sealed the deal. As long as we remain laser focused on providing an incredible customer experience, we will continue to grow and launch additional models in segments that complement our brand promise.

With Victory gone, some great motorcycle dealers are starting to look for alternative lines to represent. We hope that Motus – with our V4-powered, comfortable American sportbikes – will make sense for them and their customers.

Motorcyclists gladly accept more risk than “regular” people as we pursue the magic that is only experienced on two wheels. Every week, riders join the growing Motus family and we are deeply grateful they share our vision.

-Brian Case and Lee Conn, Motus co-founders

Facebook: @motusmotorcycles @ridemotus @AmericanV4

Instagram: @motus_motorcycles

Web: www.motusmotorcycles.com

Evans Brasfield
Evans Brasfield

Like most of the best happenings in his life, Evans stumbled into his motojournalism career. While on his way to a planned life in academia, he applied for a job at a motorcycle magazine, thinking he’d get the opportunity to write some freelance articles. Instead, he was offered a full-time job in which he discovered he could actually get paid to ride other people’s motorcycles – and he’s never looked back. Over the 25 years he’s been in the motorcycle industry, Evans has written two books, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects and How to Modify Your Metric Cruiser, and has ridden just about every production motorcycle manufactured. Evans has a deep love of motorcycles and believes they are a force for good in the world.

More by Evans Brasfield

Comments
Join the conversation
5 of 54 comments
  • SportRider SportRider on Jun 08, 2017

    Reader discretion is advised!!! Objective comment!!!
    Motus will, 100% fail. There is no ifs and butts about that. As someone who works in the industry I have seen this over and over again. It is almost and exact replication of EBR from a business standpoint. They got nothing going on for them to be relevant to the current market. Just like EBR's "fuel in the frame" feature didn't matter, their V4 matters no more. Cool engine? Absolutely! Cool bike? For sure! But as the old saying goes "The fastest way to make a million bucks in the motorcycle industry is... to start with two million".
    The business model is non existent here to make any profit. Thus I am led to believe they have very little investment right now and the way things are going they won't be getting any new ones. Look at Triumphs comeback. For ten years they were loosing money. This was because they were backed by private investment that was in it out of pure joy and not a way to make a profit. That is the only way one can resurrect or erect a new motorcycle company. If you know damn well, that you will not see a penny from the business for well over 10 years and loose massive amounts of dough for the first 5. EBR's sold rather well at $13,999.00 ($5K off the MSRP) which is common sense really. It's between the mass produced Japanese brands and the premier European bikes. EBR had no luxury of financial support and was forced to be a profitable company right away, thus creating the sense of desperation to make a profit on bike sales from the get-go thus overpricing their bikes for the market and ultimately failing. Motus is in the exact same boat right now.

    • See 2 previous
    • SportRider SportRider on Aug 17, 2017

      "EBR aimed for the High end of the market, but the genre of bikes he was selling are mainly bought by the younger Generation" - FALSE.

      Generally, the spupersport market is for the younger crowed. But the cheaper middleweight ones. Tell me what youngster can afford the note on a 1299S and than the insurance that is often-times more that the bike payment itself!?

      The BIG sport bikes (EBR would be one) are bought by older folks. In fact PSN data suggests average age for a 900cc and bigger sport bike rider is 38 years of age!

      The dealer I used to work at ordered 2, yes two, Motus bikes when they signed up to be a dealer, guess how many are left in inventory?

  • Derek Jones Derek Jones on Jul 28, 2017

    "As long as we remain laser focused on providing an incredible customer
    experience, we will continue to grow and launch additional models in
    segments that complement our brand promise." My "incredible customer experience" included being called an unskilled rider for wanting to know if ABS was ever going to be an option.

Next