International Dealer News IDN 145 October/November 2018 | Page 10

news ROOM
SBS goes 100% NRS Safe
Danish specialist SBS Friction
has announced that it has
“secured a 100% safe brake pad
programme” by embracing
mechanical bonding for their
ceramic and sintered brake
pads.
Last year SBS succeeded in
launching a sinter material for
street brake pads using NUCAP
Retention System (NRS)
technology for their SP
programme. Now a new range
of world leading road racing
brake pads with NRS technology
has been tested for a year and
will be launched with a new
Dynamic Racing Concept at
EICMA. SBS says it has
committed to going towards
being “100% NRS Safe”
throughout its brake product
line.
The NRS technology is said to be
the most advanced mechanical
pad to backing plate attachment
technology in the industry with
a zero-failure rate in over a
billion units worldwide.
“There is no room for error in
motorcycle braking. By going
100% NRS Safe, SBS is using the
very best in mechanical
attachment of the brake pad
compound, enabling riders to
feel confident that they are
using the safest performing
brakes available,” says SBS
Friction CSO Christel Munk
Pedersen.
“The braking
environment
demands components
that are capable of
standing up to violent
vibrations, an
incredible heating and
cooling cycle, plus
chemical, weather and
road debris issues –
brake pads are
expected and needed to
perform flawlessly in a
severe and hostile environment.
It is well known that traditional
adhesives do not necessarily
handle these extremes as well
as the NRS method and can be
prone to failure, leading to
detachment of the pad from the
backing plate.
NUCAP says it is the “global
leader in brake system
component innovation and
manufacturing”. With locations
in Canada, China, Spain and the
United States, NUCAP co-
develops and supplies “next
generation brake safety
technologies to the world’s
leading brake pad and shoe
manufacturers and
distributors”.
“NRS Safe
attachment is a mechanism
that simply does not fail,”
states NUCAP CEO Montu
Khokhar. “NRS is a process that
modifies the surface of disc
brake backing plates, adding a
consistent matrix of raised steel
EXHIBITOR
hooks that facilitate a
mechanical bond between the
disc brake plate and the friction
materials”.
www.sbs.dk
The end of the dream?
Founders Lee Conn and Brian Case
have announced that Motus, their
Birmingham, Alabama based V4
sportsbike manufacturing operation
has had to close down.
Only as recently as in July the company
was announcing the latest additions to
its growing domestic U.S. dealer
network.
In a statement posted to their
Facebook page the owners said that
“after an amazing ten-year ride,
Motus is forced to shut down
operations, effective immediately.
“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.”
In recognising the contribution that
their employees and dealers have
made to the project to date, they went
10
on to say “we are very grateful to Team
Motus, truly the finest group of
professionals and people, who have
The MST and MSTR were based on
proven, low maintenance 1650 cc
(100ci), liquid-cooled, all aluminium
90° liquid and oil cooled V4 small-
block architecture. Producing a
claimed 180 hp and 126 ft-lb of
torque, the self-adjusting valvetrain,
ride-by-wire, cam-in-the-block, 2
OHV 3.465 in. bore by 2.669 in.
stroke engine is regarded as a highly
accomplished powerplant for a
sports tourer
INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS - OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018
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.”
In closing they said “for Motus owners,
hang on to those motorcycles. As you
already know, they are heirlooms,
unlike any other motorcycles ever
built.”
Founded by company President Lee
Conn and business partner and
designer Brian Case in 2008, Motus
manufactured “sportsbikes with
accommodations for touring that are
designed to excel in performance,
comfort and range”.
All Motus motorcycles - the MST and
premium MSTR - were powered by V4
Baby Block engines, combining high
performance with “low maintenance
and a unique character that expresses
the evolving heritage of the American
motoring experience”, according to
Lee Conn.
As the first and to date only modern
American sportsbike manufacturer,
Motus has always enjoyed a positive
reputation with the respected test
riders and magazine editors who have
ridden them. We here at IDN certainly
Founded in 2008, Motus had been
continuing to add to its domestic
U.S dealer network as recently as
July this year and had a new
segment launch announcement
planned for October
wish Conn and Case well and that they
can phoenix from this set-back.