Caterham Bikes Brutus - An Unusual Entry Into The Motorcycle Market - EICMA 2013

If you're a four-wheeled fan at all you'll probably recognize the Caterham name for the iconic Caterham 7 sports car, originally designed by Lotus founder Colin Chapman in the '50's. Or, perhaps, for their Formula 1 team. At this year's EICMA however, the Caterham brand makes it's two-wheeled debut with three prototype products, most interestingly -- the Brutus 750.

While the Caterham of old was a boutique British car company, the Caterham of today is owned by Malaysian millionaire, Tony Fernandes. The Caterham Group is a growing collection of divisions, including the F1 team, Caterham Technology & Innovation, Caterham Composites and now Caterham Bikes. Their aim is to build Caterham into a global brand, utilizing all of their expertise and capabilities from the many divisions to create unique products.

The Brutus 750, which the company has dubbed the 'SUV of motorcycles', looks like the bastard child of Confederate's P120 and a Yamaha BW350. Powered by a 750cc single cylinder engine, it's positioned as a do-it-all motorcycle that anyone can enjoy, even (unfortunately) offering only an automatic transmission. With conversion kits, the idea is you'll be taking the Brutus from on-road bike to off-road machine to… snowmobile! They didn't have any real details on the snowmobile kit, but presumably it involves a track for the rear and ski for the front (and likely a steep price tag if similar products on the market are any indicator).

While the Brutus is a visually intriguing bike, one has to wonder about the market potential for such a machine. They plan to take it into production for 2014 with a yet to be determined "reasonable" selling price (they did tell me under 10k Euros was what they considered "reasonable"). Their marketing materials make note of it's practical ergonomics and ease-of-use: 'melding the spirit of a motorcycle with the simplicity of the scooter', albeit a 518lb scooter. It will launch first in the European and North and South American markets, with Asia being a key growth market for them in the future.

Personally, labeling a bike the SUV of motorcycles doesn't immediately excite me, but perhaps it's an honest assessment of what the Brutus is supposed to be. That being said, considering I do actually own a Yamaha BW, I would most certainly jump at the chance to ride the Brutus in all it's fat-tired glory.