Horex VR6 Roadster delayed

There's been a lot of hype around the Horex VR6, a German made six-cylinder motorcycle that will be sold as a premium model (read: it's expensive) but the company has just announced that production will be delayed by at least a month.

The German motorcycle maker has pushed back the beginning of production by a month - to the end of May 2012 - because it wants to add more stringent emission controls to the bike.

According to Horex "dynamometer tests showed that emissions from engines equipped with standard parts were too close to the upper limits," which may have precluded it for sale in some global markets.

Power from the naturally aspirated 1218cc V6 engine is around 160hp (118kW) but Horex wants to reduce exhaust emissions before it launches the bike by using new components, which CEO Clemens Neese explains could not have been implemented without the delay.

"This technically sophisticated solution cost us a little more time, but it puts us on the safe side," said Neese. "This is important: everything on the engine we are bringing to market is perfectly matched.

"We have been repeatedly faced with delays that could only be alleviated by incurring significantly higher costs," said Neese.

"Changing our production plan was anything but easy," explained Neese. "But our ultimate goal is to introduce the new Horex in the best-possible quality. Since we are unwilling to compromise on this point, we decided to reschedule the production launch."

Horex is also planning on building a supercharged version of the VR6 Roadster which is expected to output 200hp (147kW) and a very bullish 150Nm of torque.

Pricing has not been revealed, but is expected to be around €20,000, or $25,000.