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Actually I think it could really be some EMI thing. That the motor interferes with the Kinect or the USB communication. I once did a very simple microcontroller board for a fellow student, it should just turn on the motor depending on input states, but the motor created huge emissions so that when you put on an oscilloscope it showed a huge spike without connection to the motor when the motor was running. Also when it was running, it never stopped, except someone touched the microcontroller package with his finger.

To get rid of that, an laboratory assistant told us to solder capacitors (100nF) to the motor pins and connect them with the case. After that it was gone. The motor was a simple brushed DC motor. Maybe you could try something similar, if it is a DC motor.