In exactly one week’s time, A&R will be toughing it out in the harsh Milanese winter, sipping our cappucino, while MV Agusta shows us the latest iteration of their F4 Superbike. After releasing photos of the new 2010 MV Agusta Brutale, and teasing us with the front-view of the F4, we were a little worried the design of the new MV flagship (rendered above) was going to be a little stale. Will the new MV live up to the hyperbole? Only time will tell. Rumored bike details after the jump.
MV Agusta holds onto a precarious position as the company has defined itself in the industry with its breath-taking designs. In many ways, the lines of the F4, with its stacked headlight, single-sided swingarm, and 4 pipe under-seat exhaust, have become a part of MV’s brand identiy, making it difficult for the company to move past Tamborini’s original piece of art into new revisions.
When the new Brutale copied almost exactly the lines of its predecessor, despite being 80% new in design, we were worried that the 2010 MV Agusta F4 would follow a similar fate. There’s a strong possibility that will be the case come a week’s time, but it does seem that MV Agusta has done a little work under the hood.
It’s being rumored that MV Agusta has re-worked the 998cc inline-four motor to make 186 hp at 12,900 rpm. Engine features include two fuel-injectors per cylinder, variable length intake, a slipper clutch, and 8-way adjustable traction control system that is supposed to be the best the market has seen to date.
The F4’s chassis has also supposedly gotten the once-over, with a longer and lighter single-sided swingarm and more slender overall profile. A “bi-xenon” head lamp (seen already in MV’s teaser photo) follows similar lines of the previous F4, and we can expect to see the same 4 tip exhaust cans under the F4’s seat.
According to Managing Director of MV Agusta, Enrico D’Onofrio:
“The launch of the new F4 continues the path of success started with the new Brutale MV Agusta to return to writing new pages in its glorious history and rich tradition of victory. The F4 comes from an entirely new project with the aim of improving excellence as an extreme mixture of art of design and sport performance. Continue in future to invest in developing new projects to broaden the range of our amazing motorcycles.”
We’re still hopeful that the new MV Agusta F4 will live up to the hype, but considering how many parts the new bike will likely share with the Brutale, we’re still having a hard time believing we’ll be “wowed” in Milan next week. Stay tuned for photos and a detailed write up.
Source: OmniMoto
Nice lookin bike, but to me it looks dated now. Looks like all the they changed is the pipes. Round to square. How daring. IMHO this is a hollywood bike. Celebrities own them as a status symbol, or they are used in movies as the “exotic” mode of transportation for the leading man. Doesnt seem to be much else for this bike to do. An ‘09 R1 looks, sounds and performs better, and can be seen in race trim on a world level. Shiny though
FYI: that’s a render not the actual bike.
guess only time will tell.
If you’ve never ridden or owned one then you really can’t comment on the performance of the bike. As someone who has owned one the only thing “hollywood” about the bike are the owners who are afraid to use them as intended. I can tell you from personal experience that they are great handling fast bikes.
Unlike most I guess I don’t like this stupid trend of redoing the looks of a bike every other year. I absolutely hated the last 2 versions of the R1 with the 09 being the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. While I’d put the 04-06 R1 as some of the best looking bikes ever. Bikes these days have no identity. I mean you see a Porsche 911 and you know right off the bat it’s a 911. A Lamborgini, etc……. I think the MV is still one of the best looking bikes ever especially compared to what’s coming out of Japan lately (and I’m not some Euro snob either). These days the press has every thinking bikes need to be redesigned every couple of years which I think is completely stupid
The biggest problem with the MV has always been the weight which is something they just continue to ignore. If they would work on dropping weight instead of bumping up CCs and new paint jobs then the MV wouldn’t get as much flack as it gets.
But the other problem is that people (the press include) spend to much time looking at the bike instead of riding the bike like it should be ridden. I get pissed everytime I hear or read someone say it’s to beautiful to trash or I wouldn’t want to risk crashing it. It’s a motorcycle that needs to be ridden. Again as some one who has owned 3 MVs and have ridden each one of them as hard as any Yamaha or Suzuki I’ve owned I can tell you they are more then a match for the other bikes out there.
What jake said.
when they first came out about 10 years ago, they may have looked to beautiful to risk a crash…but not today. though i like you dont believe there is such a thing. and i wont lie and say i’ve ever riden one of these, but i doubt that it handles as well as an R1. i’m sure they handle really well. I never said they were garbage. changing the styling every 3 years, no…but after 10 years an update might refresh peoples intrest in the bike.
Some people are happy buying a new Japanese bike every 2-3 years, and others are happy paying double for an MV that still looks great after 10 years.
Some people enjoy throwing $$$ blinging up a Japanese bike, but make no mistake… A suped up R1 is still an R1. A dime a dozen.
I don’t feel I need to justify the F4 ownership experience. Some people are happy living under the glass ceiling. Others realize the glass is not an obstacle.
Oh BTW, the F4 beat the R1 for the 2007 Master Bike. Apparently the experts thinks the MV can more than hang w/ the best of the best.
http://www.mvagustausa.com/web-mvagusta/news/0507_masterbike.html
Patron first of thanks for a reasonable reply because it’s not often you get that on the web!!! lol But again as someone who has ridden MVs extensively on the racetrack as well as having owned 4 R1s and regularly ridden numerous other modern sportbikes (get to ride almost all the new models each year) on the track. I can tell you the handling of the MV is excpetional. The front end and feel of it can’t really be put into words. So yes 10 years on it’s still good in that dept. Even when it was still a 750 the motor was never as bad as the press made it out to be. the problem was that people were afraid to ride the bike hard. When ridden hard and aggressively it smoked. You also had to be completely committed to riding it hard but if you did you were rewarded for the effort. But I always thought that was part of the thrill of track riding and sportbike riding pushing limits and riding hard pretending to be a SBK or MotoGP rider. lol
But the problem has always been the weight. It has always been on the heavy side compared to other sportbikes. and after that people just couldn’t get over the price tag which is something that I never concerned myself with (no I’m not rich either).
Oh and there is nothing wrong with a touch up here and there, but again this concept of complete redesigns….. I just don’t get. But even those little touch ups can go wrong. As I said to me the 04-06 R1 is one of the best looking bikes I’ve ever since period. but those small changes that they made for the 07-08 R1 just killed it for me and that was before the mess that is the 09 R1. I’m honest enough to admit that I will never ever truly push any of these bikes to ther absolute limits so looks and styling are important to me. The bike can’t be a pile of crap but the looks definately matter. And to me the last good looking liter bike that came out of Japan was the 04-06 R1 everything else to me has been hideous
That’s it…I’m buying an MV. You’ve convinced me. No…but I’m sure the bike hauls when you really put the hammer down. It just still looks dated to me. Not ugly, just dated. I can’t get past the fact that the styling just doesn’t do it for me anymore. I mean when the 916 came out, that was the sexiest bike on the planet. Just a work of art. And it ran too. Then eventually it was morphed into that horrible 999 creature. Another good example where an update went horribly wrong (I tend to agree with you with the R1 heading in the wrong direction…but it has grown on me a bit). But the 1098 returned to the 916 roots. The 1098 should have been the next generation after the 996. It looks updated and fresh but kept the soul of the 916.
And Wil, nobody needs you to justify your F4 ownership. I’ve never criticized anyone for the bike they ride. Not even for riding a Katana. And those bikes are just ghastly. But certainly not an F4. If you ride, that’s enough. Own what you want. That’s what is so great about bikes. There is one out there for every taste. And I agree the R1 is a dime a dozen. But they are still nice bikes. There is no denying that. But I don’t go for the Japanese crotch rocket either. I like my bikes to be different. My 05 XB12s is the most bizarre looking bike out there I think. Some call it ugly, but it looks like something Mad Max would slap together and ride. And it’s the most streetable bike I’ve owned. And I’ve owned a bunch. Thanks why I love it. It’s pure utilitarianism. Literally just two wheels and an engine. And that little bastard hauls with a competent rider on top. And now with my new SM purchase just days away….ok…now I’m getting of topic…just excited. Anyway, Like the F4. I just think it could use some updates IMHO.
The design updates are interesting. Side by side, the 1098 looks almost like the F4, arrow tail, single side swingarm, and the mirrors. The only update I wanted to see on the F4 was for MV to sharpen up the bike a little. Give it a modern feel. With these new cues, the MV from what I can see will look like a Corsa and Silver lively (red/silver) 1098. IRONY.
Pick any of the big 4 from Japan. The only differences is really what color do you want or what exhaust flavor you want…undertail, side, or shorty. They have the same characteristics, same high revving I4. 16,000 RPMs really. You get a new one every 2 years with more power. I owned a Gixxer 750 and was all about it until I saw a red 998 in person next to mine.
I’m not going to lie, I bought my F4 1000R and my 1098 (i’m not rich either, I’m in the military) purely for the aesthetics. I’m looking into buying an 05 R1 Raven again for the aesthetics.
seriously, if you’re not Casey Stoner, Mr. Rosi, or trying to make your way up on the AMAs, what does a spec sheet do for you. If you’re riding on the I5 from San Diego to L.A., what’s 10 hp and 2 seconds quicker from 0 to 150 mph do for you??????
Even if you’re on a Katana, LOL, Katana, you’re faster than 90% of the cars on the road….and i’m done.