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When the MV Agusta Brutale 1000 RR debuted, it was herald as a bold, raw, and fast street bike. A true streetfighter in the sense that it was a superbike sans fairings, and not for the weak of heart.

With 205hp (153 kW) on tap from its 998cc inline-four engine, the only thing more audacious than the Brutale 1000 RR (other than the über-extravagant Brutale 1000 Serie Oro) was its $32,000 price tag.

That put the MV Agusta Brutale 1000 RR out of reach for many riders, and now the Italian brand hopes to widen its base with a “more affordable” model. Notice though, we still did not use the word “cheap” to describe this new machine.

Say hello to the MV Agusta Brutale 1000 RS – Varese’s newest motorcycle for the 2022 model year.

We could probably save a lot of pixels, and a lot of headlines, if we just wrote one story saying that updates have come to MV Agusta’s 800cc three-cylinder lineup…but where’s the fun in that?

Continuing the trickle of reveals, we have on the offer today the MV Agusta Brutale line, which includes the base model Brutale Rosso, the up-spec Brutale RR, and the auto-clutched Brutale RR SCS.

MV Agusta is making an interesting move in its sport bike lineup, announcing this week that they will be adding the company’s “Smart Clutch System” (SCS) to its Brutale 800 RR and Dragster 800 RR models.

For those that don’t remember the debut of the Smart Clutch System, it was built in collaboration with Rekluse, and first debuted on the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce Lusso sport-tourer.

Effectively, the implementation of the Smart Clutch System means that an MV Agusta rider needs only to use the clutch when firing up the motorcycle, as the clutch will auto-engage when coming to a stop, and isn’t necessary when shifting because of the up/down quickshifter.

I am not sure why all the motorcycle publications are covering the MV Agusta Brutale 1000 RR this week, as if 1000cc streetfighter was just unveiled as a new model. Well actually, I do know why – it is because MV Agusta held a media presentation for the bike, in lieu of a on-road press test.

You can’t fault MV Agusta for trying to salvage a press launch during a global pandemic, though it is curious why my colleagues are reporting this bike as if they have never seen it before. Maybe they were asleep during EICMA?

For those who feel that they need their memories refreshed, the “RR” model isn’t that different from the “Serie Oro” model we saw in 2018, though it has some key high-end pieces missing.

Hello and good morning to a cold but dry Varese, Italy – the home of MV Agusta and just a stone’s throw away from Milan and the Dolomite mountain range.

Today we are riding the Euro4-spec MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR, and our course will be a street ride, around the region’s Lago Maggiore – a large lake not too far from the MV Agusta factory.

The current MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR isn’t exactly a new model, but it is one that has gotten lost in the shuffle with the Italian brand’s lengthy history of financial troubles

Historically one of the best-selling machines in the MV Agusta lineup, the Brutale 800 RR is a bike that I have been looking forward to riding for quite a while now, after I was first impressed with the changes made to the Euro4-spec Brutale 800 a few years ago.

The big difference between the Brutale 800 RR and the Brutale 800 is the engine, with the RR making 140hp from its three-cylinder power plant, an increase of roughly 30hp over the base model.

As you can imagine, the torque curve is considerably further up the rev range on the RR as well, which should make for a sportier ride. It’s not all roses though, and hopefully MV Agusta has been tackling my list of complaints to an otherwise awesome machine.

Will the Brutale 800 RR be just as fun to ride as the Brutale 800? That’s what we are hear to find out…well, that and whether its worth the $3,800 price difference ($18,498 MSRP here in the USA) over the base model.

So, here is your chance to learn what it’s like to ride the Brutale 800 RR, before even my own proper review is posted (Italian cell service permitting). As always, if we don’t know an answer, we will try to get a response from the MV Agusta personnel. So, pepper away.

You can follow our thoughts on the bike live via FacebookTwitter, and Instagram, and you can see what our colleagues are posting on social media by looking for the hashtags #MVAgusta & #Brutale800RR

Asphalt & Rubber is coming to you from Varese, Italy this week, as we get ready to ride the Euro4-spec Brutale 800 RR.

Before we ride tomorrow though, we had a chance to sit down with MV Agusta boss, Giovanni Castiglioni, and pick his brain on a variety of subjects (keep an eye on the MOTR podcast for the full interview).

Revealing a few company secrets to us, as all good Italian CEOs do, Castiglioni has provided more insight on the company’s new four-cylinder platform, which will begin to debut this year, likely at November’s EICMA show, but possibly before then.

Described to us as “like Leon Camier’s bike, but without fairings”, the new Brutale 1000 will be the first of three models using the Italian company’s four-cylinder platform.

We have been teased with near four-cylinder models from MV Agusta before, but after today’s announcement, the follow-up story that MV Agusta will launch its new four-cylinder platform in 2018 seems actually plausible.

Something we were expecting at this year’s EICMA show, MV Agusta CEO Giovanni Castiglioni has already shared that we can expect to see a 1,200cc four-cylinder Brutale in the near future.

We say this because its naked street bikes are MV Agusta’s best-sellers, so we expect the new Brutale to be given the nod over a new F4 superbike, in terms of priority, primarily because of financial reasons.

It has been a long road for MV Agusta, over the past few years. However, the Italian brand seems ready to finally move on from its financial troubles, once we see its debt restructured in the Italian courts, and the investment secured from Black Ocean.

MV Agusta latest issues, which concern cash flow difficulties, seem to be balancing out as well, though the effect on the company’s new model lineup has been noticeable, with a disappointing lack of new machines to show at the 2016 EICMA show.

As such for the 2017 edition of the trade show, we should have measured expectations, with Giovanni Castiglioni saying in an interview with MCN that only one new model will debut later this year, and only two new bikes will be shown in 2018.

To call the last couple of years for MV Agusta turbulent would probably be understating the situation.

The company has struggled for financial stability ever since its re-acquisition by the Castiglioni family, and that struggle has recently come to a zenith with the firms debt restructuring and investment by the Anglo-Russian investment group Black Ocean.

With that comes some harsh realities, namely that MV Agusta will not be producing a new superbike any time soon, as the cost of the project exceeds the Italian manufacturer’s capabilities – so said MV Agusta CEO Giovanni Castiglioni while talking to Alan Cathcart for Australian Motorcycle News.

When we rode the MV Agusta Brutale 800 earlier this year, we called it the best motorcycle ever to come out of Varese, Italy. The current Brutale 800 is finally a motorcycle that comes from fully baked from the MV Agusta factory, and it shows what the Italian company can accomplish.

Riding through the MV Agusta Brutale 800 at the press launch, our only lament was our desire for more power from the 800cc three-cylinder engine. Thankfully, the Italians have heard our request.

Debuting at the EICMA show in Milan, the 2017 MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR comes with all the refinements we praised in the Brutale 800 model, and adds a 140hp peak power figure to the mix (63 lbs•ft @ 10,100 rpm), along with new forged wheels and updated electronics.

You know the new-bike season is just around the corner, because we’re starting to get glimpses of what the motorcycle OEMs will debut at shows like INTERMOT and EICMA.

We’ve already had a glimpse of the 2017 Honda CBR1000RR, as well as the 2017 BMW S1000R, and if the folks at Italian motorcycle magazine Motociclismo are correct, the following is a concept sketch of the four-cylinder 2017 MV Agusta Brutale.

The new Brutale is one of two new bikes that MV Agusta will launch at the EICMA show, with the other machine pegged as a special edition three-cylinder model.