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By now, true motorcycle enthusiasts should be familiar with MV Agusta’s lineup of “RC” models from its sport bike lineup. These race inspired machines are limited in quantity, feature a unique race-inspired livery, and arrive with extra go fast parts that come in a special wood box.

The RC models are strong sellers for MV Agusta, so it is not surprising to see that the concept has permeated from the company’s superbike offering to virtually every machine in the Italian company’s lineup. For the 2019 model year, this idea is no different.

The Motor Bike Expo is underway in Verona, Italy right now, and MV Agusta is there showing off two of its special livery machines, to help grab headlines and to keep buzz moving around the Italian brand.

The first bike is the MV Agusta Brutale 800 RR “Ballistic Trident” that we have already shown you, and the other is today’s installment, the MV Agusta Dragster 800 “Blackout”.

As the name implies, the Blackout is built off the Dragster 800 platform, with copious amounts of black paint used. In other news, water is wet, right?

The design is pretty interesting though, and I mean that in the Chinese proverb sense of the word. There is a lot going on here, from the rain race tires, LED headlights and auxiliary lights (on the fork bottoms), pedal shaped front brake discs, and the addition of a “push to start” button.

We can also see a bevy of Valter Moto Components parts, as well as an SC Project exhaust (the tires are Pirelli too), thus making it an all-Italian affair.

MV Agusta has really been pushing the envelope with its Dragster customs, each one more lurid than the last, and since we are talking about the Blackout today, we suppose it’s mission accomplished for MV Agusta’s marketing department.

Another more tidbit of news to come from the 2016 MV Agusta Brutale press launch (read the review here), is word from CEO Giovanni Castiglioni that MV Agusta will unveil six new models this year, ahead of the 2016 EICMA show.

Castiglioni wouldn’t say which three models it would be, though he made hint with the above slide that three of them would be naked sport bikes, while the other three new models would be fully faired sport bikes. With these hints, it makes the guessing game fairly straight forward.

Confirmed at the launch of the 2016 MV Agusta Brutale 800 in Spain, MV Agusta will bring the smaller sibling to its three-cylinder Brutale line in the second quarter of 2016.

Like the new Brutale 800, we can expect the updated Brutale 675 to be fully Euro4 compliant. We would also expect the 675cc to have the same mechanical and styling changes that are found on its 800cc sibling, namely a revised chassis geometry, updated MVICS 2.0 electronics (traction control, ABS, & quickshifter), and visual changes to the headlight, exhaust, and body.

In addition to the 2016 MV Agusta Brutale 800, the other big new model release from the Varese brand is the MV Agusta Dragster RR Lewis Hamilton, a bike that pays homage to the reigning Formula 1 World Champion.

The concept is pretty simple, take MV Agusta’s already attractive Dragster RR model, and let Mr. LH44 go wild on it. The idea is to create another collectable MV Agusta model, so things stay pretty much the same for the Dragster RR’s 140hp motor and steel trellis frame.

The rest of the bike though, gets a solid going-over, by Lewis Hamilton himself, if you can believe the MV Agusta press release.

You remember the MV Agusta Dragster RR right? The Brutale 800 without a tail section? Of course you do…it was pretty bold design from MV Agusta, which is probably saying something, considering that the Varese brand tends to lead with design, rather than follow.

It turns out that Lewis Hamilton is a bit of a fan of the machines from MV Agusta – it also helps that AMG has a 20% interest in the Italian brand, and Hamiliton is the team’s star F1 driver, at least when teammate Nico Rosberg isn’t around – so, in true MV Agusta fashion, a special limited edition machine must be produced, right?

Behold, the Lewis Hamilton Dragster RR: a collaboration between the F1 World Champion and the Italian motorcycle marque. MV Agusta hasn’t quite revealed the machine yet, but this teaser video does a pretty good job of getting the point across. We took some stills, just in case the edits were too much for you.

The 2014 MV Agusta Brutale 800 Dragster finally broke cover today, if you haven’t already seen the bevy of photos we published earlier. We won’t belabor the fact that the Dragster borrows heavily from the established Brutale 800 platform, and differs primarily in aesthetic and purpose.

So down to brass tacks it is, the key technical specifications of the 2014 MV Agusta Brutale 800 Dragster are the following:

  • In-line three-cylinder engine, 798 cc
  • Bore 79.0 mm, stroke 54.3 mm
  • Maximum power 125 HP-EC (92 kW) at 11,600 rpm
  • Maximum torque 81 Nm at 8,600 rpm
  • Limiter at 13,000 rpm
  • Dry weight 167 kg
  • Power-weight ratio 1.34 kg/HP
  • Tyres Pirelli DIABLO Rosso II 120/70 – ZR 17 front, 200/50 – ZR 17 rear

It’s been a long tease with the MV Agusta Dragster, with Giovanni Castiglioni hinting at the machine’s debut as far back as the 2013 EICMA show. We still expect the machine to debut any day now, but MV Agusta has dropped some more details by adding scenes to its “Metallica” promotional video.

A few official studio photos have also leaked out of Varese, which if nothing else confirm the lines we have been seeing these past few weeks.

Borrowing heavily from the Brutale 800 platform, the Dragster 800 defines itself really with a lower seat height, a chopped tail section, and it 200 width rear tire. Will those differences be enough to distinguish the Dragster from the Brutale? We don’t think so.

As fanciful as the turbo rumor was, it at least created a reason for the Dragster to exist alongside the Brutale. It’s an attractive motorcycle, like all MV Agustas, but we suspect that it will serve only to cannibalize sales from the Brutale line.

Although MV Agusta has already teased us with a video of the upcoming MV Agusta Dragster 800, the company’s Ducati Diavel rival has still been hard to glimpse.

We have seen a render of the completed bike, which was attached to the lurid rumor of a turbocharged engine (we are doubtful of that possibility), and a couple frames of video confirmed that design as being the final one.

Today though we get a proper look at the new Dragster, as it was caught at a gas station outside of Varese, Italy. Part Brutale, and part Rivale, it is hard to see how the Dragster will land in MV Agusta’s model lineup.

The seat height looks quite low, and there are interesting design cues, but does the Dragster distinguish itself enough from its brethren? Only time will tell.

With all the details and rumors surrounding the new MV Agusta Dragster, it doesn’t surprise us to see MV Agusta drop us a hint about its newest motorcycle model. Accordingly, we have a teaser video of the Dragster, MV Agusta’s answer to the Ducati Diavel, to show you today.

Based around the company’s three-cylinder 800cc engine, we don’t expect the Dragster 800 to be a turbo, but we do expect it to be muscly and fun bike to ride. With burnouts and wheelies galore, along with a Metallica soundtrack, the Italian brand is certainly making us some promises of that nature, and as usual the bike is a looker to boot.

Italy’s venerable Motociclismo magazine is starting an interesting rumor that MV Agusta is experimenting with a turbocharged version of its 800cc three-cylinder engine, and that the forced-induction lump could find its way onto the soon-to-be-released MV Agusta Brutale 800 Dragster model for 2014.

The Italian publication is also running the above render of the machine, which matches up with the photos found earlier this week. Filings with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), list the 2014 model motorcycle as the MV Agusta Brutale 800 Dragster, and as the name and photos suggest, the “Ducati Diavel rival” is based heavily upon the MV Agusta’s Brutale platform.

Though a highly respected publication, Motociclismo‘s speculation sounds a bit far off the mark this time around to our ears, so as always, time will tell on this one.