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Up-Close with the MV Agusta Brutale 675

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Finally making its public debut, the MV Agusta Brutale 675 was easily one of the most anticipated motorcycles of the 2011 EICMA show. Representing Varese’s commitment to more affordable motorcycles, the Brutale 675 comes with a €8,990 price tag in the EU (US pricing is still up in the air, but should be competitive with the Triumph Street Triple). No exactly a surprise in its design, the 2012 MV Agusta Brutale 675 is true to the Brutale format, and follows the lines of the F3 supersport…without fairings of course.

In person, the MV Agusta Brutale 675 comes with the fit and finish you would expect from the historic Italian brand. For as much as I bag on MV Agusta for its various monetary and business troubles, the Italian factory is trying to make available a gorgeous motorcycle at a very attractive price tag. For all the concerns made about how MV Agusta was going “down market” with its brand, the basic bullet points of what defines an MV still remain true with the Brutale 675, which should make it a winner when it comes to market.

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MV Agusta Brutale 675 Video Teases All Trepistoni

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It clearly must be almost time for the EICMA motorcycle show, as manufacturers are out in full-force teasing their 2012 model year motorcycles. One of the more anticipated models set to be unveiled in Milan, Italy is the MV Agusta Brutale 675, the naked counterpart to the still unavailable MV Agusta F3 that debuted at EICMA last year. While MV hasn’t been teasing the three-cylinder (tre pistoni) street bike as heavily as the F3, the Brutale 675 is just as important to the Italian brand in bringing the company back to profitability.

Expected to sell in the €9,000 range, the Brutale 675 will go up against other premium brand nakeds, namely the Ducati Streetfigher 848 and Triumph Street Triple. Want to get your first glimpse at the MV Agusta Brutale 675? Check out the teaser video after the jump.

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Bikes

2012 Triumph Tiger Explorer Breaks Cover

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Officially breaking cover now, the 2012 Triumph Tiger Explorer continues the British company’s revamping of its adventure-tourer line. Featuring a 1200cc three-cylinder motor, the Tiger Explorer is the bigger brother of the popular mid-sized Tiger 800, which debuted last year after much build-up. Sans a few spy photos and some rumormill, Triumph has taken a decidedly different and more low-key approach in getting buyers excited about the new Tiger, though we think Triumph fans will like what they see.

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Bikes

55 Photos of the 2011 Benelli TnT R160

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We brought you some of the first pictures of the 2011 Benelli TnT R160 all the way back from the 2009 EICMA show. Originally slated as 2010 model-year bike, the R160 has taken a while to make its way into dealer showrooms. The pinnacle of the TnT line, the R160 is presumably worth the wait with its 157.8hp, 88.5 lbs•ft of torque, and 474 lbs ready-to-ride curb weight. As with anything though, the devil is in the details, and the Benelli TnT R160 is no different.

There’s something about Adrian Morton’s design with the TnT that we’re drawn to like a moth to flame, nearly bringing one into this author’s stable of motorcycles (I wouldn’t mind a Benelli Tornado Tre 1130 too). Plagued with electrical issues though, the TnT line perpetuates the Italian stereotype of finicky and unreliable motorcycles trapped in otherwise gorgeous veneers. Seeing the Benelli TnT R160 in 2009, we were disappointed on the fit-and-finish of the bike, as the pitted and cloudy carbon exterior seemingly matched the interior: unrefined.

With the 2011 Benelli TnT R160 now ready for dealer showrooms, Benelli’s top streetfighter seems to have benefited from a better build process, and we hear that some of the electrical issues have even been resolved. While we’ll reserve judgment as to whether the bike can maintain a positive net charge at a stand-still, it sure is stunning in its final form. There are 55 high-resolution photos of the new Benelli TnT R160 waiting for you after the jump.

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News

First Sounds of the 2012 MV Agusta F3

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MV Agusta brought out its new three-cylinder sportbike, the 2012 MV Agusta F3, to its annual international gathering of owners and enthusiasts, and as you would expect in this digital age, the cameraphones and video cameras were in full-swing as it rolled out of the truck. The F3’s design was clearly not complete in-time for the 18th annual gathering, as parts of the bike noticeably looked un-finished or were inoperable (there are no turn signals in the mirrors for instance, and we hear the LED tail light didn’t work).

But that all matters for not, as what we really want is to hear that triple purr, and these videos don’t disappoint in that regard. If anything actually, the MV Agusta F3 sounds subdued, likely because of noise and emissions standards in the EU becoming more and more strict. We imagine some aftermarket kit will help put some life into that exhaust note, but we’re sure MV fans will enjoy the silky smooth sound of the MV Agusta’s new three-cylinder lump. Two videos await you after the jump.

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Racing

Concept: Bimota TB-2 675 by Oberdan Bezzi

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Last week Oberdan Bezzi inked his concept for a Triumph-powered Bimota, dubbed the Bimota TB-1. That fully-faired alternative to the MV Agusta F3 naturally needs a naked streetfighter variant, and accordingly Bezzi has penned today’s latest concept sketch, which he calls the Bimota TB-2 675. Featuring the Triumph 675cc three-cylinder motor, the Bimota TB-2 675 competes against its donor the Triumph Street Triple, and goes head-to-head with the heavily anticipated MV Agusta Brutale 675 B3.

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Concept: Bimota TB-1 by Oberdan Bezzi

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For his latest work, Oberdan Bezzi imagines a three-cylinder Bimota that uses Triumph’s 675cc three-cylinder motor. Dubbed the Bimota TB-1 by the Italian designer, Bezzi brings up an interesting point with his sketch, namely that when the MV Agusta F3 comes it will, for all intents and purposes, be in a class of its own. You can’t really argue the point that there is yet-to-exist a premium well-designed supersport triple on the market right now (sorry Daytona owners), and Bezzi says that Bimota could easily come into this space with such a bike as seen here.

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Bikes

Triumph Daytona 1050 Imagined

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Triumph for some time now has had these glaring holes in its model line-up, which it has only begun to address with the launching of bikes like the 2011 Triumph Tiger 800 and 2011 Triumph Tiger 800 XC.

One hole that still remains in this Swiss cheese product offering is a liter class sportbike. Up until the recent release of the 2011 Triumph Daytona 675R, the Daytona 675 has been single-handedly holding down Triumph’s sportbike offering; while the British company’s naked plus-sized Speed Triple has nearly become the Branch Davidian of the street biking cult status, giving Triumph fans plenty of ammo to speculate upon when Triumph would release a fully-faired 1050cc three-cylinder machine that came from the best of these two bikes.

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Bikes

Husqvarna Mille 3 Concept

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Unveiled at EICMA today, Husqvarna has brought to the Italian motorcycle show a special three-cylinder concept motorcycle dubbed the Husqvarna Mille 3 Concept. Using three Husqvarna dirt bike cylinders with a common crankcase, the 993cc v-triple (one in two cylinders, one vertical cylinder) is strikingly unique beyond its peculiar power plant. Slammed to the ground, the Husqvarna Mille 3 Concept takes obvious design cues from Husky’s dirt and motard line. Coupled to that low-slung chassis are spoked rims matted to fat street tires, making the Mille 3 looks like it would be more at home on drag strip than anywhere else.

Although there might be a hidden market segment somewhere between dragsters and motards (we know we like this 3-1-2 exhaust system), Husqvarna doesn’t intend for the Mille 3 Concept to be any sort of production machine. Instead the German-owned Swedish firm that is based out of Italy merely wishes to express flex its designing ink, and we imagine the good press doesn’t hurt things either (how many times do you here us talking about Huskies on A&R?). Photos after the jump.

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MV Agusta F3 Unwrapped

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UPDATE: Photos of the MV Agusta F3 have been posted to Asphalt & Rubber.

After teasing us relentlessly with spy photos of the MV Agusta F3, the Italian company’s three-cylinder supersport finally bares all in this photo. The recently repurchased MV Agusta is pinning high-hopes on the middleweight machine, hoping to attract wouldbe buyers with a low price-point that Claudio Castiglioni said could start as low as €9,000.

While it remains to be seen if Castiglioni can achieve that goal, a higher-spec F3 is also expected to hit the market in the €10,000-€11,000 range, which should have a direct 1:1 price conversion to US dollars if MV Agusta keeps its pricing scheme in place.

MV Agusta is also expected to come out with a smalled Brutale-esque machine that also uses the F3’s three-cylinder power plant. While The MV Agusta F3 is expected to official debut this Tuesday in Milan during the EICMA show, it’s not clear if the “Brutalina” will also debut at the event, or will make an appearance later next year. Click on the photo above and after the jump for 4,000 pixels of F3 goodness, and check out the gallery after the jump.

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