MV Agusta and Harley-Davidson announced today that H-D have struck a deal to buy 100% of the MV Agusta Group shares. Claudio Castiglioni owns 95% at present and will act as the chairman and in an R&D role after the acquisition. The purchase is worth 70 million Euro that will cover the 45 Million Euro debt. As you can see from our choice of pictures to illustrate this, the optimism in both companies are now at a very high level! With this deal struck, expect MV Agusta to spearhead some spectacular racing activities in the future too. At the end some thoughts: What happens to Buell now? Hopefully Harley-Davidson will do a better job with MV than TPG did with Ducati... More on this later including a exclusive interview with Claudio Castiglioni. Tor Sagen
I can feel my integrity crumble into pieces as I see the 08 MV F4 1078 RR 312 polished to perfection in front of me. In pearl white and black this is almost a moment that equals seeing your sexy new girlfriend naked for the first time. People that I don't know and never talked to have told me that a supermodel in bed might not be all ace. Trying to ride her slowly past the village church is pure torture. Go fast like a rabbit on steroids and she loves you and you love her. Worst part here is that I'm holding back. More in the full test of this 190 horsepower beauty when I get over the fact that I was dumped over Brad Pitt. Tor Sagen
Mama Mia! MV Agusta and Moto Guzzi 08's in two days!
Videos, words and much more coming from my recent visit to Varese and Mandello Del Lario at the MV Agusta and Moto Guzzi factories. A hint of what's to come in the piccies below and a video of the awesome MV Agusta Brutale 1078RR... Tor
MV Agusta have with the 1078 RR fulfilled many people's dream of an ultimate and really brutal Brutale. It boasts 154 horsepower @ 10.700rpm and a massive 117Nm of torque @ 8.100rpm. New gearing allows a higher topspeed, but with the extra cubes it's the extra torque that will be noticeable first. the Brutale 1078RR keeps the same chassis and suspension as before, but with modified internals and radial mounting for the new Brembo Monoblock radial callipers. Big news are also that the engine braking system has been replaced by MV's latest slipper clutch. The catalyser have now been resized to enable an easier process through emissions. Dry weight: 185kg
2008 MV Agusta Brutale 989R
The Brutale 989R replaces the 910, but don't be fooled by the name. The real displacement is 982cc, but 989R sounds nicer! the Brutale still remains the same as it has always been. Beauty in a naked chassis is not that easy and MV Agusta and Massimo Tamburini are closest to achieving this of all. The chassis remains the same as MV Agusta developed it for a big displacement bike in the first place, but the front suspension have been tweaked and in place are now radial Brembo callipers rather than the long-lived six-pot Nissins. New throttle bodies from the F4 enabled MV Agusta to reduce the number of teeth on the rear sprocket to enable a claimed topspeed of 165mph. Dry weight: 185kg. Bore x stroke:79x50.1- 141hp.
2008 MV Agusta F4 RR 312 1078!
At 190 horsepower MV Agusta have tested the F4 RR 312 up to a top speed of 312km/h (194Mph) hence the 312 in the name. New is a boost in cubes and the F4 now gets a very powerful 1078cc in-line four. The new F4 RR is a mix between the super exclusive F4 CC (1078-76x79) and the F4 R 312 (996). The extra R in the model name is truly justified when looking at the spec sheet. MV Agusta claims in its press release that one of the goals was to be faster than a Boeing 747 at take off. But fast as it may be, it is barred from world superbike racing due to the size of the engine. So, MV Agusta will continue to make the F4 1000, but for racing purely. The F4 1000 gets the same updates as the RR though which involves a new slipper clutch, gear ratios, suspension changes and new brakes. Homologation for racing will be taken care off by MV. Other subtle news are new design on the trademark four pipes where the end is now stubbier like a slice of salami (MV said it themselves...) New headlight unit and smoked screen from the F4 CC. The Sachs steering damper from the CC is also in place on the RR. One of the most sexy additions might be the Brembo monoblock callipers that makes the MV even more Italian than before if possible... They are Brembo racing items as seen in World superbike, but with an additional dust cover for street maintenance. Peak torque is now reached at 8.200rpm rather than the old peaky 10.000rpm. And the figure is a massive 124Nm.
First official 2008 Cagiva Mito SP525 pictures!
2008 Cagiva Raptor 125
More 2008 Cagiva Mito SP525 pictures!
Cagiva Mito has virtually looked the same for the last 15 years. In 2008 Cagiva have re-designed the front heavily to resemble the old Cagiva 500GP bike, but arguably also the new Ducati Desmosedici RR. So the 125 stays a 2-stroke by the miracles of a electronic carburettor and tricky cold/warm engine emission situations. When the engine is cold the emissions just passes EURO 3 only at given rpms. If you have ever ridden the Mito 125 you will know that absolutely nothing happens whatsoever until around 10.000 rpm. So no fuel is used either until very high rpms. Hence the SP525 sneaks through Euro 3 and lives yet another year... Check out our vid from our last test of the Mito 125 below.Pictures courtesy: Snellingen/MC24 Got more pix of 08 models? Send them in!
It looks good, but this is how the Mito 125 sounds like:
And Cagiva Raptor 125 burnout (until it stalls...):
2008 Cagiva Mito SP525
This spy-shot shows how the 08 Cagiva Mito SP525 will look like. It's the front that has been heavily re-designed and it now looks like a mixture of a Ducati 1098 and Desmosedici RR rather than the old classic 916 look. Cagiva will show the new Mito in Milan in November. TS
2008 MV Agusta 675 triple!
After Triumph's huge success with the Daytona 675 the Italians are following. Both MV Agusta and Benelli are well on their way developing their own 675cc triple engines. Triumph found the recipe for success in the midrange sportsbike market with the 675 and will be racing in World supersport next year. This looks to be the best way forward for both Benelli and MV Agusta as well. We welcome the news because the Triumph 675 is a very exciting and competitive package. We expect to see both the Benelli 675 Tre and the MV Agusta 675 triple sportsbikes in Milan. TS
One of the few surprises in Paris this year was the MV Agusta "Le Bestiale" concept bike that shortly will be unveiled at the MV Agusta stand. Full Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Triumph, KTM, Voxan and more coverage coming soon... TS from Porte de Versailles, Paris 2007.
Scoop: Every 2008 MV Agusta and Cagiva exposed-600cc MV, 1000cc Brutale, Cagiva Mito and Hypermotard!
2008 MV Agusta:
F4 600 SS supersport/R-MV Agusta have developed its own in-line four 600cc supersport
F4 R312-1098 -new bodywork, new 1098cc in-line four engine-200bhp.
F4 1000-new bodywork, similar engine as now.
Brutale 1000- 910 replacement utilizing the old F41000 engine-180bhp.
Brutale 750 with new 750cc engine-Brutale 750 is back as the step to a 1000cc 180bhp motorcycle is too big!
Cagiva:
New Mito 125-designed like the old Ducati 999 and not the MV F4 or Ducati 1098. My CG shows a Mito designed similar to the 1098 to illustrate the Ducati link, but reliable sources tells of a 999 design. Must involve a deal with Ducati. 1-cylinder 4 stroke. Our CG image illustrates how it would look with some Ducati 1098 flare!
Hypermotard using a mid sized new V-twin engine. Probably 750cc like Aprilia Shiver.
Cagiva shall cater for the smaller engine displacements and MV for the big and exclusive.
Words: Tor Sagen/CG's by: Luc1
Supermono, 2008 KTM 690 Supermono and Cagiva Mito 500
We have briefly mentioned the KTM 690 previously in what could turn out to be a brand new supermono. We think it will get a full fairing in the style of the RC8 and it will be big news from Mattighofen if they chose to launch such a sportsbike based on the 690 single-cylinder from 690 SM. Last year Cagiva showed us the Mito 500 concept. Visually it just looks like the current Mito 125, but within was a 500cc single-cylinder engine developed by Husqvarna. The latest we hear is that the Mito 125 will get a new engine and fairing styled like Ducatis 999! That means that Cagiva must have done a deal with Ducati to be able to do that as the old 916 design was a Tamburini design whilst Cagiva owned Ducati, the 999 is a Terblanche design for the "new" Ducati. Cagiva will also launch an all new mid-sized (600-800cc) Hypermoto styled bike featuring a new V-twin engine. Much more on this and in particular 2008 MV Agusta new models very soon. MV Agusta got a lot of cash we have been told after selling Husqvarna to BMW. By Tor Sagen/CG: Luc1/Photo: Tor Sagen More in the links below.
If you really, really want the metal in your garage to top 300km/h guaranteed, MV Agusta is the only way to go on a standard production motorcycle with no modifications. Out of the crate the new F4 R312 will do, yes you guessed it, 312km/h. That is if you can call any MV Agusta standard production... Anyhow, the new Italian exotica features radial valves, max power is then a Euro 3'd 183hp @ 12.400rpm and 115Nm @ 10.000rpm, dry weight: 192kg, seat height: 810mm, 998cc in-line four with top of the range adjustable suspension and radial mono-blocks to stop the speed-monster. The R312 will also be available as a 1+1 version which in MV language means you can scare a pillion with you too! TS
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