ROAD TEST MV A GUSTA F41000 V ELT R O www.motorcyclenews.com/bikereviews WORLD EXCLUSIVE FIRST TEST EXCESS ALL AREAS The £45,000, 185bhp, 159kg Veltro redefines exotica. Welcome to the fastest, most powerful and most expensive MV ever BY MICHAEL N EEV ES PIC T URES BY M ARK M A NNING T HE light weight and superb P irelli slicks on the Veltro make it ridiculousl y confidence - inspiring HERE’S exotica, and then world; it’s where 500cc Grand Prix Tyres are Pirelli slicks with a taller top speed as the track version, but its there’s super-exotica like the Cagiva race bikes used to live, and 55-profile rear tyre for extra side grip road kit (with lights and indicators) MV F4 Veltro. The version where the MV Agusta F4 and B rutale and better turning agility, wrapped pushes the weight up 10kg; not a big we’re riding around the were originally designed by co-owner around lightweight B rembo wheels problem when you think it will still be TGuadix circuit in Southern Spain is Massimo Ta mburini – the man who (the rear sprocket is q uick-release). lighter than the less powerful built solely for track use, hence the designed the D ucati 916. The swingarm is magnesium alloy. Kawasaki ZX-10R ! Its race exhaust “Pista” name – Italian for track. It The Veltro’s tubular steel frame is There’s a racing q uickshifter and a comes in a separate box though, only costs a whacking great £45,000, standard F4 1000 fare, but this elegant dash that gives you more information for track day use, of course. The only pumps out 185bhp and scorches to an structure now houses the engine from than a Sky Plus digibox, a racing fuel thing missing from the road bike is the authentic top speed of 190mph. the 1 7 3bhp F4 Ta mburini, complete filler cap and an aluminium radiator q uickshifter and race dash. The only small numbers with this with its variable height inlet trumpets big enough to cool a power station. Italian masterpiece are its weight (at which lift clear of the throttle bodies At the rear sits a fully-ad j ustable IT’S NOT F O R THE NER V O U S 159kg it’s lighter than a supersport at 10,000rpm to unleash hell (allowing Sachs shock (with separate ride-height J UST summoning up the courage to 600 or a World Superbike racer), and lairy camshafts without sacrificing any ad j uster) of the same design used on take the Veltro around the track in the how many will be made, namely 23. mid-range power). A titanium racing Schumacher’s Ferrari F1 car. Fully first place takes some doing; trashing Incredibly, despite the price, UK exhaust pushes things even further to ad j ustable 50mm Mar z occhi upside- 45 grand’s worth of rare two-wheeled importers Three Cross Motorcycles an eye-watering 185bhp. down forks live up front with billet mentalism that doesn’t belong to you have already sold two, so if you’ve got Elsewhere, if you can get close aluminum brackets for the radially- isn’t something even worth thinking that sort of cash burning a hole in the enough to it (a crowd comes as mounted four-piston B rembos. about. B ut with a shaking hand on the back pocket of your Armani suit you’d standard) you’ll see more exotic It’s all finished in exposed carbon- starter (on the left bar, as there’s no better get a move on. materials than on the space shuttle. fibre and matt black (like MotoGP switchgear on the right) the titanium The fairing (complete with q uick- bikes look during their winter tests) pipes burble into life and we’re off WHAT’S SO SPECIAL THEN? release fasteners and an enclosed belly and now I’ve got the serious horn. down the pitlane. I N short, everything – even where it’s pan that doubles as an oil catch tank – With j ust the rider’s mass stopping built. The Veltro doesn’t come from as per racing rules), seat unit, heel THE R E’S A R OADBI K E , TOO the waif-like Veltro from floating off the regular MV factory in Varese near guards, fairing and clock bracket, THERE’S a Veltro for the road called into space there’s little impression of L ake Como, instead it’s hand-built in hugger and front mudguard are all the Strada, which is ‘ only’ £36,000, so weight when you flick from side to A 159kg bike that San Marino by the Cagiva Research carbon-fibre and the engine has a you’ll only need five numbers to come side to keep the tyre-warmer heat in makes 185bhp will Centre. magnesium sump and rocker cover, up on the N ational L ottery to buy one, the Pirellis ;j ust like a full-on tend to do this CRC could be described as the helping to contain all the titanium bits not six. O nly 99 Stradas are planned. superbike racer. And with a few laps dream factory of the motorcycling inside it. The Strada has the same power and under our belts to get into the groove 28 | MOTOR C Y C L E N E W S J A N U ARY25,2006 IN DETAIL TCH TECHBY KEWAVIN ASH MV ha s ta k en lesso n s f r o m the s tealth b o m ber ... D A Y T O N A 6 75’ s e x tra c u be s add p o w er – b u t dem and taller gearing The great cylinder debate C A RBO N e v eryw here and a s u p er - tric k race da s h TRIUMPH will be forgiven but this is complicated for breaking through the enough as it is…), and valve 600cc class capacity ceiling area certainly matters – the by 75cc, because the new more you have, the more Daytona has only three efficiently you can flow gas cylinders instead of the in and out of each cylinder. usual four. It’s allowed in Improved gas flow in a supersport racing, and multi-cylinder engine is twins are given even more especially important, as the leeway, which is how main advantage of having Ducati competes with its more cylinders is being 750 twins. able to rev higher (because It’s certainly true that the piston speeds and internal more cylinders an engine engine loads are less). has, the greater its potential If you can fill a cylinder FOUR-POT radial B re m b o s c ou ld s t o p a train to make more power. But and burn the gas inside the frequently quoted more often per second, formula to do with changes then naturally you get more in piston area according to power from an engine. The the number of cylinders cylinders are smaller, but disguises a much more there are more of them, and complicated picture. with the larger valve area It’s true that for a fixed the gas flow is easier, too. ‘It bludgeons you engine capacity, more cylinders does mean more piston area, but this isn’t ‘One advantage with gale-force, directly relevant. The of having more thinking behind this comes cylinders is being face-altering from the basic mechanical principle that force = able to rev acceleration’ pressure x area. higher’ 173BHP engine c o m e s f r o m the F4 Tam b u rini With more piston area, the pressure of combustion But there’s a double MV F4 1000 Veltro in the cylinder results in a whammy with getting an it doesn’t take long to figure out that it the electronic air-bleed system kicks is that it’s very difficult to steer Pista (Strada) greater force on the conrod. engine to rev higher. Not goes like a proper superbike too. in, reducing the compression in two through a flip-flop chicane without ★★★★★ Well, it does, but for a only does the engine Blatting through the gears (road cylinders and keeping the throttle hearing the sound of your biceps COST £45,000 (£36,000) shorter period of time. produce more power, but shifting, minus the quickshifter, which response nice and smooth, until the popping – it takes that much physical P O WER (claimed): 185 bhp More important is how because it’s spinning faster hadn’t yet been fitted to this Veltro – corner is finished and it’s time to effort to haul it over. Also, this bike’s TOR QUE (claimed): 8 9ftl b much work the piston is you need lower gearing in WEIGHT (claimed): 1 5 9 kg ( 1 6 9 ) No1 of 23) and hunched over the matt unleash the fury again. rear spring is from the 26kg heavier capable of doing, and as the transmission. And in black 21-litre fuel tank, arms curled After just five laps of Guadix (a Ta mburini, so it’s a bit stiff, even on Av ailability: Now work = force x distance turn, that amplifies the C o l ou r s : Black travelled, the extra force is torque at the back wheel, around it like a scared child holding a sunny cross between Knockhill and the track. Ne wf o r 2006: New model teddy, the MV goes like nothing you’ll Cadwell), my arms are already In s u rance gr ou p : By special countered by the fact the increasing your acceleration ever find on the road.