Roll-out MV Agusta F4-750

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Roll-out MV Agusta F4-750

Roll-out MV Agusta F4-750
Ago’s comeback

Around a quarter of a century after his last World Championship title on MV Agusta, Giacomo Agostini returned to the saddle of the new MV generation

Eva Breutel

07/06/1998

Friendships pay off. The publisher of the Italian motorcycle magazine MOTOCICLISMO is close friends with Claudio Castiglioni, the ruler of the brands Cagiva, Husqvarna and MV Agusta, and MOTORRAD in turn is friends with MOTOCICLISMO. And so it happens that the eagerly awaited on the first roll-out MV Agusta 750-F4 also has MOTORRAD part.
For two-wheel fans, this first test drive is almost historic. Giacomo Agostini, the 15-time motorcycle world champion and most famous MV tamer of all time, acts as test pilot. For this special occasion, the 56-year-old grand master of motorcycling dug out boots, gloves and T-shirt from his winning times with the old MV, only the suit and helmet come from modern production. The test area near Milan is provided by the Agusta company, which built motorcycles and helicopters in the most glamorous MV times, but is now only dedicated to the production of aircraft. And then finally there is the new MV Agusta from the high-tech forge of Massimo Tamburini, who also created the Ducati 916. An absolute crowd puller at the Milan trade fair last autumn, with its in-line four-cylinder engine, which was developed by Cagiva, looks delicate and yet powerful and inclines twenty degrees forwards.
The Agusta A 109 Power helicopter circles over the runway, top speed 311 km / h. But he doesn’t have to fly that fast today, because the test area is only a good 1000 meters long ?? even Ago doesn’t manage to bring the MV up to speed. But the rumble of the four-cylinder alone silences the little crowd of journalists and technicians. May it be because of the fact that the MV was awaited with great excitement? it seems to sound very different from any Japanese four-cylinder. Agostini does his duty and chases the MV up and down the short runway a few times? The proof has been provided, the MV is running, and at least Agostini has something to say afterwards: “The engine is incredibly elastic and pulls out extremely well from below,” reports the ex-world champion. “I let it drop to almost idle speed and then ripped it open completely, and you don’t even need the clutch.” The rev limiter kicks in at 13,000 rpm, and Ago is satisfied with that too: “With some motorcycles you have the feeling that the engine stops suddenly. With the MV, on the other hand, the limiter kicks in very gently. “Agostini is certain that the F4 will become the new benchmark for sports motorcycles:” No other motorcycle offers such a successful mix of styling, technology and tradition. “
The MV technicians don’t want to reveal anything about the engine and chassis yet, but at least this much: “We now have 130 hp at 12400 rpm and 7.3 kpm at 9000 rpm on the test bench, but we can get out of the extremely short-stroke Power unit – the pistons cover a stroke of just 43.8 millimeters in their 73.8 millimeter bore – you can easily get even more out, “explains chief engineer Andrea Goggi, 34.” And we are extremely satisfied with the reliability: On one of our prototypes with Ducati We have already covered 46,000 kilometers with 916 fairing, and that’s always under steam, as our test drivers say. «The first prototype of the engine from 1995, which still bore the name Cagiva, was 420 millimeters wide, of which the final version remained 395 millimeters left. “Exactly the space that the cylinder and timing chain need,” says Goggi.
The most difficult thing for the engineers was the detailed development up to series production. The first 200 to 250 engines are assembled by hand, but then series production is the order of the day. And for this, the head in particular was modified, which, according to Goggi, can now be fitted more easily. But until that happens, it will probably take a little more time: The first 200 pieces will be produced after the summer vacation, only around twenty of them will come to Germany, according to company boss Claudio Castiglioni. And only afterwards, when the mass production starts, can normal motorcyclists feel like Ago: without a helicopter behind their backs, but at least in the saddle of an MV.

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