Letter From Europe

LETTER FROM Europe

ROUNDUP

Forever MV

It may come as somewhat of a surprise, but 10 years after the last MV Agusta streetbike rolled out of the company’s helicopter factory, you can still buy a brand-new, four-cylinder, red-and-silver “fire engine” for the highway. Yet that’s very much the case, as former MV race-team manager Arturo Magni and his son Giovanni continue to build a small but steady trickle of hand-constructed MV Fours.

In order to build the handful (only 92 so far) of new Agustas, which are called Magni MVs, Arturo must recondition major castings of the original engine. This keeps him operating within the terms of an unwritten, verbal agreement with Count Corrado Agusta that allows him to produce Magni-framed motorcycles bearing the MV Agusta name. “If I used new engines, I’d need formal agreement with Gruppo Agusta to use the MV name,’’says Magni, “and that would mean dealing with bureaucrats in Rome and paying a large royalty. No, thanks!”

Almost all of the bikes Magni produces are fitted with his 862cc conversion kit, as well as the special Magni MV frame, and they make about 100 horsepower, depending upon exact state of tune. No two Magni MVs are ever really alike, though, because depending on the customer’s budget, a huge variety of modifications is available. It’s quite possible to tailor an MV Magni that costs over $ 16,000 by ticking off enough options.

A brief spin on Giovanni Magni’s personal machine gave me a refresher course in MV motorcycling. For starters, you can’t compare it with current Japanese superbikes, because this is history on wheels. Not only is the MV wrapped in GP glory, but its engine dates back to the 1950s—and shows it. Compared to almost any other four-cylinder street engine, it is unbelievably noisy; designed before the advent of modern lubrication, the MV has a ball bearing or needle bearing supporting every moving part.

The resulting whirring, gnashing and meshing of gears is unmistakable, as is the glorious note from the four megaphones. The street MV would have a hard time passing a sound test at a modern race.

Giovanni’s MV is a topof-the-line fire engine, and performs well— though, due to its high, 550-pound weight, acceleration is poor compared to most other fourcylinder bikes. Once wound out in top, it has an effortless, long-legged feel that makes it an ideal autostrada-burner. The heavy low-speed handling lightens up the faster you go, making a 90-mph corner an opportunity to discover the Magni frame’s pinpoint handling.

With the MV Agusta racebikes back in the news in vintage racing, it’s nice to know you can still buy a new—well, almost new— MV Agusta from the man who for 25 years was the major domo of Count Agusta’s racing empire: Arturo Magni.

Alan Cathcart