Will the Real F4 Please Stand Up?
WILL THE REAL F4 PLEASE
STAND UP?
NO ONE LIKES TO EAT HUMBLE PIE, BUT the staff of Cycle World is now gulping down several large slices of the stuff In the Roundup section of our May issue, we ran an article titled “MV Agusta F4 1000 R” that actually was an edited version of an older story on a 2007 MV Our European Editor, Bruno dePrato, intended to send us a story on the new 2010 F4 but accidently e-mailed the one on the older bike instead. In our rush to get the article to press, our staff never picked up on several clues that should have tipped us off. Our sincere apologies to you readers and to anyone else who may have been misled or confused by our mistake. Yeah, we now remember that Massimo Tamburini didn’t pen the new bike (it was designed by the CRC design studio), and we also know that the bike is now simply called F4.
Although bore and stroke remain at 76 by 55mm, compression has been
bumped slightly to 13.1:1. A new fuelinjection system includes a mix of Marelli electronics and 49mm, twin-injector Mikuni throttle bodies. Chassis changes include altered front-end geometry: rake is now set at 23.5 degrees, while 30mm of offset results in 3.9 inches of trail. A slightly longer swingarm combined with the steeper rake results in the same 56.3-inch wheelbase. MV claims that the $18,500 F4 has shed 22 pounds for a claimed drv weight of 423.
DePrato had great things to say about the new bike, as did Associate Editor Mark Cemicky after riding the MV at MasterBike, so we plan to get one in our hands for a full test in the near future. In the meantime, go to www.cycleworld.com and read dePrato s First Ride from the 2010 launch at the Almería Circuit.
Blake Conner
