Beauty and Beast in One
Story by Mike Seate and Jay LaRossa
Photos by MV Agusta and Jose Gallina
Just as the relentless arms race of race-replica sportbikes dies down, another full-bore contest has begun. This one pits motorcycle manufacturers against each other in a no-holds-barred race where the fastest, most powerful hyperbike still wins, only now the motorcycles have (slightly) taller handlebars, minimal bodywork and all the latest electronic rider aids.
In this round, MV Agusta, the small-batch Italian maker of scintillating, Space X-fast road missiles, has gone the Barry Bonds route with a special edition of their long-running Brutale supernaked with insane levels of grunt. The already formidable engine now produces 208 rear wheel horsepower. That’s not a misprint: 208 ponies is more than American muscle cars churned out in the 1980s and enough to make the new Brutale RS feel, well, like trying to lasso a charging tiger, saddle it and control the wild beast while moving at twice the speed of traffic.
“I’ve ridden a lot of fast bikes before, but this is the rawest, most rapid acceleration I’ve ever felt,” said a slack-jawed Jay LaRossa after climbing off the angular and very rapid machine. The typically MV idle, a mixture of mechanical noise and buzzy, high-pitched exhaust note, doesn’t prepare you for the intensity that lies ahead. The lower gears are predictably smooth as inline four-cylinder engines tend to be. But twist the throttle anywhere north of 6,000 RPM and things start getting wild very, very quickly.
The far horizon starts approaching faster than seems possible while the soft-edged engine sound transforms into an angry, cascading snarl, a sound that echoes through the gulping airbox located beneath the sharp-angled gas tank. “This is the kind of bike that goes so fast, so easily that I’m afraid most of the people who buy it will try riding it a few times before parking it in the rec room because it’s scared the crap out of them,” Jay said.
I’d propose the RS would make a great track bike, but it’s so long-legged with its tall gearing that it would need a track with a three-mile straightaway to take advantage of all the power.
My first encounter with the Brutale 1000RR was a slightly painful one. The bike is equipped with passenger pegs (for some unknown reason) as any rider would need to be Romanian gymnast tiny to fit on the sandwich-sized suede pad. The passenger peg mounts just catch the inside of my right calf reminding me this is no easy-going motorcycle to ride.
Still, the Brutale is an exercise in trade-offs. No other bike charges into corners and holds an apex quite like it and there’s a smooth, exhilarating sensation as the MV exits a corner. Stable and flickable, the 1000 was perfectly at home on long, ascending sweepers.
Jay observed that the longer he stared at the special-edition RS, the more awesome design cues he spotted, from the oval-shaped LED taillight to the Moto GP-inspired frontal wings (to help keep the wheels in contact with the ground under hard acceleration) and the clever interplay between the sculpted, fiery red body and the black accent pieces. There’s six-spoke gloss black forged alloy wheels, a quartet of organ-style exhausts that exit two on each side of the 200mm rear tire and are typical of the high-end design first introduced on the brilliant F4 of 1997. “You can see where they really studied how each part would interface with the next adjoining piece of bodywork and it ends up being beautiful,” Jay said.
It’s a museum-quality display of aesthetics, as sexy as any Ferrari or Lamborghini sportscar with similar performance. Blasting up Kanan Dume Road from Calabasas towards the windy canyons leading to Malibu, the 410-pound Brutale snicked easily through the gears thanks to its up/down electronic quickshifter. Jay’s 5’11’ frame found the riding position to be far friendlier than I did at 6’4,” but the peg-to-seat ergos weren’t as bad as I’d expected. In the surprisingly effective rear view mirrors, I noticed a trio of riders fast approaching on their identical, tall-barred Harley Big Twins. It was time to either pull aside or hit the gas, so I chose the latter. With a twist of the wrist, the MV buzzed, snapped upright on its taut suspension and propelled me to 135 MPH with just a single click of the six-speed gearbox. There was plenty more on tap for an engine that makes peak power at a stratospheric 13,000 RPM and max torque of 85 foot-pounds at 11,000.
I never found out because, unlike in Pittsburgh, where cops have bigger worries than speeding Italian bikes, the CHP often stage speed traps on these undulating canyon roads, so I backed off the go-juice lest my license disappear faster than the Brutale itself does. It’s an intoxicating feeling to know you’re riding the fastest, prettiest production motorcycle around, even if I’m far too cheap to fork over the $26,699 asking price.
There’s plenty of extras included at that price, including an Ohlins electronic steering damper, Marzocchi fully-adjustable USD forks and a Sachs shock out back. Brembo Stylema radial brakes rule the roost up front and state-of-the-art ABS designed by Continental (the tire makers) works even when the Brutale is leaned over in high-speed corners. The 5.5” TFT dash allows personal adjustment of the MV Ride App to suit how much traction and wheelie control one desires or whether to use the screen as part of a Bluetooth GPS program. There may be eight(!) levels of traction control plus four riding modes, but we fifty-somethings just busied ourselves trying to tame this superpowered brute of a bike without losing control or our collective nerve.
Jay, who races a Brutale 800, was amazed by the ride, which he described as, “Amazing. The power’s crazy, it’s got a little bit more aggressive seating position than my 800 and the looks are out of this world. I really, really dig it,” he confessed. “I thought my 800 triple was fast, but there’s just so much more and it’s very nimble feeling and light to be a high-horsepower 1000. It’s so light that you hit bumps and dips and it barely registers because the damping is so perfect. I want one…” he trailed off, glancing at the MV the way most men his age look at younger women.
Would the Brutale be a practical, day-to-day motorcycle? Well, I’d say yes, especially if I hit the Lotto and could afford to live in this part of Southern California, where long twisty roads and sunshine are plentiful. But when I imagine days spent in bumper-to-bumper Pittsburgh traffic with its millions of kamikaze deer, potholed roads and frequent snow and rain, and it’s an unlikely proposition.
This is also a machine that demands to be ridden at ten tenths or else it will feel hot, uncomfortable and completely wasted on average-speed rides. The wind at high speeds helps lift the chest and straighten the arms and wrists, but at 40 MPH and below, the Brutale is less than accommodating.
Still, it would be tough to resist owning an exclusive, exotic motorcycle that‘s capable of offering unsurpassed thrills on the racetrack or road – or just parked in the garage where you can appreciate it nearly as much while puffing on an expensive cigar and sipping a glass of something potent.
Like Jay said, it’s a rolling, high-velocity museum piece. And who can resist that? CR
2022 MV Agusta
Brutale 1000RS
MSRP: $26,699
Engine: Water-cooled in-line four-cylinder, 16 valve with electronic fuel injection
Transmission: Six-speed
Brakes: Twin radially mounted Brembo Stylema four-piston front calipers with 320mm rotors with wheel lift-up mitigation, front/ Single 220mm rotor with two-piston Brembo caliper ABS
Wheels: Forged alloy six-spoke
Tires: Pirelli Diablo Supercorsas 200/55×17 rear, 120/70×17 front
Suspension: 50mm Marzocchi USD fully-adjustable front: Sachs adjustable monoshock rear: Ohlins electronic steering damper
Power: 208 horsepower @13,000 RPM; 85 foot-pounds torque @11,000 RPM
Fuel Capacity: 4.23 Gallons
Weight: 410 Pounds
Electronics: Eight-stage traction control, four riding modes (Rain, Road, Sport and Race) Cruise Control
Colors: Silver or Red
We Dig: The light weight, futuristic styling and acceleration. Goodness me!
We’d Ditch: The passenger pegs.
