MVAgusta America impression
.,
en is a S~500 motorcycle •••
By Lane Campbell
Picture this. Ace moto-journalist
has just trudged the familiar mile
down the railroad tracks from
home to work because the bike
has a tweaked crank and the van
bums to o much gas. Phone rings.
A cheery, cultured voice on th e
o the r end says, " We're ou t here on
th e coast wi t h t he MV -Agus ta 750, and
we t hough t y ou 'd like t o ge t a lo o k at
it." Right away I learn o ne thing abo u t
fo lk s who live cas ually w ith $6,500
m o torc ycl es
th ey 'r e wizards fo r
unde rsta te me nt.
Thus
foll o ws t h is poo r bo y 's
impression of the heir-appare nt to the
Munch Mammut as the mo st expensive ,
m ind-bl owin g m otorcycle yo u can buy
. fo r t he ro ad . Ac tually, th e Agusta be ars
ab out as much famil y re semblance t o
the Munch asa fin el y-balanced sci m ita r
do es t o a headsman 's axe ; eve n though
the d esign objectives may be sim ilar in this case, to separate a ridic u lo us ly
ric h person fro m a large su m of m oney"
in as ego-gratify in g a m anner as possibl e.
Based on lo t s of pictu re-tak ing, p lus
the tw o passes up an d down a
co nve nien t canyon (terminated wh en
the factory rep chased us do wn an d
asked would we please give their
ex pe n sive
mo torcycle
bac k),
the
aforesaid design objective is well met.
Al l o f the man-hours re p re sen te d by
the p rice h ave d efinit ely go ne in to t he
Agusta. Regardless of how good
pro duction
tolerances
m igh t
be
elsewhere , this m ac hi ne is hand-fit piece
by p iece , and it feels like it . You know
it every tim e yo u roll o n or off the
throttle. There is sim ply no slop,
anywhere. Neithe r is th ere the funny
torque reactio n associated with most
sh afries, because th e cran kshaft on t his
o ne is at righ t an gles to the drive shaft.
Som e bikes climb up on their rear
su spens io n. or pogo abou t at the fro nt
u nder hesit an t on-off th rottle lo ad in g.
The suspension o n th is t hing just
doe sn 't move . ICs uncann y , and not a
little awe-i nsp iring.
Co m pared to o t her inline fours , th e
Agu sta also feel s re markably lo w.
'Vhat's more , eve n with the wet sump,
co rne ring clearance d oesn 't su ffer. The
e ngi ne is deep at the ce nterline wh ere
clearance is least cri tical, the graceful
..
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