Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Cycle News 1983 12 14

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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ing's T and the team's rider, sheds some light on the subject. "It's the most un-Italian Italian bike I've ever ridden," he says. "Compared to other Italian bikes, the geabox is almost Japanese in its precision. The controls have a very soft feel; you don't need the arms of Popeye to be able to squeeze the clutch or hold the throttle ppen. Braking feel and controlability are as good as anything I've ever ridden. The steering input needed is very light; it turns instantly." In the capable hands of Theobald, hands that have guided the team's Interceptor to top-10 finishes in Superbike Nationals and steered Lower's Moto Guzzi to a win in the Stock class in Battle of the Twins competition, the MV may very well 'turn instantly. With someone of less acumen aboard. the bike just feels plain twitchy. And no wonder, really, with a weight approaching 600 pounds and a wheelbasesmaller than that of a GPz550's. Factor in a strong sidewind pushing against the fuJI fairing and you have the makings of a $10,000 handful. Fun, perhaps, at an easy back-road pace, but somehow the image of tossing all that irreplacable Italian hardware down the road keeps peg-dragging heroics at bay. The MV's quirks don't bother Lower in the least. If you're a Point A to Point B kind of rider, you probably don't understand why a man cou Id trade 10 grand for atwo-wheeled vehicle propelled by an internalcombustion engine, unique or not. But if a motorcycle speaks to you of speed and romance and history and adventure, then you'll understand. And it's enough to know that silver-andred MV Agustas, and bikes like them, are still cheerfully churning their way along the world's back roads on sun-dappled Sunday aft~rnoons. _ 7

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