FIRST RIDE ;' M
VAgusta F4
By Alan Cathcart
Photos by Kyo ichi Nakamura
ver since it was u nveil ed to an
awes truck public a t th e Mil an
Show la st Se p te mber, the MY
Agu st a F4 h a s b e en th e bi ke of th e
mom en t. No other prot otype stree t bike
- not eve n th e 916 Du cati - ha s ever
a rous e d suc h a d mi ration, p a ss ion ,
expectatio n or lust on firs t sh owing as
Massimo Tamburini's most recent work
of tw o-wheeled art, the vehicle by which
Cagiva boss Claudio Cas tiglioni p lans to
fulfill his and his brother Gian franco's
lifelong dream as hard ened lifosi of
Ital y's motorc ycling heritage : to revi ve
the legendary MY Agusta marque.
Th e combination of the MY b ad ge
adorning su ch a uniquely s ty led an d
radically engineered motor cycle creates
an irresistib le allure in its wake . But it's
fair to say tha t, even badged as a Cagiva, this is a bike tha t wo uld set the juices
flowing and the heart beating faster, just
by looking at it. No wo nder Cagiva has
a filing cabi net filled w ith the 7000 firm
inquiries it has received for the 200 individually numbered , ha nd- bu ilt limitededition bikes it plans to construct first,
befor e put ting the F4 int o vo lume pro d uction at its new Cassinella fact or y
next year.
Yet. almost incredibly, it seems the
very fact of the MY's existence has provid ed a n ex cuse for tongues to begin
w ag gin g a n d ru mors to s ta rt fly in g
abo u t Cag iva 's long -t erm fin a n ci al
healt h, qu estioning its abilit y to ma ke
the dream come ali ve by pu tting the F4
into production.
" It ' s a lmos t as if som e p eop le are
E
Massimo Tamburini
puts his creation
through its paces on
the streets of Italy.
The MV Agusta F4.is
perha ps one of the
most eagerly
awaited produc tion
motorcycles ever.
14
jealou s of th e MY," says Cagiva' s PR
boss , Martino Bianchi. "Even thou gh we
ha ve on e produ ct ion lin e a lrea dy in
operat ion at Cassinetta, building Cucci0 10 scoo ters and the Gran Canyo n 900,
w ith a second abo ut to start in Septe mber; even thou gh d emand for all Hu sqvarna mod els is th rou gh the roo f, and
w e're main taining full -time production
all throu gh Au gu s t instead of closing
the fact ory as usu al for the su mmer holi. da y; ev e n th ou gh w e jus t w on the
World Enduro title wi th Husq varna and
look s et to win th e World 125cc MX
Championship with (Aless io) Chiodi there seems to be a cons piracy to speak
