Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128104
(Left) Like no other. The MY Agusta 750 Bndale has a look all of its own. (Above) The control panel on the MY Is simple, yet sophist ic ated. Because if the F4 is t he class of the 750cc sportb ike ca tegory, the Bruta le is the ultimate hooligan b ike , with four times as many cylinders as a KTM Duke - but also four times a s m uc h fun to ride . S itti ng on it, you have a hard time be lie ving this is a 125-hp in -line 750 four , be c aus e it fee ls so short, so small, so toy-like in sta tu re , even thoug h the Bru t a le ' s 55 . 92 - in c h wheelbas e m e a s u re s exactly the same as the F4 's. It just does n't seem so - the way th e slightly raised one -piece taper-section han d le b a rs , pu lled back just e no ugh to deliver a ridi ng s tance th a t is co m forta ble while still be ing spo rty, seem to nestl e ju st bene ath you r chin , gives the Brutal e the air of a Mon s te r with a ttitude - a nd added perform ance . And a lso - The Sound . Ta m burini ma y be rightly recogn ized as a n a rtist of the CAD screen, weld ing tor c h and p la ste r table, but he 's a lso a m aes tro of the art of making mus ic, as exem plified by the melodic, mag ica l howl tha t issu es fro m the Bru ta le 's twin stack double exha ust silencers , c ou pled with the throaty intake roa r from the four throttle b o d ies poi nti ng s t r a ig h t at the rider b eneath the shroud covering the airbox in front of him . Ho ne stly, when you' re riding the Bruta le , it sounds better than any other volume (well , sort of) production motorcycle I can think of on the market today, and that includes the F4 , which is relatively muted by com pa riso n. Yet The Sound is n't unduly offensive to pedestrians on a ride-by bas is (t here's probably no s uc h th ing in Italy as an offensi ve ex ha ust note, a nyway) : you ha ve to buy tic kets to wha t is a ver y clever ly cont rived con c e rt. Howe ver , th is also m e ans th a t you c a tch you rself m a k ing excuse s just to ho ok dow n a co uple of g ears and play the throttle ba ck a nd forth , to make more music. Very La tin . The extremely close-coupled rid ing stance, with your knees tuc ked easily into the wide tank cutouts, is actually qu ite comfortable b y st reetrod standa rds , though y ou wouldn 't exactly want to ride from London to Rome on the Brutale , because like all Naked b ike s , you 'd become rather windswept on it along the way . But the high ish s eat and rearset footpegs combine with those not overly pulled ba c k 'bars to de liver a r iding p o s it io n which sees your body inclined quite forwa rd, so that at free way speeds yo ur helmet acts as a windb reak , and p arts the slipstream for your b od y , yet wit h o ut causing he lmet roa r, o r a ny undue turbulence for your head up to 10 5 mph or so, after whic h you have to start han g ing on tight, and must be prepared for the bike to weave, as yo ur shoulders catch the wind a nd swi ng the ' b a rs around . I know th e who le notion seems farfetche d , but repeated tests proved I wasn 't ima g ining it: the Brutale 's riding stance has obviously b e e n ve ry carefully tailored .to make it a h igh s peed hotrod , that 's as much at ease on the fast bits as it is swe e p ing the streets of lesser rivals. And it' s very good at that, thanks to th e rorty-sounding four-cyl ind er e ngine' s crisp a cceleration , aided by the 3T lower gearing compared to the F4 . The Bruta le is a s forgiving as the sportbike run ning in a line of traffic in top gear with the ne edl e on the white -faced t a c ho m e te r emblazoned w it h the Bru t a le n am e parke d at arou nd 3 0 00 rpm - th e in s tru me nt pa c ka g e is the same as t he F4 's, by th e wa y, excep t th e tac home te r o n the F4 h as a ye llo w fac e . But then when yo u spot a gap in th e tr a ffic you co uld, if yo u wan t e d to, ju st open t he g as a n d a c c e le ra t e hard and clean away without a hiccup from the well-mapped inje ct io n, nor an y transmission snatch - and notabl y qu icker than the F4 , thanks to th e lower gearing . But that's the Cap'n Sensible route - and the MV Brutale is too s treetcred for that. Anyway , it' s more fun, fun, fun to hook down a couple of gears, relish the roar from the a irbo x as you wind up the ga s , and then fl irt with the (Ab ove) The love it or loathe " headlight adds to the bike's distinctive looks. But It 's all part of the package that designer Massimo Tamburinl set out t o create. n e 'IIV &;