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/128349
From th e rew orked lI o rga n" e xhau st syste m (left) to the Spartan instr ument clu ster (righ t), the M a mba has been exte nsively modified over a sto ck F4 10 0 0 . immediately force yourse lf back over to the right again on the exit, allwithout backing off the gas for a moment, to take account of the right sweeper heading down to the next hairpin. The Mamba turns so quickly that, to begin with, you think you're riding a 600cc Supersport rather than a 1000cc Superb ike - at least until you start feed ing its appetite for revs and rocket out of the exit of a tum in a way no middleweight musclebike can ever manage . From the first, the ceramic brakes worked just fine, w ith good immediate bite not like a carbon disc, which you have to carefully warm up to function at its best and no fade when working them hard in a series of laps on a hot, 87-degree day. But the way they and the lightw eight wheels combined to speed up the MV's steeri ng when changing direction from side to side was a major advantage. After doing back-to back World Supersport tests with petal brakes versus conventional o nes and finding my reduction in lap time w ith the wave discs measured in whole seco nds rather than mere te nths, I was pleased to find the same edge with the carbon ceramic discs. If they work properl y in the wet as well and Tamburini says they do - then I'm a believer, too , especially as there was zero pulsing through the brake lever when I squeezed hard , so these discs at least were all straight. But that's just one component in what is a very impressive overall package and not just compared to the bike I already reckon is the best of the new generati o n of 1000cc fab fours, but in absolute terms, too . Compared to the old 7S0 F4, the new 34 NOVEMBER 10,2004 • Mille not o nly has substantially more power, but more important ly, it has a massive SO-percent more torq ue, wh ich makes it improbably deceptive to ride hard. There's none of the layered power delivery of the Japanese bikes - not even the Honda , which is the closest to the MV in terms of engine performance - and there 's especially not the dip in the curve below 7000 rpm, when the new Yamaha RI starts to come on strong . It's the way the Mamba's 166-bhp power is delivered that impresses most - even if many customers will probably opt fo r the power-up I76-bhp version of the radial-valve motor complete w ith patented variable-length intakes. T his so -called Tamburini version of the motor will be available o nly in the Mamba F4 Corsa, a track -day versio n of the new bike, w ith race bodywork and no street equipment. But the needle of the white-faced tacho still scoots round the dial impressively fast o n this standard -engined bike, with an extra kick of top-end power com ing on stream between nine and 10 grand, en ro ute to the soft-action 13,000 rpm rev limiter when it's time to hit anot he r gear. You are alerted to this by the dash's shifter light, w hich flashes at you at 12,500 revs. At the other end of the rev scale, there's a satisfying low-down intake roar from the carbon airbox as you accelerate w ide open from just 3000 rpm without any snatch o r stutte r. And with the great sound fro m that stack of organ pipes at higher revs, this could only be an Italian bike! But the way the MV builds power so smoothly, but so irresistibly, from so low down is frankly intoxicating, and while if you really must, yo u can hold a gear beyond the 11,750 rpm power peak, when you shift up at 12,500 rpm you find yourself right back in the fat part of the torque curve again, surfing it allthe way to the next short-shift while the CYCL E NEWS Mille just gathers momentum so fast and irresistibly And ifyou have room enough for . a long enoug h run-up - unlike at Misano, where I just about grabbed a true top gear before braking hard fo r the end of the straight - you might be able to match MV tes ter Fabrizio Latini's homologated to p speed of 30 I kph (186 mph) in top o n the huge Nardo speed bowl. But why no powershifter on this of all motorcycles? This used well-proven technology refined by use on tho usands of racebikes and is actually kinder to a gearbo x than lead-footed , clutch less shifts. It's time w ide-open gear shifting becam e an option for the street, as we ll, and I'd expected to see this available at least as an option on the Mam ba. Pity. The only thing Ididn't care for o n the first of the Mambas I rode was the fierce pickup from a closed thrott le, which also caused it to push the front wheel quite hard when it did hoo k up properly, in a way that was wo rthy of the R7 Yamaha homologation special at its whee l-spinning worst. The Mamba wasn't quite that bad - though I did have a couple of exciting moments right in front of II Maestro when exiting the final chicane before the pit straight while trying to stay ahead of the slick-shod Suzuki GSX-RI000 racebike I had outbraked at the end of the main straight three laps earlier. He got me back the second time that I narrow lysaved a high-side on the way o ut of the turn , when the engine cut in sudden ly again after I got back on the gas while cranked over hard . O n the next lap, I headed fo r the pits, ready to comp lain about what I presu med was a flawed engine mapping to take acco unt of the more open silencer. Not so, though. "It's the fault of the EBS antilock braking system ," Massimo said weari ly "The prob . lem comes from the trans ition from antilock mode - whe n you brake into the turn with a closed throttle but w ith a pair of exhaust valves opening to provide the same effect as a slipper clutch - to drive mode, when you 40th Anniversary open the throttle again fo r the first time after that. We've been trying to resolve the fierce response with a different map - here, go and try it out on t he second bike, and tell us what you think." So, I did, and the re mapped bike was much better, not o nly with a smoother pickup but also , paradox ically, a more muscular-feeling hit of midrange power from 7000 to 10,000 rpm . Moreover, it didn't push the front wheel any mo re though this may have bee n thanks also to the 4mm ta ller rear ride height CRC had dialed into the chassis geometry. This also made the Mamba steer even faster in the chicanes and turn -in to the slowe r turns at Misano exceptionally quick, all witho ut sacrificing stability - neit he r of the bikes moved an inch fro m my chosen line thr ough the three successively faster left sweepers leading onto t he Misano back straight. And with the ste ep er effective ste ering geom etry delivered by the raised rear e nd, the Mamba held a rea lly tight line aro und the far hairpin before the pits, allow ing me to get back on the throttle sooner, reveling once again in that glorious zing of acce leration thanks to the radically red uced we ight. What was, however, fiercer on this second bike was the braking response, here thanks to the six-pot Nissin calipers gripping the pair of 3 10mm Braking stainless-stee l peta l discs fitted to this bike being radially mounted - unlike on the oth er prototyp e Mamba, or indeed the stock F4 1000. To begin w ith, these felt rather grabby compared to the ot her bike 's brake package until everything warmed up and Istopp ed worrying about locking the fro nt whe el. After that, they felt very immed iate and ultraresponsive, tho ugh w itho ut any increase in absolute stopping powe r compared to the carbon ceramic discs. And of course , the penalty of weighing sli htly more - in spite of g wearing carbon fiber wheels fitted with the "margherita" discs - meant that this bike didn't seem quite as quick-stee ring in the chi-