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
canes as the other one. Close, but not quite as good - making my preferred combination definitely the radial calipers with the Zorn ik discs, perhaps on the carbon wheels. The main focus for the C RC R&D tea m's testing that day was to refine suspens ion settings on the sOmm Marzocchi forks. These are now fitted to the F4 1000 range , in conjunction with the ultra- trick rear shock fitted to the Mamba, which is no longer so urced fro m Sachs Italy (as o n the production F4 models) but instead from Sachs Germany 's Race Engineering division, where it is deve loped by the same R&D team that builds the Ferrari F I suspension for Michael Schumacher. "This is a cathedral of suspension development which is frankly amazing," says Massimo Tamburini, a man who 's seen it all during his three decades building ultrabikes and is not easily impressed. "They have 800 staff in a 2s,OOO-square-meter facility, and the response time is incrediblyfast, while the prod uct is outstanding." The Mamba's Sachs Formula Program shock is not only ultra-light, with titanium spring and billet alloy body, it also has separate adjustment via easy-access clicker dials for both high- and low -spee d dam ping in each of the compression and rebound modes , and Tamburini says adjusting anyone of those four settings doesn 't impact on the other three, as is the case with other shocks, where you have to strike a balance. While I couldn't help be impressed with the way the Mamba rode the bumps under power out of the first chicane and hooked up the rear Pirelli Diablo Corsa out of a slower turn , it's how stable the Mamba was under heavy braking at Misano, espec ially at the end of the back Straight into the 180degree sweeper leading back toward the pits, which impressed me most . The special valve on the Sachs shock, which increases high-speed rebound damp ing to stop the back wheel from raising off the ground and backing the bike into turns when it does so, is the main reason why the Mamba remained so balanced and didn't lift the back wheel and start street-sweeping into turns under the heavy braking the bike is capable of. And a big plaudit fo r the Marzocchi forks, which comm unicate so well to the rider. I could feel the fro nt Pirelli thr ough the handlebars, almost as if I were holding the axle in my hands - Tamburini's patiently refined settings give you a great sense of control even upon entering a bend fast while trying to keep up turn speed, with the excellent feedback from the tire telling you if you're about to go too far and need to back off. Provided you pay attention to the messages you're receiving, this would be a hard bike to crash under normal road surface conditions because it's so forgiving and ing before with the Japanese . We had minor quality problems working together at first, but these are now resolved and I guarantee you if you tested a pair of F4s back to back fitted with Showa and Marzocchi forks, it's the Marzocchis you'd find better." The afternoon I spent with the prototype MV Agusta F4 Mambas convinced me that this is truly the Ferrari Enzo of two wheels fast, exot ic, functional, exclusive and o h so desirable. Only 300 lucky peo ple, all of them wealthy but by definition connoisseurs of two-wheeled excellence - so that seeming contradicton of rich bastards with good taste! - will be able to purchase this handmade motorcycle. And with the range of opt ions that Andrea Tamburini is putting on the table, it's very unlikely that any two Mambas will exactly resemble the other, as each will be handcrafted to the customers' bespoken specifications. How rich must you be to afford one of these ebony-and -ruby, two-wheeled treasures? Figure a Euro 36,000 (about $45,75 0) starting price, depe ndingon the exact specification chosen, says Andea Tamburini - or twice the cost of the stock F4 1000. Listen, the Sistine Chapel ceilingcost the Pope a good few duckets - so let's just hope that , instead of squirre lling it away in the garage or the hallway of their houses, allthose fortunate enough to be able to buy this masterpiece in metal (and carbon fibre, and carbon ceramic, and magnesium , and titanium - oh , guess those last two are metals , already) actually do use the Mamba for the purpose Massimo Tamburini designed it for: striking its J-bike prey fast and furiously, w ith absolute venom and eN total efficiency. communicative. The feathery like a 600cc superspon but bu ilds power like a hotrodded, Open-class Japanese sport bike. Editor Cathcart saw 186 mph o n the speedo during his st int aboard the machine. "We have a great co llaboration with Marzocchi, who are born-again as a company compared to even five years ago ," Tamburini says. "Their response time is out standing and they're very open to criticism in a positive way, which was a problem in deal- Celebrated designer Massimo Tamburini (right) and son Andrea (left) pose with the Mamba. Andrea is the man responsible for all the high -zoot performance goodies that tum a " stock exotic" F4 1000 into the Mamba. Mamba~f~e:e~ls~~~~~~ www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NE WS • NOVEMBER 10,2004 35