2021 MV AGUSTA SUPERVELOCE 800
R I D E R E V I E W
P68
has had a long association with
Marzocchi suspension and the
Superveloce's fork feels a lot like
the F3's and F4's of the past,
but having a better damped fork
would be a thoroughly welcome
addition to such a sexy machine.
That said, when the speed
is high and the road twisty, the
Superveloce is a gem. It even
wills you to ride in the old-school
knees-in style, much like Ago
himself did half a century ago.
The shape and width of the seat
doesn't really like the rider hang-
ing off and scraping elbows—it's
a neat little trick pulled by the
designers: a classically styled
machine that needs to be ridden
in a classic style. Nice.
When hauling the Superveloce
up from those speeds, you're
graced with twin 320mm discs
gripped by four-piston Brembo
monobloc calipers, which, in
turn, are squeezed by a conven-
tional Nissin master cylinder, with
the Bosch 9 Plus ABS system
that comes with its own Race
mode. This combination works
well in general braking, but I
feel the ABS kicks in far too
early when you really hammer
the brakes for an emergency
stop (again, the lack of IMU is a
factor here). As such, there's no
Cornering ABS fitted to Super-
veloce, so this is something to
be mindful of when cracked over
and you grab a handful of lever.
A black mark must be given to
the rear brake. It's next to use-
less unless you've been riding for
less than five minutes. The cause
of this is the master-cylinder is
mounted at the bottom of the
engine, right above where the hot-
test part of the bike—the catalytic
convertor—is situated. The result
means the fluid boils super quickly
and when you go for the rear
brake, all you get is fade and a
meek attempt at slowing the rear
wheel from the two-piston Brembo
caliper. On a bike costing this
much, that's not good enough.
If you want to channel your inner
Agostini, this is the bike for you.
