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/1542345
.r. I FOUBTH PLACE 95 POINTS Measured wet we Peak horsepower: Peak torque: 72.50 ft.-lb. Weight-tepower ratio: 3.24 lb./hp Fastest lap time: 1:26.47 (Sorensgnl Ouarter-mile time: 9.88 @ 143.58 mph Price: $21,795 €NGINC I(EY TEAIUBES Badial positionod valvss Cassette gearbox EBS (Engine Brake System) aving been sincerely shocked by the 0erformance of the MV Aqusta's engine last year, not only on the dyno butalso atthe drag strip,we had high expectations this year. 0nce again the bike performed extremely well, impressing not only those of us with prior MV exper;ence but new guy Puetz, who had never ridden one before. "Great motor," Puetz said. "A little deceiving, and you don't realize how tast you're going, but nice power delivery and it rewed freely." our 2006 bike was lresh {zero miles) off the showroom tloor of Munroe l\rotors in San Francisco, and at the time of the dyno runs the bike only had 221 miles on the clock. That explains why the bike was 3.5-horsepower down on our '05 model and a couple loot-pound of torque down from last year We know with absolute cenainty that the F4 makes an honest 150 rear-wheel horsepower lt foels like il too, as the F4 is in the hunt right from the get-go. lt out' powers the Yamaha €nd Ducati and is in the same ballpark as the Suzuki and Honda. That middle-of-the-road character is allthe [,IV need- ed to get around Willow Springs with the fastest lap time of the day (l:26.47). The key was the fact that the bike has very linear power and torque curves, pulling hard all the way to its 11,700-rpm peak before hitting the limiter 1000 rpm later. 0nce again we wonder why the ltalians reluse to put redlines on thet tachometers. Neither MV nor 0ucatido, and it! annoying. overall, though, opinions of the MVs power- plant were largely positivo. "The MV has ths bostsounding motor,like an Fl car," Sorensen $aid. "Ths power delivery is a bit abrupt, but if you keep it in the sweet spot it! good." 0ne ot our complaints is the lact that the fuel iniection doesn't have the cleanest deliveryfrom lowerrpm. This doesn't come as I surprise, how- svor, as we compla;ned about it lastyear and the bike is unchanqsd for 2006. 0n the big Willow track this year, however, it was only noticeablo in the taghter corners and when opsning the throt- tle from a closed position at a lower rpm. lt real- lywasnl a big dealatthe track, butitwas more pronounced o[ the street ride. The other complaint that wasn't really an issue on the track, but annoyed a few of us on the street. was the fact that the engine is bu22Y, with a small bit ol vibration maling itthroughthe bars and into your hands. one thing that works very well on the [rV Agusta is the unique EBS (Engine Brake System). lnst6ad of using a siipper clutch like the Kawasaki and Suzuki, MV uses a device in the intake system. A bvpass valve in the numbsr-two cylinder allows air to be iniected into the intake tract, which in turn increases revs and releases pressure that would be transferred to the drive train.The system is almost completely impercep- tible. unless you suddenly wondor why the rear wheel didnl chatter horribly whsn it was down- shitted three gears for 6 tight corneL The transmission on the lvlv got high marks trom our testers, with everyone agreeinq that it shifted smooth and was fault lree both on the track and on $o stlset. At the drag strip the l\,lv almost turned tho exact same E.l as last year. This year L6ye turned a 9.88 @ 143.58 mph. which was only good tor fifth best. Last year his 9.87 @ 145.431 mph netted MV a second. The tact ol the matter is that the Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki allturned quicler times this year. and received minimal adiustments other than a bit ot ride height to help the bike turn better. A couple riders complained that the Sachs- damped rear end was bouncy- Despite the f6ct that the MV doesn't have th. oucatis flashy and excellent 0hlins suspsnsion, the l!!arzocchi/Sachs setup worked quite well. lt sure didntaffectthe laptimes,asallthreeof the riders panicipating in the timed session includ- ing the aforementioned Sorensen, Ivlontano and myself iConnerl did our fastest time on the MV The chassis is not all roses, however. We still have a serious boneto pickwith the brakes, and in particular with the front master cylinder. We've never been fans of the front brake's lever travsl, as it doosn'tstanto bite untilit's almostto the bar - and even thsn the power seems weak. Looking at the six'piston Nissin caliporc and stainless-steel lines, it's doubtful that thsy're to blame. A$ a matter of fact, yours truly was almost taken on a high-speed din exaursion at 14{ mph when I sat up to brake for turn one and th€ lever smashed my fingers between the bat I was about to go Fred Flintstone when my motocross instincts kicked in and got on the rear brake, while frantically pumping the tront lever tryinq to find something to scrub speed. I some- how got itflicksd in without crashing. As itturns out there was a bunch of air in the system:but air or none,the brakes were stillthe subject of com' plainttrom everyone that rode the bike. Another thing that we didnl like about the [,IV was the windscreen, which is very difficult to see through when riding 6t speed. lt's as ilthe thing is cov6red in Vaseline. Ithink any ofus here would gl6dly own an F4- 1000 S {if we didnt have to loot fie bill). There's iust somethinq about that sexy Tamburinr- designed bodywork lhat makes you want to climb back on tho thinq and dsal with the masochistic ssating position, horrible mirrors and a stiff strsst rida that is anything but pleas- urable. But whan it comss to psrformance the l\ilv walks the walk, thsr€ is no doubt about it. CHA55Is/HANOLING KEY FEAIUNES Adjustable rear ride hoight 50mm Msrzocchi inverted fork 6hlins steering damper Sachs rear shock w/ hydraulic preload adiuster All ot the bikes in this shootout have great chassis', but at Willou/ Sprinqs the l\rv Ag!sta was kinq, bar none. lt would be nice to credit the l\,4v's engine for the tastest lap time 0f rhe day, but it was the super-stable chassis that allowed the bike to lap Willow a firll half-second quicker than the runner-up. The MV's geometry numbers aren't really that Iar off of the Suzukit, with a 55.40-inch wheel base (compared to 55.30 inch on the GSX-R) but it's the l03.6mm of trail lthe most 0f the qroup), 24-s-degrees of rake combined with good sus- pension that made this bike sing. 0n paper the bikes all look fairly close to each other, but dur' ing our windy timed session after lunch, the irv excelled. "The MV was the only bike that was totally stable in the high-speed corners lcorners two, eight-ninel in the wind," Sorensen said. Not t0 msntion that all of the testers thought the bikes turn-in was crisp and prsdictabl6.The tront-end was praised by most, who commented that it felt qood almost everywhere on the track. Sorensen would have lik€d a bit more feedback from the front, but no one else seemed to mind; no one else was going as fsst as he was. Th€ rEar shock did its iob throughout the day 72.50 : F 16.97: i ruai Power I Ma.* Toique i '-,''- n'.- '--: -".- 1" " -.-i.-.- !-.- .i - MV Egusta Fr-l-lEtrU 5 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 Engine Speed (8PM x1000) 0 4 a 3 r o F PEtETITIVEsl Good power Stable chassis Beautiful styling Brakes Low rpm fuel deliv€ry Did we mention the brakcs? CYCLE NEWS MARCH 15,2006 33 I E g \I R !i -.q MV AGUSTA Eltrltr 5 ( t =-.- \ J, ,-\ /- -j