2018 MV AGUSTA BRUTALE 800 RR
FIRST TEST
P90
M
V first released the Brutale 800RR in early
2016, but it was quickly overshadowed
by news that they had filed for the Italian
equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Finding a new
source of money took priority over building bikes.
The hero was Timur Sardarov, CEO of Black
Ocean Investment Group, and his first goal was to
buy back Mercedes-AMG's ownership stake of 25
percent. Once MV was financially independent,
the focus shifted back to building their slogan of
"motorcycle art."
In the last decade, MV was trying to push
growth with increased sales of what they consider
"entry-level" bikes. They were rewarded with a
jump in revenue from $36 million to $122 million,
but the Italian firm kept taking on additional debt
to make that happen. Now with immediate money
concerns out of the way, MV is implementing a
strategy of selling fewer bikes
and going super premium. In
the words of CEO Giovanni
Castiglioni, "sell less, sell bet-
ter." He also semi-jokingly said,
"We don't know how to make a
cheap bike!"
While their four-cylinder
platform is outdated, the rela-
tively new three-cylinder engine
has been well received and the
Brutale triple is their current best
seller. MV has big plans for a
new four-cylinder going for-
ward—more on that later—but for
now the Brutale "3 cilindri" na-
ked and the F3 sportbike must
carry the brand into the future.
The Brutale
is one of the
few bikes that
is beautiful
enough to
steal the
show from
a lakeside
Italian castle.
