VOL. 55 ISSUE 15 APRIL 17, 2018 P93
The star of the RR is the engine, but it's been a 140-
horsepower, 64-lb-ft thriller since 2016. The changes
for 2018 are emissions-related for Euro 4, and MV's
engineering department was impressively able
to keep the power and torque numbers the same
while they cut the output of Carbon Monoxide by 57
percent, Hydrocarbons by 49 percent, and Nitrogen
Oxide by 73 percent. Now your wheelies will be better
for the environment!
In MV's product positioning, the "RR" bikes are
all about maximum power in a street-tuned chassis.
While the "base" Brutale (if you can call it such a
thing) has a flat torque curve, the dyno charts for the
double R are anything but. In addition to revisions for
emissions standards, the 798cc motor and six-speed
tranny have been updated with a new starter clutch,
new transmission gears and new oil pump drive
gears. These were implemented to address prior
reliability issues and decrease mechanical noise,
ENOUGH
TECH FOR THE
DOUGH?
The instrument
cluster leaves
a lot to be
desired.
which in turn allowed MV to let more noise out of the
exhaust while still staying under the decibel limits of
Euro 4.
The steel trellis frame has been revised slightly to
better suit time spent on the street. The wheelbase has
been lengthened by 0.6 of an inch to 54.9 inches, rake is
up from 23.5 degrees to 24.0, and trail is also increased
from 3.78 inches to 4.05 inches. There's also been a
modification to the front engine mount. What used to
be one long bolt is now two short ones, and it results in
a three percent increase in torsional rigidity that will be
difficult for the average rider to notice.
What they will notice, however, is the electronics
suite, which consists of Bosch ABS with RLM (Rear wheel
Lift-up Mitigation), eight-level traction control, four
riding modes (Sport, Normal, Rain and Custom), and EAS
2.0—MV's name for their quickshifter. Everything works
well and the quickshifter is particularly impressive, but
for the price it feels like the rest of the industry has left
the Brutale behind from a technology standpoint. For
$16,698 it'd be nice to see cornering ABS and an IMU to
feed data into the traction control system.
A "brutal" naked motorcycle should not necessarily be
judged on technology, but with a price of nearly $17,000
it seems silly that this model is stuck with a black and
white LCD dash that looks like it was designed 15 years
ago when even a $9399 Aprilia Shiver comes with a
vibrant full-color TFT display.
