MV Agusta Brutale S

Naked bikes. Are they flavour-of-the-month or the new world order? While sports bikes continue to sell well, there is a strong train of thought that suggests that, on our ridiculously overgoverned roads, well, taking a sports bike to its limits is a thing of the past.

So, people are looking for a different buzz and duallies and nakeds offer just that. Enter the striking F4S-based MV Agusta Brutale S.

LET'S GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER
The first thing to hit home on first acquaintance is the dimensions. The bike feels tiny, but not at the cost of a decent seating position. Let's look at the comfort factor here. The seat to peg measurement is roomier than you'd expect but the reach to the bars is quite short. Also, your man/womanhood is in very familiar contact with the rear of the tank. Kinda like a bulldog's face pushed up against a butcher shop window. Brake hard and you can apply for a job with the Bee Gees... In short, ergos are a mixed bag that work better than they appear.

While the cockpit is definitely compact, the engine is stacked with the throttle bodies sitting directly under the tank. The injection tract into the cylinders is as vertical a shot as any I have seen and all this makes for a short engine, therefore allowing the short chassis.

The bars are wide and pure streetfighter in look. They work brilliantly when looking for quick-steering leverage and offer a far better option than sports clip-ons. It has always bewildered me why the fashion is for track-style bars for sports bikes, when wider offerings like those on the Brutale are infinitely better when pushing on.

LOVE WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH IT
Now to those looks. I simply love the stance of the bike. I like the trellis frame and MV has really designed that naked engine to be part of the aesthetic package. It's very difficult to make a liquid-cooled engine look attractive in a naked frame (radiator, hosing, sensor wiring etc), but this one is the best I have seen. It's an area in which it creams the likes of the Ducati Monsters.

While it polarises opinions, that Salvador Dali-esque headlight really sets the bike apart and the single-sided, cast alloy swingarm is a work of art. Polished wheels, the fox-eye taillight assembly and that under and over exhaust... Just beautiful. I could stare at it all day.

The stacked stainless 4-into-2 into pipes look a treat and it would be a brave man that would change them. Good news here is that I can see no reason to touch them. Why well they look totally in keeping with the bike and are a design element that actually performs. Form AND function? Are we certain this thing is Italian?

Back to those pipes. They sound absolutely fantastic. Kinda like a cross between a Formula One car and a World Rally Championship car. Okay these are four-wheeled analogies, but it is a unique sound in motorcycling. The real beauty here is that most of the sound is induction roar, and the pipe itself is actually quite sedate. What a great idea! The rider is having his mind blown with this insane wall of high-tech symphony and Mum and Dad Citizen are totally unaffected. Brilliant!

IT"S NOT ALL BEER AND SKITTLES
Okay a couple of bleats. The fuel light gives very little warning. The first time it came on the bike began spluttering and farting like and embarrassed politician and I rolled into a service station there and then. It struck me at the time that the light should just say "you are out of fuel" and be done with it.

The seat is simply too hard. While it makes for a great platform to simply lift your butt and swing the bike underneath you when in full-on sports mode, it really makes for monkey butt over a long distance. And while there is cursory attention paid to a pillion mount, it's fair to say this is almost a single-seater. Think "divorce-bench" and you'll be on the money.

The mirrors continue the Italian tradition of being useless. Wrongly placed, too small, whatever. They do look good however, and if you are on a Brutale, you really don't have to worry too much about what is behind you - you are not going to be passed...

THE REST IS GOOD NEWS
The overall finish on the bike is first class and the thick inverted forks look like tree trunks - strong and handsome. In keeping with the bike's avant garde look, the master cylinders are shaped to match the instrument cluster. It's these sorts of things that give the Brutale a wonderful feeling of quality and design. Japanese designers should take clear note.

The engine is just delightful. Gearing is short (changed form F4S spec at both primary and final drive levels - 15/40 tooth for the F4S and 14/41 on the Brutale) and this helps the bike gain the most from its short-stroke, DOHC, four-valve, 749cc set-up. Incidentally, Ferrari had a lot to do with designing this engine and it shows. It really is quick between zero and 160km/h and isn't that where you want your power? I really can't see the point in tall gearing on sports bikes. You are not going to ride them to the moon and agile rapidity is always the order of the day on something like this.

There is a rev limiter that is not indicated by a redline on the analogue tacho (which reads to 17,000rpm). It took me a while to find out exactly when the rev limiter comes in because the needle is spun up very quickly and things are a little frenetic - to say the least - around that rev range. After some investigation, 13,100rpm was the answer.

The six-speed box is good without being exceptional. Selection is unfussed, but not Suzuki-smooth, while gearing is perfect with around 5200rpm on the clock in top at 100km/h.

One whinge is that the injection is a little snatchy off the bottom. It is impossible to slip away from standing starts without some revs on. This is not because there is not enough power - dearie me no - it's down to the injection making revs jump from 1000rpm to 2100rpm in one fell swoop. That's the only place the injection gives any real stress however, with fuelling fine everywhere else.

STOP THAT RIGHT NOW
Brakes are perfect. Nissin six-piston calipers and 310mm rotors up front are breathtakingly effective at slowing the 185kg (dry) Latin. While there is little discernible initial bite, that's because feel is incredible. I made the comment that it feels like the discs are between you fingers. By this I mean you are in total control of slowing the bike in just about any situation and, given its brief of agility and point-to-point precision, the brakes complement the brilliant handling package totally.

TIME TO RIDE
Our test was conducted mainly on one of the world's great roads, the Great Ocean Road in south western Victoria. This is a route that we have used many times in the past, and while it deserves a circumspect approach, on a quiet day (and in the right places) it offers a real-world sports riding test of the highest order.

That said, this give me the chance to make a pretty big statement (and one that about which I'll get emails but...). I reckon the Brutale would represent the fastest GOR production bike available right now. Yep, nothing will get down that strip of tight, demanding and technical piece of blacktop quicker. Okay, hit the keyboards...

How can I say that? Well, the bike has exceptional turn-in capability aided by that 49mm Showa front-end. Every nuance of the road is passed into your hands and (here we go again), it's as good a front-end as I've experienced. On anything, anywhere. So, this enables you to get in very quickly and grip on offer from the 190 section rear and 120/65/17 front Michelin Pilot sports is second to none. Toss in those brilliant brakes that allow feel to the limit of adhesion and you can see that very rapid entry is made simple. Now, clearance is huge, line selection simple and that low gearing and good fuelling makes for neck-snapping power on exit. You'll be on the right line, grip is sensational, the Ohlins steering damper will keep the pointy end pointed... Yep, you'll slingshot out of that corner in ecstatic anticipation of the next. Do the maths. This bike is sports heaven and you'll be king of your group on the Brutale. It's an experience - the bike feels finely-tuned and once you dial into the frequency, you simply get better as a rider.

SO...

It has to be said that the bike is not cheap at 25-large, and that will limit it for a lot of riders. But you can see where the money goes. This is no tarted-up marketing exercise, but a real contender for the best handling "road" bike I have ever ridden. It was designed by Massimo Tamburini of Ducati 916 fame and he's a rider. That's the key - this is a rider's motorcycle and the bloody thing is beautiful to boot isn't it?

What we liked...

Not so much...