Cw First Ride Mv Agusta Rivale

Ignition

SUPERMOTO ITALIANO -> SMALL TWIN -> BIG SINGLE -> NEW BIKES FOR EVERYBODY!

THE RIDE ST

MV's 800 triple has found an excellent nesting place in the surprisingly civilized yet ridiculously sporty Rivale. Rain mode, one of four, works perfectly.

CW FIRST RIDE MV AGUSTA RIVALE

Add this to the list of things you thought you'd never see: an MV Agusta supermoto

John Burns

BY THE NUMBERS

36%

SALES DOWN: Corn parable model sales decrease in Europe, 2010-13.

38

CHAMPS: Number of times MV Agusta has won a world champion ship.

67%

SALES UP: MV Agusta motorcycle sales increase in Europe, 2010-13.

WHY NOT? With its nice seat and upscale accoutrements, this is a supermoto you can ride more places than around the go-kart track. Raising the new bike's seat up to 34.7 inches is about the limit for my 30-inch inseam, but taller guys will love the increased legroom— and the tall, flat seat allowed the engineers to move the rider way forward compared to the Brutale 800 this bike's based upon. The riding position winds up being Bruce Lee about to plunge his fingers into a guy's abdomen, which is just about ideal for attacking tight back roads and urban decay The 43mm Marzocchi fork strokes through 5.9 inches of travel; the Sachs shock gives 5.1 inches of rear-wheel travel.

Just like the Brutale, MV's new 798CC triple lays down a broad swath of smooth torque beginning low in the powerband; and with the same gear ratios and final drive gearing as the Brutale (low), the Rivale should post similar performance numbers.

We had minor quibbles about the Brutale's fueling, but the Rivale gets its own new and improved maps: I didn't spend enough time in Sport or Normal mode to find any glitches, but when the rain started coming heavier in the south of France, I became a big fan of Rain mode, which softens the bike's power and its delivery and automatically turns traction control to its maximum, number 8, setting.

Just roll it on in the rain, and the bike does the rest with supreme smoothness. Fear turns to confidence, fright to fun. I think that's the definition of what technology is supposed to do for humans. Braking in slick conditions, you're on your own on the Rivale; MV says there just wasn't time to get the Rivale equipped with ABS for 2014.

FIRST RIDE

MV Agusta does the best job of making me feel like the prince I was switched with at birth back there in Alabama, but I think the Rivale is the first MV I'd really like to park under the ol' tarp, the first one I wouldn't feel guilty hopping on every day. After hanging out with the thing in person, I think I'm with the crowd who voted Adrian Morton's design Most Beautiful Bike at EICMA2012, when it was unveiled there. In 2010, MV produced three models; now it produces 14.

Selling the company back to the Italians (for, literally, about $3.98) three years ago was the nicest thing Harley-Davidson's done for sportbiking since it built the first Sportster. CTU

MV

AGUSTA RIVALE

dohc 4-valve triple

.III-1~Jw1~I1.l 798cc

34.7 in.

FUEL CAPACITY .4 g~I.

CLAIMED WET WEIGHT

$14,998