MV AGUSTA F4 RR
The MV F4 has been around for a long time, in fact it feels like it’s been around for ever.
Originally a 750cc that came out in 1999, it was penned by Massimo Tamburini – the same bloke who designed the Ducati 916 – so it’s no wonder that there are more than a few striking resemblances between the two.
The F4 signified the rebirth of MV Agusta as we know it today and stayed as a 750cc bike until the rules changed for Superbike racing and allowed 1000cc bikes. This prompted MV to start experimenting with different engine sizes and various projects until it settled on a 1000cc configuration that was entered into the Italian Superbike championship under the model name F5. It was that engine that later was used to upgrade the road bike to a 1000cc F4.
As with the original 750, a lot of pointless ‘Special edition’ models followed that make the F4 blood line seem bigger than it actually is. Set aside those specials – that more often than not were little more than a paintjob and plaque on the top yoke – and the F4’s first upgrade came in 2007 with a heavily updated engine. It was a big enough upgrade to warrant a new name – the F4 1000R. Soon after, a longer stroke 1078cc engine found its way into the F4, which earned it another new name – the F4 312. Finally in 2010, the F4 got a brand new engine that had a shorter stroke which brought it back down to 999cc.
There were no fewer than seven ‘special’ versions of the updated F4, but the one we have here is the RR version, which to be fair
THE MOTOR, UNLEASHED, WAS SOMETHING OF A TREAT, SCREAMING ITS WAY UP TO SPEED WITH A VENGEANCE.