The MV Agusta Brutale reminds us of the reality TV show where Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie had to work on a pig farm in Arkansas* for a week. The Brutale 910S is so exquisitely beautiful that flogging it around like it's a messenger's battered Honda CBR600F2 seems shameful. But hey, it's a living, right? And when you get down to it, the Brutale puts its metaphorical pants on one leg at a time like every other bike. It's an expensive, exclusive bike that stops onlookers dead in their tracks, but just a motorcycle all the same.
The Brutale first appeared as a 750 model, and we tested (Buzz actually donated his personal ride) it back in 2004. Designed by Bimota (which he co-founded), Ducati 916 and MV Agusta F4 genius Massimo Tamburini, the Brutale is a triumph of design, with incredible shapes demanding your eye's attention no matter where you look. From the molded, flowing headlamp to the gorgeous single-sided swingarm, the bike is a rolling illustration of how far Italian designers will go to make everything they shape beautiful.
But that beauty isn't just skin deep. To give it better street performance, displacement was bumped up to 909.1cc by increasing bore and stroke to 76mm and 50.1mm, respectively. Compression in the dual overhead cam four-valve head (with the valves arranged radially in the hemispherical combustion chamber) is a zesty 13.0:1, and although this motor's basic architecture dates back to the early 1990s, it still produces a healthy 121.4hp at 10,600 rpm on the MO Dynojet Dynomometer. It's detuned from the 1000cc F4, but 121hp is 121hp. If that's "tuned for torque", we'll take it. The motor gets a wet clutch, a six-speed cassette-style gearbox and chain final drive, and fuel injection and ignition is the latest in Italian electronics.
If you think Tamburini would use any material but chrome-moly steel tubing for the chassis, you must be crazier than he is. That material forms a sexy trellis frame, with aluminum alloy sideplates and an incredible swingarm that doubles as a chain guard. Doubles as a chain guard! Every part on this bike, it seems, is designed to complement and work perfectly with every other part. The wheels are delicate-looking aluminum affairs with huge hollow axles, and the forks -- 50mm inverted and fully-adjustable Marzocchi cartridge units -- look like surgical instruments. The rear shock is also fully adjustable, with high and low-speed damping circuits and a progressively-wound spring. Wheelbase is a reasonable 55.55 inches.
The brakes are just as unusual and lavish as the rest of the bike. Two six-piston calipers grab full-floating 310mm discs, and when was the last time you rode a bike with a four-pot rear brake caliper? We like to think the Cagiva engineers put it on just because it's cool. Braided-steel brake lines all around are expected and welcome touches.
The bike is finished with all the flair of its basic components. The five-gallon fuel tank has huge cutouts to keep it slim, and there's a big aluminum handlebar perched behind the beautiful digital instrument cluster. A tiny seat for the rider and even smaller one for a passenger ("look honey, we both can ride it!") are impossibly close to the front wheel, and sensuous mufflers jut out behind the passenger footpegs. Every part is embossed with the MV Agusta label and should have a little loop on it so you can wear them as jewelry.
It goes without saying that we all loved the styling and visual presence this bike had. You just want to stare at the thing. Pete thinks the "funky styling will probably turn a few people off", but we never ran into such a person. Al wanted to take it into his studio with one of his sleezy $10 per hour nude models, but we were afraid of stains.
You can only look at it so much, so we cast a leg over it to see what it's really like. Pete noted the "cramped quarters, ergos and riding position", and Buzz said the "tiny seat and slippery handgrips make the Brutale feel like it's going to shoot out from under you so it can go out alone to find chicks." Gabe was surprised by how tiny it felt -- even to 5'6" him -- but thought it was a perfect fit, even if the seat was just too high for both feet to reach the ground despite the bike's narrow waist. The footpegs are high, but not as high as the Tuono 1000R's, and the bars are at a perfect height for comfortably controlling the bike.
Firing up the motor fills the air with a satisfying symphony of four-cylinder music. It makes a screaming sound that is unique, yet not obnoxious. The instruments are clear and legible, although the tripmeter resetting procedure is so hideously bizarre and complex that you wouldn't believe us if we tried to describe it to you. It involves switching off the key, switching on the key, holding down certain buttons in sequence and possibly the lighting of a candle to Saint Christopher (now officially downgraded to Mr. Christopher). We don't get paid enough to figure this out.
Who cares how far you've gone, anyway? That was in the past. The 910 snicks into gear with a light touch on the small, short-throw shift lever and the sensitive hydraulic clutch engages smoothly. Twist that skinny handgrip and understand why Pete screams "Holy fun bags, Batman!" If ever a bike was built to spend life on the back wheel, this is the one. Pete claims it "performs wheelies telepathically" and it's easy to see why, with the stubby wheelbase, short gearing, powerful motor and high handlebar. The 910 motor may be perfect for this bike, with less of the peaky characteristic that probably made Buzz sell his 750 Brutale. "The 910 Brutale has absolutely explosive acceleration" said the former MV owner. "The torque curve is much fatter at lower revs." That means blasting around town and making the rider behave like an idiot in general. Hey, it's a tiny bike with superbike suspension and a big motor. How can you possibly obey the law with something like this? Don't worry; just stick to big cities and traffic jams if you want to stay off the county work crews.
It's not much fun on the freeway, although it's surprisingly bearable. The seat is hard and places you close to the tank, and while the motor isn't exactly annoyingly buzzy in sixth gear, it's not as nice as a twin. (Buzz did note the vibration was actually more on the bigger motor.) Also, the Wright Brother's first airplane (yes, we know it's the 1903 Wright Flyer) had better wind protection for its pilot. Pete complained that the "seat is a little too slippery; I found myself slipping forward into the tank more than I wanted to" and Gabe made up some lame excuse when it was his turn to ride the Brutale on the freeway.
If you buy this bike for freeway droning there is something wrong with you that not even the finest pharmaceuticals can mitigate. What you need to do is take the bike to a twisty road somewhere, and that's just what we did. Once there we discovered a bike that would be at home in an expert's toolbox. Suspension is taut and infinitely tuneable, the brakes are strong and sensitive, and if you need more cornering clearance than this bike provides you probably have the FIM rules committee on speed dial. As noted above, the Brutale was challenging to ride fast.
Challenging, but fun. It's difficult to find a bike with a razor-sharp chassis and liter-class motor that isn't a fully-faired sportbike with clip-ons. Well, the 910S has the "traditional ballistic power" of a real superbike, according to Pete, but you have to keep the revs up while being smooth: "throttle response was on the touchy side; riding the Brutale on tight and technical roads was a chore at times, due mostly to the abrupt throttle response" The choppy ride from the short wheelbase and taut suspenders didn't help.
What we've got here is a very exotic, demanding bike that also happens to be a blast to ride around town. But it's definitely a bike for connoisseurs, a machine for serious riders to take out on perfect days. We found it to be built very well and had no problems with it during the month or so we abused it, but it would be a shame to rack up miles on a work of art like this. But if you wanted to, you could; it's a practical machine that is almost as affordable as the other bikes in this test.
However, it's just too demanding of its rider for daily use. Also, for 2007 only the 910R is available, which adds a few horsepower, lots of fancy extras and an extra $3,000 to the MSRP. If you like the way this bike looks and can afford it, send us 20 dollars and go buy one right now, but we just couldn't realistically make it our first pick.
