I am surprised it has a rear seat and pegs tbh, normally the specials have tiny lightweight subframes etc
With all the carbon, magnesium and titanium, if it had a lightweight frame, the wind would blow it away.
It is always tempting to rubbish the things one has discarded in favor of the latest flavor of the month in one`s life; (ex partners being a particular target) ,so it will be interesting to see how you feel in, say, a years time when the MV may have proved itself unreliable/uncomfortable/impractical.......
I visited my garagiste yesterday and he showed me his 675 MV track bike engine which had eaten itself in 5'000 kms. This was a pity, as apparently the bike is brilliant on track. One of the valves had dropped into the cylinder. Result, one wrecked head, one wrecked cylinder. In fact, one wrecked engine, pretty much, as he was going to have to take the entire thing to bits to find out if the crank had suffered. He told me it was probably a write off. So a new engine at CHF 5'000, then. No guarantee, for having ridden the thing on the track. I found that a little bit alarming for a new bike. I mean, they are meant to be revved aren't they? Clearly, with the big MV, you wouldn't be subjecting it to such stresses, even if you did ride it on a track.
Willy had a bad experience with his 1198SP. Lemons get made by every manufacturer. Tough experience. Not cool by Willy to superimpose his personal bad experience upon all Ducatis, nor boasting of the RC and telling Ducati owners to "keep" their Ducatis... makes Willy live up to his name! That being said - the F4 RC is a beautiful and very special bike. The detailing on it is exquisite, with a finish I have not seen on any Ducati or other bike - save maybe the RC213? Compared to the Panigale R which is close in terms of price and as a competitive homologation bike for WSBK, the RC has a better finish and detailing that sets it apart. The F4RC is so nice that I am awaiting mine from Varese, but it will not be replacing my 1098R. I don't think anything will match the raw explosiveness of the Vtwin Ducati - it is 20kg lighter, delivers 194rwhp and 100+ftlbs, and is as spectacular to ride as any R Ducati has been. It was also more successful as a WSBK racer than the F4 RC. But there is place for bikes like the RC as there are through the many homologation specials that have come before it, and will also come after.
I've had my F4 for nearly 12 years now and it's not let me down once, unlike my Ducati.... so I imagine he will feel just fine and probably still love it and think it' reliable, comfortable and practical enough for a sportsbike ....
Cheers, I will - not the latest and greatest but should stand the test of time well. And 155kg/205hp isn't that far off the pace...
I sold that MV after a year of faults, leaks and warranty issues. It was a bag of shit. I’d rather have a Ducati, but, I’ve bought a GSXR1000R Phantom. Part exchanged an Aprilia RSV4RF for it.
I'm afraid the mass produced MV's of today are not a patch on the early F4's for reliability but the new ones are not really any worse than any modern Italian machines. The 675 3's do have a problem with dropped valves. The 800's don't seem to suffer with it Still got my first generation F4 after 20 years of ownership.
It’s seems of recent years there are a few “friday bikes” out there and it’s luck of the draw if you end up with one?
I’ve just sold my F3 800, the euro 4 bikes are a massive step in terms of build quality and reliability. Mine did 2 Trackdays and 1k road miles in 6 months and didn’t miss a beat
Dealer support also makes a difference. I have an RC that was delivered with no rear brake fluid and panels etc loose after pdi... its been like that since - less than 60 miles but easy enough to sort properly.
