MV AGUSTA. Of course! Ferrari developed the engine for the F4, hence the "F" in the F4 and as well as the 1098 engine. I own one of these VERY rare 312RR's (only a handful of these in the U.S. in the 1100cc model). Many people refer to the Ducati as the Ferrari of bikes, this could not be any more untrue. They make fine bikes, but have nothing to do with Ferrari. The last hand made bike by MV Agusta is the 2009 312RR. Ferrari never did have a bike, despite the Arlen Ness one in 95' that was never sanctioned by F.
I visited the MV Agusta factory in 2014. Amazing place right on the lake near Milan. Their factory uses old hangars from seaplane manufacturing prior to WW2. If you can go visit their factory - along with Ducati in Bologna - and all the other highlights in the Motor Valley. You will need to email ahead of time. My son and I were the only two in the small factory besides the 30 or so workers that day... Great stuff. At the end of the tour, we walked into one hangar that held all of their newly manufactured bikes ready to be packaged up for shipping round the world. They had a few very special bikes painted up that have never been shown anywhere. Very special to see. I love Ducati but have a deep respect for MV as well. Robb
Robb, very cool. I will have to see it when we go next summer! Kook: I am not sure I follow you at all. Collecting cash is useless if the end were near. I am in the US Army/Intel side, if indeed the end is nigh, I will let you know. As far as THEE woman, she is priceless, and I am a lucky man. Bikes: are amazing, and should never be substituted with 4 wheels.
A 312 is a stunner. Nice piece. Although, I've always considered MV to be the Lamborghini of bikes. And I endorse the Ducati/Ferrari comparo. D/F have serious motorsports campaigns. MV/Lambo, umm, no, not so much. Finding a Ducati or F-car dealer is about as hard as finding a Starbucks. Lambo dealers are much fewer and far between. MV dealers? Yah right! Still kicking myself for selling my F4 Oro a couple years ago grrrr.... Going for the Gold: 2000 MV Agusta F4 750 Serie Oro | Rare SportBikes For Sale
You guys are close. Don't get me wrong, I love Ducatis and MVs, but to me the 2-wheeled equivalent of a Ferrari is . . . Image Unavailable, Please Login A Colnago! Shown here with the Old Man himself, Ernesto Colnago. Cheers, Matt Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Funny - That's same category of "bike" that came to mind for me, too. Colnago was one of the few possibilities I expected inside the thread. Interesting about the Ferrari connection to MV Augusta. I sort-of expected Aprilia to be mentioned almost immediately.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Found a couple more pics. I've also always compared Pinarellos to Lambos and Bianchis to Alfas (it's the history), but that's just me. On motos, though, I miss my Ducati. I think it's high time I got another one, but I've got to move a few other motorcycles out first. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I love road bikes (bicycles) my uncle used to race professionally and did the Tour De France in early 90's. He has the largest collection of pre-WWii Colson bikes in the world. In the millions. He is sadly very blind now and enjoys a bit of coffee and cake, tells us great stories. Anyway. Cheers all
I'll agree that Colnago is comparable. Nobody puts their logo on the frame as often as Colngao can. Where would Cinelli fit? For motorcycles I always viewed Bimota as the Ferrari equal. Ducati (and I have 2!) is more of a Maserati equivalent... Congrats on the 456M. I was very close to getting one a few years ago but decided I wanted something I could work on with my limited collection of pliers, hammers and rocks so I bought a 400.
Cinelli would be abarth, mainly track machines And the Laser equivalent could be the 1500 biposto. Even same colour.
Sorry but you've completely misunderstood the meaning of Ducati being the Ferrari of bikes! It has nothing to do with Ferrari helping design engines or anything else for any motorbike manufacturer! - It's about the companies passion for the product they make, the flair of their design and their racing pedigree. Despite the Ferrari engineering link, MV Augusta is more like the motorbike equivalent of Pagani, because they make a far more bespoke vehicle than Ferrari do. And to say they have nothing to do with Ferrari is not strictly true: Campiglio Wroom official web site, Madonna di Campiglio Ferrari & Ducati Press Ski Meeting (I don't seem to remember Ferrari doing any pre-season events with MV Augusta!). And the Ferrari links go even further: Ducati Ducati and the prancing horse Even Ducati themselves have noted the similarities between the two companies (which had to be with the blessing of Ferrari for legal reasons). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
When this pic was taken massa couldn't even find Alonso because he was so far ahead (in their day jobs). This year...I don't think Fred finished ahead of massa once! Wow things changed quickly-I blame these bikes Heck, I'll be on one of these bikes once my knees finally can't take the running any longer. Until then-these bikes look slick but I know what they cost and I'm way too cheap to jump in yet!
You know how you can go to Bike Week and see just about anything? I wonder if there exists a motorcycle that is built w/ a Ferrari V12...
I would have agreed the argument of MV being comparable to Ferrari was valid...until Harley-Davidson bought MV. Then it went back into Italian hands in 2009, so you could say it came back. But today Mercedes owns 25% of MV IIRC, and has expressed interest in buying a larger stake. Ducati is owned by VAG, decide for yourself of 100% ownership by a German company allows it to be compared to Ferrari. There is one motorcycle company though that produces world-beating sportbikes and has a tradition of winning in GP and World Superbike. Seven World Superbike championships in the past six years (3 riders, 4 constructors), and dozens of GP championships in the smaller classes. Also owned by an Italian motorcycle/scooter comglomerate that also owns Moto Guzzi, which could be considered the Maserati of motorcycles. Aprilia.