KTM has recently purchased a significant stake in MV Agusta which has to be good news for the fabled Italian marque. Beyond that, we ride the incredible Brutale 1000RR--an astonishing motorcycle from MV Agusta.
Most reviewers have the hyper-naked segment completely wrong, but this one is spot on. The 'other guys' test hyper-naked's by track performance, in drag races, or racing through twistys with little regard or thought towards the actual day-to-day rideability. This review is spot on, the Brutale is easily the best in the segment for it's low speed manners. When you want all 208hp, wind out the motor and hear the angry banshee wail. When you hit some slow traffic or in town, bring the revs down and it becomes as docile and easy as a middleweight. Hoping KTM is able to bring MV Agusta's to more markets with better availability. This is easily one of the best bikes on the market.
I have a Brutale 1000RR and I’d say this review is spot on … pretty much every word spoken. Especially when hitting 7000 RPM. I can barely get it past 9000 and at this stage it’s just blistering.
Excellent presentation. Like you, I am long in the tooth and appreciated your comments regarding body position and the optional handlebars. This is a stunningly beautiful machine. Given that the vast majority of buyers will not be under 40 years old due to their limited financial resources, Mv Agusta should look at the ergonomics and how that affects older riders. Test riders can ride that all day given the advantage of their youth. But they are not realistically representative of who will actually buy one. If I sat on the bike at a dealership with that low bar set up, I would have to pass; I won't buy a bike that I cannot ride for hours due to back, shoulder or wrist pain. Hopefully, the dealers will be aware and have in stock the higher optional bars for those of us that need it.
my ONLY question is; how reliable is this motorcycle(does it have the reliability of a ducati being in the shop once every two months? ) being that very FEW dealers are around to service such bikes within the united states?
That’s an astute comment because the rush and any of the triple cylinders are the 800 cm³ versions are a pile of crap I know because I own one. And the 1090 which I have which is equivalent to the present day 1000 cc, if it’s an in-line four cylinder, that’s the want to have because you can drive at low RPM at high in the city, but you can still drive at high RPM and pull out all of the horsepower and speed. Do you want from this thing on the track or if in Thailand with no speed limit on the main road. Which is what I do I put some titanium manifold and muffler on the bike and the steering damper and taking the mirrors off, which is kind of ready and would be illegal in Europe with this manifold, because it increases the BHP and other things. However, I drive it on the road here and it’s absolutely amazing. so the rush isn’t good for anything apart from looking at as a piece of artwork. But I wouldn’t ride it for more than 30 minutes and I don’t. Because it’s a pain in the ass and it gets on your nerves and your ear is just can’t stand the noise
I own the 800 three cylinder and the 1090 four-cylinder and all I can say or ask is “why is no reviewer telling everybody that the three cylinder models sound like a piece of crap and you will be really regretting having bought it with that horrible sound in your ears and the pipes are too beautiful to change for aftermarket that would destroy the art of their motorcycle, you’re just going to regret it. I know because I have both the 800 and the 1090 models. And the four cylinder is the one to buy and I don’t know why MV Augusta are making these horrible sounding three cylinder bikes are the length and the height of a dwarf, and which leave you with completely tired shoulders after half an hour riding, and want you to drive at 12,000 RPM even if you’re doing 20 km an hour behind a very slow school bus in the city. Those 800s and all of the three cylinder models except for the thousand CC models, are a pain in the ass. perhaps there for 20-year-old millennials, but I’m a 58-year-old biker who is doing everything from scramblers and motocross to Harley Davidson, choppers, adventure, bikes, straight, naked, and superbikes, like this one in question, … As I said, I own two of these bikes, 800 and 1090, and I’m selling the 800 cc… not because of the engine size, but because of the intolerable sound of the triple cylinder ceramic coated exhaust which looks beautiful but sounds absolutely horrible. I can’t even ride it for five minutes without going home because it’s getting on my nerves.
