MV Agusta Rivale by Luca Bar Design

Luca Bar must be in his lab cranking out designs, because the talented young Italian motorcycle designer has rendered up the heavily rumored and eagerly awaited MV Agusta Rivale. Based on the 675cc three-cylinder engine found in the soon-to-be-delivered MV Agusta F3 and the soon-to-be-unveiled MV Agusta Brutale 675, the MV Agusta Rivale is expected to be a rival (see what we did there?) to the Ducati Hypermotard 796.

Considering that MV Agusta is expected to unveil the Brutale 675 at EICMA later this year, we would expect to see the Rivale break cover in 2013 as a 2014 model. The fact that we haven’t see prototypes of the bike “spied” out in the wild also lends itself to this theory, though the Italian company has reportedly already trademarked the “Rivale” name in foreign markets. Taking what we know about the MV Agusta’s design philosophy with the F3 and Brutale 675, Luca has rendered the shape he imagines the MV Agusta Rivale to take.

Incorporating the lines of the current three-cylinder offerings from Varese, the seat, exhaust, and frame designs are immediately identifiable in Luca Bar’s design. Borrowing too the Brutale 675’s headlight, these renders of the Rivale imagine the hypermotard as being essentially a taller Brutale 675. Certain to borrow heavily from MV Agusta’s common parts bin, the news of the Italian company’s growing product line is surely a reflection of MV Agusta’s need to fill out a fuller product line.

After hearing credible rumors of MV Agusta’s financial difficulties, we’ve been incredible skeptical about MV Agusta F3 coming to market, and equally skeptical about the MV Agusta Brutale 675, which has been teased to market well ahead of its expected delivery date. In an industry where hype about future products is often used to secure funding for projects proceeding them, we have to take an equal measure of skepticism with the MV Agusta Rivale. We hope our concern is for naught though, because if the Rivale looks half as good as what Luca Bar Design has rendered here, motorcycle enthusiasts should be quite pleased.