Up-Close with the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800

MV Agusta’s big announcement at the 2013 EICMA show was of course its new sport-tourer, the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800. Based around the Italian brand’s 800cc three-cylinder engine, the Turismo Veloce is a big step for MV Agusta, though one taken cautiously both in terms of progress and design.

Borrowing heavily from the firm’s F3 and F4 sport bikes, the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce feels like its stuck in the Varese company’s past, though in many ways it is MV Agusta’s future.

We are sure that the sport-tourer is just the first of many line-extensions for MV Agusta that will borrow from the same common elements found in all the current MV Agusta motorcycles, but the real highlight of the Turismo Veloce 800 is that it debuts a number of new technologies for MV Agusta, which have all been packaged into the MVICS 2.0 system.

Despite the impressive advancements made with the MVICS 2.0 system, as with all MV Agusta motorcycles, the real connection with the machine is a visual one, and the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 certainly makes an impression.

The shape and build of the Turismo Veloce 800 is very clean, and the bike has striking lines that grab you right away. There is a visual difference between the base model and the more premium MV Agusta Turismo Veloce Lusso 800 though, as the latter has the panniers as a standard item.

On the base model, the skinny tail piece is readily apparent, and it becomes easy to see how the Lusso uses that shape to suck its bags close to the Turismo Veloce’s body, making for a very slender bike in both trim-levels.

While some bike lose their character with the addition or omission of panniers, the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 seems to keep its general look and feel about it, which is important considering how strong of a bond MV Agusta riders have with the aesthetics of their machines.

Even though the tail section is a very interesting element, our favorite piece is the LED illuminated headlight. The tastefully done halo ring adds dimension to the now iconic MV Agusta headlight shape, and makes for a dramatic effects in low-light situations.

The TFT display is also a good execution, and a welcomed sight from some of the other dashes we have seen. The user interface on the dash makes it seem like a real computer is at work in the MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800.

Though, MV Agusta still has some things to learn about user experience, as we can foresee some of the information being incommunicable to a rider on the open road, both in terms of layout and font size — an issue we’ve found on the F3 and Rivale as well.

Fit and finish looks to constantly be improving with MV Agusta, as the Turismo Veloce is another notch above the Rivale in this regard. For an engine that hides hoses and wires so well, it is surprising however to see that MV Agusta still has a hard time managing the few pieces of the wiring loom that are exposed.

With brands like Ducati figuring out how to secure lines behind their trellis work, MV Agusta would do well to take note, and drop the use of these distracting rubber bands. You probably didn’t notice them until now, but once you are aware of them, they glare at you from every shot.

Otherwise, the 2014 MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 is a very attractive machine that doesn’t stray too far from the MV Agusta brand, despite the fact its the first step in transforming the marques dramatically.

We look forward to riding one; but until then, we’ll just have to drool over these photos for a bit longer.