Have you ever wondered what the backstory was to building a motorcycle? Perhaps no greater version of that story exists than the rebirth of MV Agusta from the hands of Harley-Davidson, and the building of the company’s supersport model, the MV Agusta F3. Making an appearance on National Geographic‘s “Mega Factories” show, the doors of MV Agusta were opened up to the film crew’s cameras, and a fairly candid look at what is behind the curtain takes place.
The reason for the show’s success is because it is always interesting to see what goes into building our favorite machines, and for motorcycle enthusiasts, the insight given by MV Agusta tells more of the saga that surrounded the development and production of the F3, and the reason for its delays to market.
While full of interesting new details, this episode of “Mega Factories” has also substantially whitewashed of some the more important points of the MV Agusta story. For instance, the show goes out of its way not to mention Harley-Davidson’s recent involvement with the brand — namely how it cleared the Italian company’s debts, invested in infrastructure, and created the business plan that is currently being implement with the three-cylinder line of bikes.
Calling the 30-someting Giovanni Castiglioni “the patriarch” of Italian motorcycles, National Geographic sort of jumps the shark with its level of praise for the young CEO, and the canonizing of the late Claudio Castiglioni is well underway here, with nary a mention of how the brand has been run into the ground multiple times. Ducatisti might take offense to the show’s seeming forgetful nature that there is another iconic Italian motorcycle brand just down the road, thriving on a sales that are considerably larger than those of MV Agusta.
All that being said, the good outweighs the bad here, and it is well worth the 45 minutes of your time this holiday weekend to take a glimpse behind the curtain of Varese. After all, the MV Agusta F3 really is motorcycling art. Enjoy.
Source: Faster and Faster
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