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Not Homologated: Ducati 1199 Panigale & MV Agusta F3

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UPDATE: On 2/10/2012, the FIM released an updated homologation list, which includes the 2012 Ducati 1199 Panigale S for racing in the World Superstock 1000 Cup.

The regulations for the 2012 World Superbike Championship are out, and two names are noticeably not present from the homologation lists for World Superbike and World Supersport: the Ducati 1199 Panigale and the MV Agusta F3. That’s right, the two biggest motorcycles to debut in 2012 have not yet been blessed to compete in this season’s two premier production motorcycle racing classes.

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MV Agusta F3 Enters Production – Sales up 12% in 2011

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Only MV Agusta would send a press release out on the weekend, Super Bowl weekend no less. Apparently unable to contain the excitement that the MV Agusta F3 has entered production, the Varese-based company has not only sent out a proof of life video, but also released some information about its three-cylinder supersport and the company in general.

Reportedly selling 12% more motorcycles in 2011 than 2010 (that’s a volume change that can be counted in the hundreds, not thousands), MV Agusta also announced that its orders for the 2012 MV Agusta F3 and 2012 MV Agusta Brutale 675 have nearly doubled MV’s expected yearly volume, though by our math the Italian company is still likely shy of the sales needed to break-even on the financial side of the equation.

With its assembly line running at nearly double its usual capacity, MV Agusta has put together a quick behind the scenes video of the making of the F3. A cool look on what occurs behind the curtain of Oz, it is interesting to note that all the bikes shown are the MV Agusta F3 Serie Oro, and not the base model. While the Oro is to hit dealers in the USA before its $13,495 sibling, you would think that MV Agusta would have a couple of those on the assembly line already as well, considering after all that it is the MV Augusta F3 base model that will comprise the bulk of the company’s orders.

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Team Alstare Racing an MV Agusta F3 in World Supersport?

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You can’t keep a good race team down, as talk in the World Superbike paddock this week has been swirling around the Alstare Racing team. One of several teams to be on the receiving end of Suzuki’s withdrawal from the major racing series, Alstare found its factory-support from Suzuki draw to a close at the conclusion of the 2011 WSBK Championship season. We use the words “factory support” loosely of course, as Alstare Suzuki had been developing the Suzuki GSX-R1000 almost exclusively in-house, receiving only production OEM parts from Suzuki when needed.

As Suzuki shut its doors to WSBK and MotoGP racing, in the hopes of saving money to buy its stock back from minority shareholder Volkswagen (among other things), the Alstare Team Principal Franics Batta vowed that he would race with the Japanese manufacturer, or not race at all. News then came out that linked Team Alstare to possibly taking over the Kawasaki Factory WSBK team, which would later be handed to World Supersport’s Provec Motocard Kawasaki team. Other rumors linked Batta as interested in campaigning with MV Agusta, though the Belgian team owner could not get a callback from Varese.

Progress has seemingly been made on that front though, as Alstare Racing is reportedly closing in on a deal with the Italian company to campaign an MV Agusta F3 in World Supersport, with the relationship possibly growing to include an MV Agusta F4 RR in a seaon’s time.

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Bikes

Up-Close with the MV Agusta Brutale 675

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Finally making its public debut, the MV Agusta Brutale 675 was easily one of the most anticipated motorcycles of the 2011 EICMA show. Representing Varese’s commitment to more affordable motorcycles, the Brutale 675 comes with a €8,990 price tag in the EU (US pricing is still up in the air, but should be competitive with the Triumph Street Triple). No exactly a surprise in its design, the 2012 MV Agusta Brutale 675 is true to the Brutale format, and follows the lines of the F3 supersport…without fairings of course.

In person, the MV Agusta Brutale 675 comes with the fit and finish you would expect from the historic Italian brand. For as much as I bag on MV Agusta for its various monetary and business troubles, the Italian factory is trying to make available a gorgeous motorcycle at a very attractive price tag. For all the concerns made about how MV Agusta was going “down market” with its brand, the basic bullet points of what defines an MV still remain true with the Brutale 675, which should make it a winner when it comes to market.

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MV Agusta Returns to the Isle of Man TT

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It looks like MV Agusta will be making a “historic return” to the Isle of Man TT, as the venerable road race has announced that the factory-backed of World Performance Racing (WPR) will be entering MV Agusta F3 & F4 motorcycles in the 101st running of the Mountain Course.

WPR, a family-run business based in Chesterfield will be campaigning the exotic Italian bikes with the help from Chorley’s Moto GB, though it is not clear what the Italian factory’s involvement is with the racing effort precisely. According to the TT, the last time an MV Agusta was raced around the TT course was in 2007, when the late Martin Finnegan finished 4th with a 125.685 mph pace in the Superstock TT race.

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Bikes

MV Agusta Tricruiser Concept – A 675cc Sport-Tourer?

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Walking around the halls of the 2011 EICMA show, I saw this concept for an MV Agusta tourer sitting in the Motociclismo booth, and wondered what was the story behind the bike. Luckily the internet has answers for such questions, and it turns out that the MV Agusta Tricruiser is the brainchild of students at Istituto Europeo di Design of Turin (IED).

Using the MV Agusta F3 as a starting point, the graduate students at IED set out to envision the next iteration in MV Agusta’s smaller-displacement platform. With the Italian company under tremendous pressure to become profitable, MV Agusta must increase its volume by a factor greater than 10x if it wants to see blank ink on its balance sheet.

Accordingly, the company from Varese has been making a bevy of variations of its F4-based models, showing three new Brutale street-nakeds at EICMA (Brutale 920, Brutale R 1090, & Brutale RR 1090) at ECIMA, along with two F4 superbikes (F4R & F4RR).

Slotting in a smaller-displacement and cheaper-price point model series that is based off a 675cc three-cylinder motor, MV Agusta also showed its F3 supersport and its corresponding Brutale 675 street-naked at EIMCA this year. While compelling pieces, MV Agusta will surely need more models in its arsenal if it wants to achieve its financial goals, and the next MV Agusta is heavily rumored to be a sport-touring/adventure model.

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Bikes

2012 MV Agusta Brutale RR 1090

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MV Agusta continues to broaden its Brutale line, debuting the MV Agusta Brutale RR 1090 today for the 2011 EICMA show. The pinnacle of the company’s naked bike offering, the Brutale RR 1090 comes packed with 156hp from its 1,078cc inline-four motor. Though we might take issue with MV Agusta’s statement that the “Brutale RR 1090 is the most important addition to the new Brutale 2012 line-up,” as the stylish and more affordable MV Agusta Brutale 675 deserves that title more, the addition of the Brutale RR 1090 helps make more sense out of MV’s naked bike line-up, while offering an impressive package to Italian motorcycle lovers.

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2012 MV Agusta Brutale 675 Breaks Cover

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After showing us the 2012 MV Agusta F3 675, the iconic Italian motorcycle company has also spilled the beans on the MV Agusta Brutale 675. The three-cylinder 675cc naked bike, is unsurprisingly and basically an F3 supersport without its fairings. With a peak power figure of 113hp @ 12,000 rpm and 52 lbs•ft of peak torque @ 10,600 rpm, the Brutale 675 tips the scales at 163kg dry (359 lbs), and like its fully-faired counterpart, the new Brutale should be a peaky, yet potent, stead for willing owners.

Featuring the same MVICS electronics package that was debuted on MV Agusta F3 675, the MV Agusta Brutale 675 will continue the “electronics are the new horspower” trend of the new decade, and with a €8,990 price tag should be equally alluring. The cheapest MV Agusta now on the market, we imagine Varese is hoping to sell a metric boat-load of the new baby Brutale. However, as we saw with the US pricing of the MV Agusta F3, how that sub-€9,000 price tag will translate to greenbacks remains to be seen.

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MV Agusta F3 675 Will Cost $13,495 in the USA

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MV Agusta has made it no secret that it plans on bringing more affordable motorcycles to its product line-up, as the Italian company has simply no choice but to increase its production volume in a bid to attain profitability. Introducing more affordable versions of its already existing models like the MV Agusta F4R & MV Agusta Brutale R 1090, the 2012 MV Agutsa F3 675 and soon-to-be-debuted MV Agusta Brutale 675 are the first bottom-up new modesl to carry this ethos for the Italian brand.

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MV Agusta F3 675 Details MVICS Electronics Package

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MV Agusta must be feeling antsy about the upcoming EICMA show in Milan, as the Italian company first teased its MV Agusta Brutale 675 in a video last week, and today it has released the final specifications of its upcoming 2012 MV Agusta F3 motorcycle.

While we’re sure the 126hp 675cc three-cylinder motor, with its 52 lbs•ft of torque, will please the discerning supersport purchaser, MV Agusta is betting that its MVICS (Motor & Vehicle Integrated Control System) electronics package is what is really going to get you excited about the Italian machine (did we mention it looks gorgeous too?). 

Clearly reading our thoughts that electronics are the new horsepower, the MV Agusta F3 675 is now the only supersport to boast ride-by-wire & traction control, and also comes along with optional wheelie and launch control vehicle dynamics.

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MV Agusta Brutale 675 Video Teases All Trepistoni

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It clearly must be almost time for the EICMA motorcycle show, as manufacturers are out in full-force teasing their 2012 model year motorcycles. One of the more anticipated models set to be unveiled in Milan, Italy is the MV Agusta Brutale 675, the naked counterpart to the still unavailable MV Agusta F3 that debuted at EICMA last year. While MV hasn’t been teasing the three-cylinder (tre pistoni) street bike as heavily as the F3, the Brutale 675 is just as important to the Italian brand in bringing the company back to profitability.

Expected to sell in the €9,000 range, the Brutale 675 will go up against other premium brand nakeds, namely the Ducati Streetfigher 848 and Triumph Street Triple. Want to get your first glimpse at the MV Agusta Brutale 675? Check out the teaser video after the jump.

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