MRW Issue 1

Sport mode, the Öhlin’s semiactive
suspension is harsh,
especially the rear. The front
isn’t too bad – there is the
odd jolt over large imperfections
– but the rear is noticeably
harsh. This may be exacerbated
by the narrow seat,
or the lack of travel/sag in
the rear shock – either way it
causes uncomfortable jolting
over bumps. I opted to soften
the settings via the custom
mode, which can be done on
the dash, or via your phone
using the MV Ride App. But
again, even with the suspension
softened, the rear was
improved but still occasionally
harsh and firm. On billiard
table-smooth surfaces, up in
the mountains on stunning
roads which surround Mount
Etna, it is not a problem. But
in town, on poorly surfaced
roads, it became a painful issue.
Even on the motorway,
I had to occasionally lift my
bum off the seat to ease the
pain whilst crossing poor
over-banding on bridges.
Again, you could reason that
few owners will be riding a
new R499k MV around town,
and that it belongs on mountain
passes and fast smooth
roads. And yes, the front-end
feeling is good, there’s a nice
connection and feel as you
roll into a corner. The racy,
dropped bar position feels
more natural at speed, and
encourages you to hang off
the inside. But then you hit a
series of bumps and the rear
jolts and you lose the confidence
to push on, despite
the excellent rider aids keeping
you safe.
On the track, where the surface
is consistent and bumps
are kept to a minimum, the
MV comes together. It works.
You can even flick into Race
mode, which gives even more
suspension support.
On track the new Brutale is
in its element and feels like a
race bike with the bodywork
removed. Ground clearance
is huge, the dropped bars allow
you to hang off naturally,
knee brushing every apex.
That huge power combined
with taught suspension
means the bike feels alive,
though never unstable, even
at very high speeds. There is
a little movement in the bars,
but nothing alarming which
is impressive for a bike with
a short wheelbase and so
much drive.
You sit more in the bike, out
of the wind, and it’s less physical
than most naked bikes –
the best compliment I can bestow
is that it feels and handles
like a race bike with the bodywork
removed. Everything
works: peg positions, rear seat
hump… you can really tuck in
carry enormous corner speed
with no fear of understeer like
some naked bikes which push
the front. Excellent.
Time to stop
All the ingredients are there:
huge grip generated by Pirelli
rubber, high quality Öhlins
43mm semi-active forks, and
the very latest Brembo Stylema
Monobloc 4-piston calipers
grabbing 320mm discs,
all backed up with cornering
ABS. On the road, just a brush
of the span adjustable lever
is enough to haul it up with
precision and feel, but on the
track the ABS is too intrusive
and the re-intervention of
the brakes is too slow. On the
road, in protective jacket and
jeans, I never really pushed
on hard enough to test the
stoppers, and I had no complaints.
But on track, the ABS
didn’t match the ‘high-tech’
feel of the rest of the bike.
On the track, braking from
260kph plus down to 80kph
or less and the ABS was too
intrusive and inconsistent.
Sometimes there was a faint
judder or pulsing in the lever,
occasionally when a few
bumps were thrown in to test
the set-up is was a little more.
I wanted to brake deep into
the apex, trailing the brakes
but the ABS, with this inconsistency,
wouldn’t allow me
to do this.