CarBrandLogos archive · MV Agusta · 2001

MV AgustaMV Agusta Brutale

The F4 stripped of its fairing and given a considerably shorter temper.

Photo: MotorideSA · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in MV Agusta history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the MV Agusta Brutale, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Take the F4, remove the bodywork, shorten the wheelbase slightly, retune the engine for midrange and fit a wide handlebar. The Brutale of 2001 was MV's naked bike, and Tamburini's styling survived the undressing better than most.

MV Agusta Brutale 989R · Snowdog · Public domain

Design and engineering

The first bikes in this class had been about cost, a sports bike minus the fairing sold for less. The Brutale was not. It kept the single-sided swingarm, the exotic frame and the four-pipe exhaust, and was priced accordingly, which did as much as anything to establish the premium naked bike as a category rather than a discount.

MV Agusta Brutale · Klaus Nahr from Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0

MV Agusta Brutale 1090 Special Edition "Corse"

In production

It has run continuously since, through 750, 910, 920, 990, 1078 and 1090 four-cylinder versions and, from 2012, the three-cylinder Brutale 675 and 800 built around the F3 engine. The triples are the ones that sell in numbers, and the Brutale 1000 RR of 2019 was among the most powerful naked motorcycles anyone had put on sale. For a company that has spent two decades moving in and out of financial trouble, it is the model that has kept the lights on.

MV Agusta Brutale 1090 Special Edition "Corse" · Decio "desmodex" · CC BY-SA 2.0

At a glance