MV Agusta Brutale

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The Beaver King

Original Poster:

6,095 posts

195 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
Wildfire said:
On the old map, especially on Sports, town was not a good place to be. The new map is much improved and I understand that the new bikes come with a heavier throttle spring on the RBW throttle. The light spring combined with the odd power deliver and a bit of tiredness could make for a bit of a jerky ride.

With the new map I still get this but last time it was after the PH trip to Belgium and I'd just done the best part of 300 miles, loaded up on a sports bike. Day to day, it's fine. As all sports bikes the F3 is a bit of a pain under 30-40 mph in town, but no more so than my old Ninja.

I test rode the Daytona 657R back to back with my 07 ZX-6R and the same with my F3. The Daytona is a superb bike, and IMHO a better bike. But it wasn't exciting, after I got off it I though "That was nice." It just did everything better than my Ninja. After 10 minutes on the MV I thought "Wow!" I wanted to ride it more and the bike just makes so much sense the more you push it.

I'm only 5' 7" and the F3 is nice and small. I could just about tip toe on the floor on the ZX-6R, on the MV it's flat footed. My mate is about 6' 1" and he didn't look too big for the bike. The narrow triple engine definitely makes the bikes feel smaller than the IL4s. We have a few Brutale owners on the group.
Thanks for the info thumbup

Definitely given me something to think on. Most of the comments seem to point towards a Ducati, so I've been looking at the Monster 796. After doing some heavy research, I was pretty sure I was going for a 796....

JRH63 said:
I've got a TVR and an MV, believe me, the MV is a lot easier to own!! Buy the MV, much more 'special' than a Ducati, you won't regret it.
Comments like this are not helping!!! hehe


I'm going to visit a few dealerships over the next 2 weeks to see a 796 and Brutale in the flesh; this should give me a chance to perch myself on one to check the size.

While I do prefer the look of the Brutale and the reviews put it nearly on par with the Street Triple; there are so few around that I would probably end up buying a new one. At least with the 796, I can grab a second hand one (with circa 2-4k miles) for a grand less.

Tough decision....

Seagoon

135 posts

151 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
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And that opens another question ----

Should you buy the 796, or the 821?

The 821 is a better, more advanced bike, and while it will cost you more now, when you come to sell in a year (or 2 or 3) you will recoup a larger percentage of your outlay, because by then the 796 (which is still relevant to a modern day line up) will not only be that much older, it will be a generation older.

Not helping, am I?

The Beaver King

Original Poster:

6,095 posts

195 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
Seagoon said:
And that opens another question ----

Should you buy the 796, or the 821?

The 821 is a better, more advanced bike, and while it will cost you more now, when you come to sell in a year (or 2 or 3) you will recoup a larger percentage of your outlay, because by then the 796 (which is still relevant to a modern day line up) will not only be that much older, it will be a generation older.

Not helping, am I?
......no; you're fking not.... laugh

To be honest, if I was going new then I'd probably end up getting the Brutale 675. It is about £2k cheaper and fairly similar on paper to the 821 stats wise.

I never thought choosing a bike could be so difficult; I assumed by filtering down to a style/type of bike, it would be a simple case of picking one that stands out. There doesn't really seem to be anything that ticks all of the boxes at the minute.

Even when I think I've finally settled on a bike, I keep glancing at the Brutale...

ZesPak

24,429 posts

196 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
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Friend of mine got in to biking and had quite a budget.

He was eyeballing a new MV Brutale for months, but comments on the internet and from other people about the "ride-ability" of the bike made him go for the Duc in the end.
He still kind of regrets not giving it a go though.

As above, for your first bike, why not consider something cheap & disposable for a year, like a bandit. Selling it after a year will set you back nearly nothing and it won't cost you an arm and a leg if you drop it.
Then, if you're a bit more confident, you can go for the MV/Duc.

I know it's not the most appealing of propositions (it requires patience...) but I'd strongly recommend it.

Oh and the fuelling is supposedly a lot better on the newer models.

The Beaver King

Original Poster:

6,095 posts

195 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
ZesPak said:
Friend of mine got in to biking and had quite a budget.

He was eyeballing a new MV Brutale for months, but comments on the internet and from other people about the "ride-ability" of the bike made him go for the Duc in the end.
He still kind of regrets not giving it a go though.

As above, for your first bike, why not consider something cheap & disposable for a year, like a bandit. Selling it after a year will set you back nearly nothing and it won't cost you an arm and a leg if you drop it.
Then, if you're a bit more confident, you can go for the MV/Duc.

I know it's not the most appealing of propositions (it requires patience...) but I'd strongly recommend it.

Oh and the fuelling is supposedly a lot better on the newer models.
Absolutely, 100% the right thing to do and my train of thought for the last 12 months.

Buy a Bandit for £2-3k, get used to riding and then upgrade further down the line.

Of course, then D-day gets closer and I start looking at what I could get. Funnily enough all common sense and reason goes out of the window and suddenly I'm looking at spending £7k on a Brutale/Monster.... hehe

I think I need to take a step back and seriously think about what I need, rather than want. There is a good chance I could drop/slide it in the first 12 months and I'd hate myself.

Hmmmmmmm head or heart...?

Tall_Paul

1,915 posts

227 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
Not sure it'll help wink but I'll post my test ride thoughts of the Monster 821:

Tall_Paul said:
First, the Bad:

Couldn't see **** all out the mirrors, apart from my arms, the hedge next to the road and the other side of the road. They'd have to be changed if I got one.



Ok, that's the bad out the way. Actually, wait.... there is one other bad thing, but I'll get to that in a bit


The Good: biggrinbiggrinbiggrin just about sums it up.

For a stock exhaust, it sounds amazing. Pops and burbles on the over-run, and a loud bark with a blip of the throttle.

The clutch is extremely light, as light as or even lighter than my 125 I think. Riding position, perfect for me at 6ft 3in and 12 stone. The worry about the lack of foot room - gone. I was riding on my balls of my feet all the time, dead comfy. The only time I noticed heat from the exhaust was when I'd stopped for 5 minutes and was still sat on the bike (not running). Obviously there's no wind protection and at 70 (ish ) on the motorway it felt like my helmet was about to ripped off my head, but I rode with no ear plugs and the wind noise was fine - there was an even pressure on my whole upper body, not just air directed at my helmet.

Now, the engine - fan-****ing-tastic. This was my first ride on a 100bhp+ bike, and it won't be my last. I started out in touring mode, but by the end riding through 30/40/50 and NSL twisty roads I had it in sport mode, and even in some torrential rain I didn't need urban mode.

Any gear, any revs, open the throttle and you're off, 6th gear at 30mph, doing 2k rpm - it shudders a little at first but within a second or 2 you're doing 50, 60, and so-on. Overtakes are a piece of ****, it doesn't matter what gear you're in, just open the throttle and the world goes backwards and the car that was in front of you is now behind you, or at least I think it is, as I can't actually see anything behind me due to the mirrors biggrin

The dash is awesome, could have done with a gear indicator. Actually scrap that, you don't need to know what gear you're in, see above. The gearbox is silky smooth, I wasn't sure I was actually changing gear some of the time, in fact I don't remember changing gear much at all if I'm honest, even though when I tried to go up a gear I realised I was already in 6th.

What else? Dead easy to ride - as said before, this was my first ever 100bhp+ bike, and 112bhp at that! I'd have no issues riding it every day, in all weathers.

Suspension was stiff but not overly stiff, "taught" is the word I'd use. Brakes were brilliant too, I didn't get to try them out properly as it was slimey/damp conditions out there, but I have a feeling they'd stop you rather quickly being Brembo's.

Edit: the seat was dead comfy, I only just thought about it so that shows how comfy it was - I had no numb arse at all even after 2 solid hours on the bike. My varadero would be giving me a numb bum after that time.


So, what was the other bad point? I want one. Like, reeeeeeeally really want one. But I can't afford one.
HTH winkbiggrin

The Beaver King

Original Poster:

6,095 posts

195 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
...Thanks Paul....That is really 'helpful'..... mad

fk! banghead

Tall_Paul

1,915 posts

227 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
My pleasure heheevil

To be honest, probably the best way of deciding is to get as many test rides as possible, you should be able to do a few over a week or so - Brutale/Monster 821/Street triple/Yamaha MT-09 etc.

As for starting out on something cheap, depends on what your usage is going to be - doing 200 miles miles a week like me a cheap commuter makes sense (hence I'm picking up a CB400 Super Four VTEC in a week) but I would quite happily do a year round commute on the 821. An 821/1200/1200S has gone on my (ever increasing!) list of bikes to own biggrin

I don't think I'd want one of the air cooled monsters/hypermotards as a daily use bike, but the new watercooled models seem a bit more refined/modern and potentially more reliable. Long service intervals too.

Edited by Tall_Paul on Monday 22 December 11:52

The Beaver King

Original Poster:

6,095 posts

195 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
It would literally be a 'weekend weapon'.

I'm selling the TVR in a few months, so the bike will be my 'go to' for fun.

I will probably end up going down the finance route, as chucking £6-7k straight at a bike makes me feel uncomfortable. Don't really fancy PCP or anything like that, just straight forward 'here is £2k, I'll pay the rest off over 3/4 years'. Therefore I want to get something that will keep me amused for the duration without hemorrhaging value in that time; if I can get a fun bike for £6-7k and I only lose £2-3k over 3/4 years (assuming 3k miles a year and no accidents) then I'll be happy.

Of course, I could be massively wide of the mark and there isn't a bike that will cover all those options. As mentioned, pretty new to bikes so I don't know what holds its value.

I keep looking at this:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Am I mad...?

ZesPak

24,429 posts

196 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
The Beaver King said:
I keep looking at this:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Am I mad...?
Yes, it's not a Brutale hehe

The Beaver King

Original Poster:

6,095 posts

195 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
ZesPak said:
The Beaver King said:
I keep looking at this:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

Am I mad...?
Yes, it's not a Brutale hehe
hehe

Shut up! I know! I can't help it; they are both so beautiful frown

rat840771

2,023 posts

165 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
you say don't do PCP, may mate has just bought a Panni 899 and he got a great deal so I'm sure they would do the same on the monster.

I seem to recall 3k down, £127 a month for 3 years and 4.5K to buy at the end or renew, he also got free termi's thrown in. As he put it, that's about the same money a month as SKY tv and gym membership!


Rollin

6,088 posts

245 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
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These people are dropping the franchise so might do a better deal..

http://prestonmotorcycles.co.uk/usedbikedetail.php...

I'd rather have a Monster 821 though. Ex Demos are up at 7999 and if they take 7400ish, one will be mine soon wink

Rollin

6,088 posts

245 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
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Having said that there's a 200 mile 1200S up for 10995 hmm.

d8mok

1,815 posts

205 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
821 and 1200 monsters are water cooled. 696 /796 /1100 are air cooled.

Completely different bikes in my opinion. I actually think that the air cooled bikes will demand a premium in some years to come.

Ride them and see what u think. The air cooled bikes are great. I'd not swap my 1100s monster for any water cooled monster.

Tall_Paul

1,915 posts

227 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
Rollin said:
Having said that there's a 200 mile 1200S up for 10995 hmm.
The monster 1200s is pure filth, when I saw one in a dealer I was nursing a semi lick

And that's £2k off list price!eek

Wildfire

9,789 posts

252 months

Monday 22nd December 2014
quotequote all
I will echo the MV is much more special than a Ducati. I was at a biker cafe and pulled up next to 2 Panigales. Attention was all on the F3. Being a Ducati Monster owner as well, I do love the V Twin ride, but the MV triple is just so unique.

powerstans

353 posts

197 months

Tuesday 23rd December 2014
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The autotrader add for the Monster at Riders, if that is the Bristol branch Jerry the sales guy is very helpful and they will let you test ride as soon as you have passed your test and get your licence back. Mrs P test rode most of the bikes I listed on my earlier post through them having just passed.


The Beaver King

Original Poster:

6,095 posts

195 months

Tuesday 23rd December 2014
quotequote all
Wildfire said:
I will echo the MV is much more special than a Ducati. I was at a biker cafe and pulled up next to 2 Panigales. Attention was all on the F3. Being a Ducati Monster owner as well, I do love the V Twin ride, but the MV triple is just so unique.
This is exactly why I keep coming back to the Brutale. If you ask anybody in the know about bikes, what is the best middleweight naked bike, 80-90% would say the Street Triple. All the reviews say it is the best in class as an all round package. I've already written the Triumph off, but apparently the Brutale is very close to the Street Triple; plus it has a 'exotic' factor to it.

If I was going Ducati, it would probably be the 796 in the end. Price, looks, engine size, performance all tick the boxes for me; but a 2nd hand one (with approx 2k miles and Termi exhausts) is roughly the same price as a new Brutale 675...

The Ducati does come in with cheaper insurance though...

Christ, I assumed I would know the right bike as soon as I saw it. Apparently not.

The Beaver King

Original Poster:

6,095 posts

195 months

Tuesday 23rd December 2014
quotequote all
rat840771 said:
you say don't do PCP, may mate has just bought a Panni 899 and he got a great deal so I'm sure they would do the same on the monster.

I seem to recall 3k down, £127 a month for 3 years and 4.5K to buy at the end or renew, he also got free termi's thrown in. As he put it, that's about the same money a month as SKY tv and gym membership!
I can absolutely see why people would go with this option, especially if you like to switch bikes every 3/4 years, but I don't like the idea of not 'owning' something, if you get what I mean...?

I cannot 100% guarantee that I'd have the require £ three years down the line to buy the rest of the bike and I'd hate to give it back as I would feel like I'd just wasted money.