Being in the lucky position of living in the south France (after 15 years of biking in the UK) it is more or less possible to ride all year but anyway my EVO 3 has been dormant for 2 months. The bike started first time which I start to understand is normal (after 1 year of ownership) I checked tyre pressures then off. OK, it feels a bit strange for the first 20-30km especially as I commute on a little Suzuki twin with no steering damper. Then you slowly start remember why you own such a machine, I have had R1's fireblades, the latest Ducati's and you can keep them all.

Comparing a Ducati to an MV is like apples with oranges, I remember thinking when I first rode my 749 when they came out that they are having a laugh with the gear change it's like a well worn unserviced tractor! with the MV everything is so much more cohesive as a package, I don't have carbon bits or pipes or chips I just ride and fit good tyres, the money I spend I put in petrol going places and learning to ride better gives me far more return than an etxra 2-3 bhp at 12400 rpm.

Anyway I hope everyone enjoys their machine as much as I do.

Ride safe

-- Richard Thompson (rthompson@NRRT23.com), February 13, 2005

Answers

Yo! Am glad to know that there really are people who damn loves their MV's -- and why wouldn't you??? I fell in love with mine that I almost wanted to have sex with it! Ha ha ha LOL

Anyway, I loved my bike as much as I love myself. It is a part of me as a serious rider. I have rode bikes back then during my teens when Honda's are really top heavy as a tractor. I have been riding for a few years now, and I have to agree with Richard when he mentioned that the operating costs for an MV is far less consuming than owning a Ducati. I based it in my experience everytime I ride my Ducati back then, I had to pray to God wishing that it will start & run & nothing conks out along the way! It's a beautiful, mind you. I used to own 2 Monsters & 2 916's before I moved on with my lovely MV Agusta F4S. It's really nothing special like the SPR, Senna's, Tamburini's, Ago, whatsoever -- but the sheer pleasure of owning it & riding it . Whether it'd be a track, on the road or on the mountains.

Handling is perfect. The ride is wonderful. The engine is balanced. The bike is simply awesome! That's another 1,000,000 handsome points for us MV Agusta owners.

Cheers!

-- AJ (adiviso@hotmail.com), February 14, 2005.

If you pickup a copy of Used Bike Guide (out on 20th Feb) you will see an article I wrote a while back. In it I put forward the view that not only is this one of the most fantastic bikes to own and ride but that it actually can make good financial sence. The point being that secndhand values are so strong that if you compare a secondhand F4 with a similarly priced new top of the range sports bike than the MV wins hands down on total running costs. You loose none of the pride of ownership engendered by having a brand new bike. The depreciation more than offsets the slightly higher running costs and you get instant membership to that most exclusve 'World of MV' that we all know and love.

-- Mark M (m.magenis@btinternet.com), February 14, 2005.