MV Agusta Brutale 1078 RR edition JeanRichard 2009 — Specifications

When Swiss watchmaking meets the Varese four-cylinder, the result goes far beyond a simple marketing exercise. MV Agusta has always chosen its associations with a sense of prestige that commands respect: after collaborations with Wally, Hydrogen, and Italia, the Italian house turned to a manufacture whose roots stretch back to the 17th century in the Swiss Jura.

Daniel JeanRichard was born in 1665 in the commune of La Sagne. Originally an apprentice blacksmith, he came across an English watch at the age of fifteen, dismantling it, studying it, and rebuilding it piece by piece. A single year was enough for him to sign his first timepiece — the very first made in the region. He is also credited with inventing foundational tools of the trade. The partner MV Agusta chose is no ordinary luxury brand; it is a house that founded a tradition. The coming together of these two worlds of mechanical excellence is no coincidence of timing.

This alliance was demonstrated at full scale on the Bonneville Salt Flats, where rider Rosey Lackey pushed a Brutale to 308.5 km/h to set an FIM-homologated record, a JeanRichard chronometer on his wrist. Weather then forced the team to postpone further attempts to 2009, but the statement had been made: watchmaking precision and unbridled displacement are a natural pairing when both parties refuse mediocrity.

On paper, the Brutale 1078 RR JeanRichard is a machine to inspire envy. The 1078 cc inline four-cylinder, bored to 79 mm with a 55 mm stroke, compresses its mixture at 13:1 to release 154 horsepower at 10,700 rpm and 114.7 Nm at 8,100 rpm. At 185 kg dry and a claimed top speed of 267 km/h, this roadster stands alongside the finest naked bikes on the market, facing an Aprilia Tuono R or a Ducati Streetfighter in the same category of price and intensity. The 50 mm inverted fork, the radially-mounted four-piston calipers biting 320 mm discs, the tubular trellis frame reinforced with aluminium plates: everything contributes to a level of specification that few manufacturers achieve in series production. The understated café crème finish adopted for this edition stands in contrast to the usual exuberance of the range, and that is precisely what makes it desirable. At €19,000, this is firmly the territory of the seasoned enthusiast, not the first-time buyer.

Where the story becomes complicated is that this motorcycle probably exists only in the dreams of a handful of collectors. The example presented at the 2008 Milan show remains to this day the only known unit to have left Varese. On the watch side, JeanRichard planned two series: 290 pieces in rubber and rose gold at €13,100, and 1,078 pieces in titanium at €8,950, the figures referring respectively to the top speed and the displacement. But as for the motorcycle itself, production appears to be at a standstill. A suspended promise, an object of desire frozen between presentation and industrial non-existence. MV Agusta excels at creating myths; with the JeanRichard, it may have created one that will remain forever a prototype.