MV Agusta Superveloce 800 édition limitée 98 2024 — Specifications

It’s impossible to read this exchange without smiling. The idea is charming, almost touching. But behind this fictitious correspondence with a Mr. Boggryte lies a much more prosaic reality: a classic Superveloce 800, dressed in a gala outfit and boosted by a few extra horsepower, for the modest sum of 31,099 euros. A sum that almost makes you forget that we’re talking about a machine with DNA over ten years old, however beautiful it may be.

The heart of the matter remains this 800cc triple, now boosted to 147 horsepower thanks to a complete Arrow kit. It’s powerful, sonorous, and the 88 Nm of torque remains a sure value. Combined with a weight reduction of 8 kilos, the beast promises exhilarating sensations. But let's be honest, at this price, one is entitled to expect more than just a mapping adjustment and an exhaust. Faced with a Ducati Streetfighter V2 or even a Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS, more modern and technologically advanced, the MV’s technical proposition begins to show its age. Its trellis frame is a work of art, but the Marzocchi fork and Sachs shock absorber, while correct, no longer inspire the same dreams as before.

So, what is one really paying for? A story. An aesthetic. A serial number engraved on the fork stem. The "Rosso Verghera" livery is a magnificent, hand-applied tribute, evoking the first 98 of 1945. The Kineo spoked wheels, the Brembo Stylema calipers, the Pirelli tire celebrating the brand's 150th anniversary, everything is there for the eye and the emotion. One even receives an additional single-seat cover. It’s a collector's item, a motorcycle for a purebred enthusiast for whom the numbers on the dashboard count less than the poetry of the lines and the thrill of a triple engine screaming at full throttle.

This Superveloce 98 is the archetype of the motorcycle that speaks to the heart, not to the reason. It is not aimed at the track rider seeking lap times, nor the touring rider seeking comfort. It targets the collector, the aesthete, the lover of beautiful machines steeped in history, the one for whom owning a limited edition of 300 copies justifies the price. It’s a magnificent conclusion, perhaps a little too expensive, for the current generation of Schiranna’s three-cylinder engine. It closes a chapter in beauty, while impatiently awaiting the revolution promised by the future Superveloce 1000.