MV Agusta continues to refine its radial-valve literbike with the F4 R312, claimed to be the fastest production streetbike in the world.
It's been nearly a decade since MV Agusta was reborn with the debut of the F4 750, its first new model under the ownership of the Castiglioni family. Created by acclaimed designer Massimo Tamburini (the man responsible for the iconic Ducati 916), the bike's unique styling and innovative chassis packaging housed a radial-valve four-cylinder engine engineered by Piero Ferrari (the "F" in F4), son of Enzo. The F4 750's arrival opened a new chapter in MV's history and sent lots of enthusiasts-not all of them lovers of Latin bikes-scurrying for their checkbooks. The 750 was soon followed by a literbike version of the same engine, which offered performance that was easily on par with its Japanese rivals. Various iterations of the F4 1000 culminated in the '06 F4 1000 R, an upgraded version with even more power and better suspension that SR sampled back in the Aug. '06 issue.
Now the F4 R312 has arrived, representing MV Agusta owner Claudio Castiglioni's 10th birthday present to the MV product line. The 312 suffix refers to its claim as the fastest volume-production streetbike in the world, with an independently verified 312-kph (193-mph) top speed measured during testing in street-legal guise around the 7.5-mile banking of the Nardo Speed Bowl in southern Italy.