MV Agusta Enduro Veloce Takes Italian Brand Back to the Future

The MV Agusta Enduro Veloce has been launched as the final form of MV’s large-capacity adventure bike, which is now on its third name.

Having been initially referred to as the Lucky Explorer 9.5, after the Lucky Strike-sponsored Cagiva Elefant that Cagiva (from which the modern MV is derived) won the Dakar with in the ‘90s, and then as the LXP Orioli last year, the MV’s big adventurer finally has its name: Enduro Veloce. And it’s expected to land later this year.

Production on the bike is set to begin a little later this year, in May, with bikes expected to land in dealers before the end of the year.

The base of the bike is the same as the aforementioned LXP Orioli, named after Edi Orioli who guided the aforementioned Elefant to Dakar glory in 1990, with the same 931cc inline-three-cylinder engine producing the same 124bhp and 75lb ft in the Enduro Veloce as in the LXP.

The engine’s performance can be adjusted by selecting one of the eight traction control settings: five on-road, two off-road, and one for wet surfaces. MV, though, also stresses that each different traction control setting is effectively doubled depending on whether the bike is fitted with road or knobby tyres. The rider can input into the bike whether it is fitted with road tyres or knobbies, and the bike will then choose between the road tyre or knobby tyre version of the selected traction control setting. It means that, effectively, the Enduro Veloce has 16 different TC modes. The tyres used to model the different TC settings on are the Bridgestone A41 and Bridgestone AX41, the former being equipped as standard. 

Other electronics include engine brake, which has two intensity levels, launch control, cruise control, and anti-wheelie. There is also cornering ABS, which works in conjunction with the rear lift control. Finally, there are four riding modes to choose from, Urban, Touring, Off-Road and Custom All-Terrain - the latter two allow for the disconnection of the ABS.

The electronics are informed by a six-axis IMU, and can be navigated via the seven-inch TFT display. Also in the cockpit are backlit handlebar controls, while ignition is keyless.

Going back to the engine, its design has been considered for the bike’s handling: a counter-rotating crankshaft has been employed to counteract the forward rotation of the wheels and the gyroscopic effect that comes with that rotation. MV says that this is of particular benefit on the Enduro Veloce, due to its 21-inch front wheel size. The engine is slotted into a double-cradle frame, at the front of which is a 48mm fork, while the rear uses a shock absorber allowing 210mm of wheel travel. Both front and rear suspension come from Sachs, with rebound, compression, and preload adjustable at the front, but only preload at the rear. Braking is done by Brembo, which supplies Stylema callipers for the twin 320mm front discs, and a two-piston calliper for the 265mm rear disc.

The seat height is adjustable between the standard 870mm and the lower option of 850mm, while ground clearance is 230mm.

Available in Ago Red and Ago Silver (as a combination), the MV Agusta Enduro Veloce will cost £21,800 when it lands in dealers.

MV says the new bike is built in homage to the 1946 Golfo di La Spezia, an off-road race won by Vincenzo Nencioni on an MV Agusta 98, the company’s first motorcycle whose designs had to be kept hidden from German occupiers during the Second World War. Although MV’s greatest racing history is in Grand Prix, this victory by Nencioni was the company’s first competitive success, and three years later it would be guided to victory by Carlo Ubbiali at the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) which was held in Wales that year. Ubbiali would go on to be one of MV’s shining stars of Grand Prix racing, winning eighth world titles in the 125cc and 250cc categories with MV between 1955 and 1960 (he won nine titles in total, the first being the 1951 125cc World Championship in which he rode a Mondial). 

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