MV-AGUSTA F3 800 (2013 - on) Review

Version: RC

Year: 2017

Great bike with brilliant handling and a strong engine

Version: RC

Year: 2018

Annual servicing cost: £280

Hugely fun with a beautiful chassis and enough power to stretch my legs on the road!

Buying experience: From the main dealer at Krazy Horse. Good buying experience but was promised a few things that I didn't actually get (some merch) and they'd forgotten that they'd agreed to doing the first service for free, although they honoured it later.

Version: RC

Year: 2018

Annual servicing cost: £200

Having always loved the look of the F4 when they came out, and the newer incarnations have just got better, I had a go on a F3 (first time I had properly seen one in the flesh as I don't follow bikes / journalisam as avidly as I used to - I was a Forsyth, Steve Burns, and Robinson fan back in the PB days) on a trackday at Cartagena at the end of 2018 - there were several tasty bikes on offer for a small fee - Dukes, R1's, GSXR....etc.... I have ridden GSXR's for the last 20 odd years (SRAD for 4 years, K3 750 for 11 years and the last 4 years a K7 1000), great bikes and many thousands of miles on them (the K3 had 85K on the clock when I part exchanged it). I used to race RGV250's and R6's in the very late 90's / early 00's - nothing special, I was your average club racer managing to finish top ten half the time in EMRA / MRO...etc...so when hanging my race licence up at the age of 34 in 2004, I still wanted my 2 wheel fix. Cue the Nurburgring and trackdays. I hopped aboard the F3 800 at Cartagena and left the pit lane. First corner, braked in usual place and promptly came to a halt. Bloody hell it stops fast - so opened the throttle to accelerate back up to the corner and the thing shot forward. I thought I was going to bin it on the first corner as I 50 penced it all the way round. Then I was confusing the bike (first time I have ridden with any electronics as the K7 has a QAT and I binned the 3 mode switch), and the bike was confusing me - after years of blipping the throttle myself on downshifts, I was doing it with the bike doing it also, so tying me and it in knots. I had it in my head that it was an automatic so sometimes waiting for it to change up and running out of revs / hitting the limiter. The gearing was different (obviously) which I was also trying to figure out in my one 20 minute session. BUT......by the end of the session, I was lapping just as fast as I do on my trusty old bike that I know every inch of. What a bike. I was sold. The thing turned beautifully, could snap Kate Moss's knickers at 100 yards with it's looks, and stop in the gusset of said knickers just thinking about it. I had to buy one. By the time I had decided to part with my coin, it was mid way through 2019 and there were only 2 brand new 2018 RC models left (the better colour choice in my opinion). I rode it 4 times and have covered just under 6000 miles - yes, 6K in 3 months only riding it 4 times. I rode it twice to run it in over a long weekend (I live in mid Wales so cracking roads and not sat on motorways to run it in), then the third time I rode it after it's service was in July to Switzerland and back, sampling some of the finest passes (Grimsel and Furka) while there. The second time I rode it was to the Nurburgring and back, where I did 12 laps on it while over there the August bank holiday weekend. I'm sub 8 round there (but only just) and lapped just as quickly on the RC as I do on the GSXR. It certainly gets attention wherever you park it up.

Version: Reparto Corse

Year: 2017

Annual servicing cost: £250

It's a MV, so build quality is always going to be a bit hit and miss, unfortunately.

Buying experience: Bought new from a dealer. No issues.

Year: 2014

great bike very good on trackdays, keepsup with the thousands and passes them in the corners, cracking bike which gives you confidence too brake hard into corners and turn

Year: 2015

The bike is beautiful to ride very light and agile

Buying experience: Ed Cosker Bromyard superb service and back up

Previous bike was the F3 675, which in two years I covered over 12000 miles. With the additional mid-range power of the 800 it is easier to ride and as with the 675, brakes and road holding are superb, especially with ABS. Quick shifter adds to the riding pleasure. To date covered over 2000 miles with no problems whatsover. It's biking with a smile on your face😄😄