2024 MV Agusta Enduro Veloce review | The most exotic adventure bike money can buy or a supersport in heels?

MV Agusta have entered a new era with their Enduro Veloce, which is at the very sportiest end of the sub-litre adventure bike sector, even with a 21" front wheel.

The 931cc triple motor is a blisteringly fast and exciting unit, offering an incredible amount of torque that sings its way straight through the rev range, with one of the best soundtracks on sale today.

• Related: Get MCN's picks of the best adventure bike kit we've tried and tested

And much like how the engine is a fruity affair, the Enduro Veloce handles like a supermoto on steroids. Forget the big front wheel, as the Enduro Veloce has the agility and stability of a machine half its weight, with powerful brakes and a suspension set-up poised enough to back it up.

However, because of its excitement and composure for fast road riding, it’s not quite the complete package. The Enduro Veloce is not the most comfortable machine in the world thanks to the hard seat and the vibey nature of the motor, which is also thirsty in terms of fuel consumption.

It also feels heavy at slow speeds when fully fuelled, and isn’t the most poised machine to ride off-road. This is still the case even when the suspension is dialled back and it’s been given a set of Bridgestone AX41 dual-sport tyres, which are more suitable for this kind of terrain.

It's one of the most capable road bikes with a 21" front wheel to ride on the road, but it doesn’t have the poise to be the best all-rounder. In truth, the Enduro Veloce came very close to a three-star rating overall. The poor off-road performance and lack of comfort make it a difficult sell as a true adventure bike. But it's so, so good at what it does well - being ridden hard and fast on tight, nadgery roads - that it earns its fourth star.

Unlike so many big adventure machines, the Enduro Veloce feels like a supersport bike in a set of high heels where cornering is concerned. Even with the 210mm of travel at each end there is a serious amount of feel and support through the Sachs suspension, which delivers the sort of feedback and composure that is usually impossible with a 21" front wheel. The Enduro Veloce can be railed into corners at incredible speed and will even turn with those impressive front Brembos loaded on at lean, too. It wouldn’t feel out of place on a trackday.

Of course this is thanks to a combination of the chassis and suspension set-up, but one of the best qualities of the Enduro Veloce is its agility, even at higher speeds. With a 21" front wheel, the big Enduro Veloce shouldn’t be as agile as it is, which is down to not just the Sachs suspension and chassis, but also thanks the counter-rotating crankshaft in the motor, with the gyroscopic effect making a big difference in its ability to flip from side to side. It is one of, if not the best handling adventure machines with a 21" front wheel that money can buy.

Although the seat feels low enough to touch the ground in its highest setting (it’s at 870mm as standard but can be dropped to 850mm) the Enduro Veloce is reasonably comfortable with a spacious cockpit. Bigger riders will enjoy the large space between the seat and the handlebars, which opts for more of a sit in, rather than sit on position - although for those with longer legs, the gap between the ‘pegs and seat will be a bit cramped on longer stints.

On the subject of which, the seat is too stiff and uncomfortable after a full day in the saddle and there is quite a lot of vibration through the handlebars and the footpegs, which means anything more than an hour or two onboard without a break is too much.

Off-road, the Enduro Veloce doesn’t quite feel at home either, which is partly down to the chassis and stiffer suspension set-up, but also down to the fairly high weight when fully fuelled. It’s well at home on easier, firmer trails but for more hardcore off-roading it doesn’t quite have the prowess in the dirt of some of its rivals, such as the Ducati DesertX or the KTM 890 Adventure.

However, it does equipped with a removable trellis sub-frame which is handy if you want to do some hardcore off-roading.

Although the triple motor is based on the platform used across MV’s 800cc models including the Brutale 800 and the Turismo Veloce, it has been heavily reworked for the Enduro Veloce and is pretty much all-new, growing from 798cc to 931cc in the process. This means that where the previous motor was a rev-hungry weapon, the new 931cc triple makes not only far more torque (up from 64lb.ft to 75ft.lb) but it makes 85% of it from just 3000rpm.

And because of this it feels mightily impressive on a faster road ride and adds an aggressively sporty element to the middleweight adventure sector. The 931cc unit is exciting and throaty, punching its way through the gearbox with the intensity of a supersport machine. The delivery of torque borders on aggressive but isn’t too excessive, delivering an exciting thrust up all the way up through the rev range to the top end.

It does run out of steam above 10,000rpm, but the Enduro Veloce still keeps on pulling and has one of, if not the best, soundtracks on offer today - with a throaty roar from that triple motor. It’s brutally loud and is distinct in its delivery, completed by pops and bangs on the overrun, and a quickshifter set-up that feels so positive in the response through the lever.

However, as an adventure machine it doesn’t quite tick all of the boxes. It’s still a quite an aggressive motor at the bottom end for town work, and it’s too loud at motorway speeds and is buzzy too, sitting between 5000rpm and 6000rpm. On a spirited ride, 200 miles on a tank isn’t guaranteed either as it averages between 35-45mpg.

Due to its punchy nature it’s also quite a hard beast to tame off-road, especially on slower, more technical trails. This is mainly thanks to the hard hit from the initial burst of torque which is present even in off-road mode, and a traction control strategy that is quite intrusive in its intervention, even on the lowest settings.

Although the Enduro Veloce is a premium machine, it isn’t exceptional up close. The cockpit isn’t completely clutter free under the yoke and the switchgear set-up feels a bit too plasticky in its application, both looking and feeling quite cheap. However, the paint finish looks really smart and as a whole, the componentry does look good.

And there’s also now a 50.1% ownership of MV Agusta by the Pierer Mobility Group, who own a whole host of brands including KTM, Husqvarna and GASGAS. Hopefully, this means a vast improvement to the availability and lead time on parts alongside dealer support, although this will only become known later down the line. MV have stated that their goal for 2024 is 12 dealers in the UK.

In terms of reliability, this is a new platform and a relatively new path for MV Agusta, however the Enduro Veloce does come with a four-year factory warranty.

There really is an adventure bike for everyone, and for every budget too. Although the Enduro Veloce sits in the sub-litre, 21" front wheel adventure category where engine capacity and wheel size are concerned, it’s in the very highest echelon of the class with its mammoth price tag (MV originally announced the price as £21,800 but have since dropped that to £20,000).

This is a machine built to be ridden on the road with occasional off-roading too, so to put that into perspective, one of the Enduro Veloce’s closest rivals is Ducati’s DesertX, which will set you back £14,995. KTM’s 890 Adventure starts at £12,699, while you can pick up a 1290 Super Adventure for £18,199, or even an Africa Twin from £13,199.

But that sort of misses the point of the MV, and why the price tag is so high. It’s built to be expensive, exclusive and special, and in that respect it does deliver something new to the sector. It’s also the most powerful of the bunch too.

MV certainly haven’t skimped where electronics are concerned. A six-axis IMU powers a host of riding aids, including eight level adjustable traction control (which can be tailored to the two homologated Bridgestone A41 and AX41 tyres), switchable cornering ABS, adjustable engine brake control, front lift control, cruise control, an up/down quickshifter and even launch control – yes, you read that right.

There are four rider modes on offer with Urban, Touring, Off-Road and Custom All-Terrain, with each allowing the rider to adjust modes on the fly. All of the information is fed through a chunky, 7” TFT dash, which is not only fairly simple to use, but easy to navigate too.

In terms of hardware, the Enduro Veloce comes with high-level Brembo Stylemas for stopping power, but it would’ve been nice to have seen some semi-active, or at least electronically adjustable suspension for the high asking price.

Of course, there’s a load of accessories on offer too, covering everything from performance to practicality. A few examples from the catalogue include an aftermarket Termignoni titanium exhaust, 39 and 32 litre rigid aluminium side cases, protective crash bars, and a reinforced aluminium skid plate.

For the first year, you’ll also get the Mobisat anti-theft system free of charge too.