MV-AGUSTA STRADALE 800 (2015 - on) Review

MV Agusta’s first ‘touring’ bike is no conventional tourer. Instead it’s effectively a Stradale supermoto with screen and panniers with its closest rival being Ducati’s Hyperstrada. That said, it’s brisk, well-equipped, involving and fun – but it’s more of a day trip bike than a serious touring machine.

MV have taken their supermoto and added a weekend’s-worth of comfort and practicality. For a tad more stability, the wheelbase is lengthened by 46mm courtesy of a new frame with a slightly kicked out (by all of 1º) headstock and a longer, single-sided swingarm. Even so, the result is still like holding the front spindle between your fists; the brakes digging in with crisp power. I don’t think I’ve ever ridden so aggressively with panniers in my life. This is still a runty, aggressive funster of a bike, not a relaxed one.

Familiar 800 triple is currently the most refined and potent in MV’s range. It’s similar to Triumph’s mid-range triple but meaner and mkore aggressive. The Stradale version has three standard riding modes plus a customisable option, switchable TCS and ABS, a quickshifter and, uniquely in this class, a ‘blipper’ downshifter, too. All of which, allied to a fairly fierce and fruity 115bhp triple and in a package that, whatever the mods, is still so stumpy and sharp it’s like peering over a cliff edge, adds up to a bike that, at first, can be a little intimidating. You get used to it tho’. The fuelling is good, the modes and electronics effective. Never anything else than a fire-breathing supermoto, tho’.

MV quality (look at that components list above) is, as usual, second to none. MV want it that way, after all. Reliability, though, is a little harder to guarantee. We’ve heard of no particular faults with the 800 and otherwise the Stradakle is so new it’s impossible to judge.

MVs are, and always have been, premium products for a select few. The Stradale is no different. Yes, £11,599 does sound steeop for an 800 triple, espeially when Triumph’s electronics laden new Tiger 800 starts at nearly £2K less, but on the whole you do get what you pay for, it is fabulously equipped and it does deliver an experience like virtually no other.

There’s a new, slightly bigger tank, a seat redesigned for two, a touring, adjustable (MV’s first) screen, an all-new LCD dash (displaying far more information than before, including MV’s first fuel gauge) and last, but by no means least; there’s those classy panniers with (patented) built-in lights.What’s more, like virtually all MVs the Stradale is also dripping with exotic componentry and sophistication: Brembo brakes, multi-adjustable suspension, a single-sided swinger not to mention sophisticated electronics.