Engine and frame are pure F4
MV Agusta recently teased the existence of a new Zagato-styled bike to be revealed on September 4 and now a new video reveals it will be a restyled F4.
Although the original teaser led to speculation in some quarters that the Zagato-styled machine might be something radical like an electric bike, in fact it’s just a reskinned version of an existing machine.
The new video clearly gives glimpses of a stock F4 engine and unchanged sections of F4 chassis but the styling will be something quite different.
That’s the headlight
Up front there’s a single, circular, LED headlight flanked by twin air intakes. A separate screen sits on stilts above that nose. In side-on silhouette form there are hints of Suzuki Katana or even Bimota Mantra to the shape.
Unlike either of those bikes, the MV will have full-height side panels hiding the radiator and front of the engine, running into a belly pan that contains the exhausts. Only the tips of the exhausts will be visible, existing low down at the front edge of the rear wheel.
Tail lights integrated into the seat
Like the original Ducati Monster, the Zagato’s rear end is entirely made up of the seat. There’s no bodywork at the back at all. In fact, the MV takes it a step further, integrating the tail lights and indicators into the seat itself, tucking them into holes in the red, leather-effect material it’s made of.
There are no mirrors, no number plate hanger and no attempt to make the bike comply with road legislation, suggesting this will be a concept rather than a full production bike. To be road legal, the bodywork would have to extend beyond the back of the rear tyre. That could be achieved with a swingarm-mounted licence plate hanger like the one on the MV Dragster. There would also have to be mirrors, and the rear light and indicators would probably have to be moved to make them easier to see from the side.
Silhouette is like Katana or Bimota Mantra
More importantly, to launch a new four-cylinder model using the F4 as a basis, MV will have to make it Euro 4 emissions compliant. That could be a significant job. MV is believed to be working on a new four-cylinder machine that will comply, but it may not be ready in time for the start of 2017 when the new legislation comes into force. That would leave the firm relying on ‘end-of-series’ derogation rules to allow it to keep selling the old, Euro 3-spec four-cylinder machines for up to another two years, albeit in limited numbers.
