MV Agusta is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer based in Varese, Lombardy, with a story that stretches from aircraft to Grand Prix dominance and then through a complete production shutdown. The motorcycle business was established in 1945 from the Agusta family’s aviation enterprise, production stopped in 1977, and the name only returned to the road in the 1990s under Cagiva ownership with the Massimo Tamburini-designed F4.
Ownership is another part of the story that needs a date attached to it. As verified on 15 September 2026, MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. is owned by Art of Mobility S.A., a company controlled by the Sardarov family, and Luca Martin is chief executive. KTM is no longer an owner; MV Agusta announced Art of Mobility’s return to 100% ownership on 9 July 2025.
Five motorcycles provide useful routes into that story: the first-generation F4 750, the 2026 Brutale 800, the F3 RR, the Superveloce 1000 Serie Oro and the original 2020 Rush 1000. They are a selected group, not MV Agusta’s complete past or present range.
MV Agusta grew out of an aviation business established decades before the motorcycle company.
Giovanni Agusta founded an aeronautics company in Palermo in 1907 and later moved its activities north to Cascina Costa. He died in 1927 and the family carried the business on. When the Second World War ended, aircraft production could not immediately resume, so the Agustas turned instead to motorcycles.
On 19 January 1945, at Cascina Costa di Samarate near what is now Milan Malpensa Airport, Società Anonima Meccanica Verghera was established. Domenico Agusta drove much of what followed.
MV Agusta’s own historical material uses both “Meccanica Verghera” and “Meccaniche Verghera” when explaining the initials MV. The wording varies, but it refers to the same motorcycle story.
The first motorcycle carrying the MV Agusta name appeared in autumn 1945. Known as the MV 98, it was a lightweight machine conceived for post-war transport—a very different proposition from the multi-cylinder performance motorcycles that later made the name internationally recognisable.
Racing entered the story almost immediately. MV Agusta records Franco Bertoni riding the MV 98 to the company’s first racing victory at Carate Brianza in 1947.
Domenico Agusta kept investing in riders, engineers and competition. Racing became central to MV Agusta’s reputation and gave the young motorcycle business an identity distinct from the family’s aviation work.
MV Agusta’s defining competition record was created in the FIM Grand Prix World Championship. The manufacturer counts 75 world championships: 38 riders’ titles and 37 manufacturers’ titles. FIM statistics independently record MV Agusta with 37 manufacturers’ championships and 275 Grand Prix victories.
That figure of 75 is the combined total of the two championship classifications. It describes MV Agusta’s classic Grand Prix record rather than combining it with the manufacturer’s later World Superbike or World Supersport activity.
Carlo Ubbiali, John Surtees, Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini all raced for the manufacturer. Agostini won 13 of his 15 world championships with MV Agusta.
The company accumulated its 275 Grand Prix victories between 1952 and 1976. Agostini delivered MV Agusta’s final Grand Prix victory at the Nürburgring in the West German 500 cc Grand Prix in August 1976, before the manufacturer withdrew from Grand Prix competition at the end of that season.
That record still matters to the road-bike story. It explains why racing colours, multi-cylinder engines and famous rider associations recur throughout MV Agusta’s identity without suggesting that a modern road motorcycle inherits Grand Prix performance simply by carrying the same badge.
The motorcycle business did not run continuously from 1945 to the present. After Domenico Agusta’s death, a controlling interest in the family business was sold to the Italian state-owned EFIM group in 1973. EFIM ended motorcycle production in 1977.
The MV Agusta name then spent years away from motorcycle production.
In 1992, Claudio Castiglioni’s Cagiva acquired the dormant trademark. Cagiva operated from Schiranna on Lake Varese and provided the industrial base for the marque’s return.
Massimo Tamburini, then leading the Cagiva Research Center, designed the motorcycle that would make much of that return visible.
The F4 was unveiled at the 1997 Milan Show and reached the international motorcycle press in production Serie Oro form in 1999. Its compact bodywork, single-sided swingarm and four exhaust outlets beneath the seat gave the revived MV Agusta an immediately recognisable road-bike identity.
After two decades without MV Agusta motorcycle production, the first-generation F4 750 is the natural place to continue into the motorcycle itself; the separate F4 revival feature carries the deeper story of how the dormant name became a production superbike again.
MV Agusta’s modern ownership has changed several times.
Harley-Davidson acquired MV Agusta in 2008 and sold it back to Claudio Castiglioni in 2010. Mercedes-AMG became a 25% shareholder in 2014. In 2017, Mercedes-AMG sold that stake to ComSar Invest, headed by Timur Sardarov.
ComSar progressively increased its position, with the Sardarov family becoming MV Agusta’s sole shareholder in 2019.
KTM AG, then part of PIERER Mobility, acquired 25.1% of MV Agusta in November 2022 and increased its holding to 50.1% in March 2024.
During KTM’s financial restructuring, the parties agreed in January 2025 that Art of Mobility S.A. would regain full control. MV Agusta identifies Art of Mobility as a company controlled by the Sardarov family.
MV Agusta announced completion of the transaction on 9 July 2025, returning 100% ownership to Art of Mobility and appointing Luca Martin as chief executive. Current 2026 corporate material continues to identify Martin as CEO.
As verified on 15 September 2026, MV Agusta is owned by Art of Mobility, not KTM.
MV Agusta Motor S.p.A. lists its factory at Via Giovanni Macchi 144, 21100 Varese, Italy. The modern motorcycle operation is associated with Schiranna, on the shore of Lake Varese.
Cascina Costa di Samarate belongs to an earlier part of the story. It was central to the Agusta aviation business and to the establishment of the motorcycle company in 1945. Schiranna is associated with the modern revival and today’s motorcycle operation.
The design operation has also been consolidated there. MV Agusta announced in 2025 that Centro Stile was moving to the Schiranna factory, and later that year said the new design centre was fully operational.
That current Centro Stile is distinct from the Cagiva Research Center associated with Tamburini and the development of the F4.
MV Agusta remains a relatively small-volume motorcycle manufacturer.
In January 2025, the company reported that it had sold 4,000 motorcycles during 2024, up 116% from 2023. At the same point it reported 219 active sales points, including 41 service points, together with 20 non-European importers.
Those are MV Agusta’s own figures for that reporting period rather than a current 2026 dealer count or independently audited market measure. Dealer and service networks can change, but the figures provide useful context for the scale of the manufacturer.
No single engine layout defines every MV Agusta. Its modern motorcycles have used both three-cylinder and four-cylinder platforms across supersport, superbike, naked and touring roles.
Some of the visual details have much older roots. MV Agusta says red represents Italian motorsport, while silver refers to the family’s aviation background and the unpainted aluminium used on aircraft where paint added unnecessary weight.
Tamburini’s F4 established much of the revived manufacturer’s modern visual language. The Brutale took that performance identity in a naked direction, while later three-cylinder motorcycles created another branch around the F3 and Brutale 800.
MV Agusta describes the F3 family’s counter-rotating crankshaft as an engineering feature intended to reduce the gyroscopic influence of the rotating masses during changes of direction. That intended effect is a manufacturer claim rather than an independent road-test finding.
Design has also carried MV Agusta into a different cultural setting. Daniel Arsham chose the Superveloce for six works he calls “modern relics”, and in 2024 the Superveloce Arsham appeared in his Arsham 3024 exhibition during the Venice Biennale. Nicolas Winding Refn’s short film about the Serie Oro, Beauty Is Not A Sin, was selected for the Venice Film Festival.
The three-cylinder 2026 Brutale 800 and F3 RR represent the 798 cc route.
The four-cylinder first-generation F4 750, Superveloce 1000 Serie Oro and original Rush 1000 show three very different uses—and periods—of MV Agusta four-cylinder engineering.
Cylinder count alone does not make the motorcycles equivalent. Tune, gearing, chassis, electronics and bodywork differ substantially between models. The separate MV Agusta triples-and-fours feature compares those relationships without turning the Brand overview into four specification tables.
MV Agusta marked its 80th anniversary with the 2025 Ottantesimo Collection. The manufacturer presented six commemorative motorcycles, each limited to 500 numbered examples, and commissioned Centro Stile to reinterpret a historic MV Agusta logo for the collection.
The three-cylinder group comprised the Brutale RR Ottantesimo, Dragster RR Ottantesimo, F3 RR Ottantesimo and Superveloce S Ottantesimo. The four-cylinder group comprised the Brutale 1000 Ottantesimo and Brutale 1000 RR Ottantesimo.
The collection also illustrates why exact model names matter. The 2026 Brutale 800 covered by Superbike Vault is the 798 cc standard motorcycle; the 801 cc Brutale RR Ottantesimo and 931 cc Brutale Serie Oro are different motorcycles with different specifications.
The first-generation F4 750 is the historical anchor: the superbike around which MV Agusta’s modern revival became visible.
The 2026 Brutale 800 is a 798 cc three-cylinder naked motorcycle. It is distinct from the 801 cc Brutale RR Ottantesimo, the 931 cc Brutale Serie Oro and the four-cylinder Brutale 1000 family.
The 2026 F3 RR is a 798 cc three-cylinder supersport. MV Agusta also lists other F3 versions, including the F3 R and limited F3 Competizione, so the exact suffix matters when specifications are compared.
The Superveloce 1000 Serie Oro takes another route. It is a 998 cc four-cylinder limited-production motorcycle built as a series of 500 numbered examples, with its own carbon-fibre bodywork, electronics package and Dedicated Kit.
The original Rush 1000 covered here is the 2020 launch-series 998 cc four-cylinder motorcycle. MV Agusta’s current UK line-up instead presents the Mamba Limited Edition and Titanio under the Rush family, while later Rush product material carries specifications that do not belong automatically to the original 2020 motorcycle. Current range presence therefore does not establish stock, orderability or continuing production of that original configuration.
When checked on 15 September 2026, MV Agusta’s wider UK line-up extended across Rush, Brutale, Dragster, Turismo Veloce, F3, Superveloce and Enduro Veloce families. The five motorcycles highlighted here are selected routes into that much broader range, not a complete catalogue.
There is not enough robust, model-controlled evidence to give every MV Agusta motorcycle a single reliability verdict. Different generations use different engines, electronics and components, while condition, maintenance, recall work and dealer support can materially change the ownership experience.
MV Agusta’s current warranty information contains conflicting wording. The warranty page describes a “standard” five-year manufacturer warranty, but the same page limits five-year cover to the Ottantesimo Collection, F3 Competizione, Enduro Veloce and LXP Orioli and says that for all other models the standard factory warranty remains four years. MV Agusta’s 2025 warranty announcement likewise introduced five-year cover for named motorcycles and collections rather than establishing one universal term for every model.
Because the manufacturer’s own wording conflicts, there is no safe universal MV Agusta warranty length to apply across the range. Before purchase, confirm the exact motorcycle, market, purchase date, duration, exclusions, servicing requirements and transfer conditions with MV Agusta or an authorised dealer.
Parts support has also changed. In March 2026, MV Agusta announced that its entire spare-parts warehouse and logistics operation had transitioned to DHL Supply Chain at the end of 2025, with DHL Express continuing to handle distribution.
That establishes the logistics change. It does not prove that every component is immediately available or that every previous parts-supply problem has disappeared.
For an individual motorcycle, check its exact model and year, service and recall history, current warranty position, the nearest authorised workshop and the availability of any parts already known to be required. For current UK support, use MV Agusta’s dealer finder and confirm that the workshop services the motorcycle you are considering.
If the modern comeback is what interests you, start with the first-generation F4 750. The F4 revival story then goes deeper into how that motorcycle turned the revived name back into a production marque.
For the three-cylinder side, the Brutale 800 and F3 RR show how closely related engine architecture can serve very different naked and supersport motorcycles.
The Superveloce 1000 Serie Oro and original Rush 1000 take the four-cylinder route in almost opposite directions: one a fully faired numbered edition, the other a 2020 naked launch-series motorcycle.
The MV Agusta triples-and-fours feature brings those four modern bikes together. When you need the exact specification, though, stay with the individual model page: that’s where the configuration and evidence boundaries remain separate.
Explore 5 models from MV Agusta
Introduced 2012The 2026 MV Agusta Brutale 800 is the 798 cc three-cylinder side of MV Agusta’s naked-bike range. The numbers are serious enough on their own: 83 kW (113 hp) at 11,000 rpm at the crankshaft, 85 Nm at 7,500 rpm and a cassette-style six-speed constant-mesh gearbox.
Introduced 2021The 2026 MV Agusta F3 RR puts 108 kW (147 hp) at 13,000 rpm and 88 Nm at 10,100 rpm into a 798 cc three-cylinder supersport. That engine sits with a cassette-style six-speed gearbox, Marzocchi and Sachs suspension, Brembo Stylema front callipers and a winged aerodynamic body package in the MY26 specification.
Introduced 1997The first-generation MV Agusta F4 is the motorcycle that put the MV Agusta name back into production at the end of the 1990s. It was a 750 cc four-cylinder superbike, shown publicly in 1997, with the first production Serie Oro machines following in 1999 before the standard F4 750 S.
Introduced 2020The original MV Agusta Rush 1000 is a 998 cc four-cylinder naked bike first shown in 2019 and put into production in 2020. MV Agusta described a 300-unit run in May 2020, with production due to begin in June and the first bikes leaving Varese by the end of that month.
Introduced 2024Five hundred numbered motorcycles, 208 hp and a 998 cc four-cylinder engine tell you straight away what kind of project the MV Agusta Superveloce 1000 Serie Oro is. MV Agusta rates the inline-four at 153 kW (208 hp) at 13,000 rpm at the crankshaft and 116.5 Nm at 11,000 rpm.
Introduced 2012The 2026 MV Agusta Brutale 800 is the 798 cc three-cylinder side of MV Agusta’s naked-bike range. The numbers are serious enough on their own: 83 kW (113 hp) at 11,000 rpm at the crankshaft, 85 Nm at 7,500 rpm and a cassette-style six-speed constant-mesh gearbox.
Introduced 2021The 2026 MV Agusta F3 RR puts 108 kW (147 hp) at 13,000 rpm and 88 Nm at 10,100 rpm into a 798 cc three-cylinder supersport. That engine sits with a cassette-style six-speed gearbox, Marzocchi and Sachs suspension, Brembo Stylema front callipers and a winged aerodynamic body package in the MY26 specification.
Introduced 1997The first-generation MV Agusta F4 is the motorcycle that put the MV Agusta name back into production at the end of the 1990s. It was a 750 cc four-cylinder superbike, shown publicly in 1997, with the first production Serie Oro machines following in 1999 before the standard F4 750 S.
Introduced 2020The original MV Agusta Rush 1000 is a 998 cc four-cylinder naked bike first shown in 2019 and put into production in 2020. MV Agusta described a 300-unit run in May 2020, with production due to begin in June and the first bikes leaving Varese by the end of that month.
Introduced 2024Five hundred numbered motorcycles, 208 hp and a 998 cc four-cylinder engine tell you straight away what kind of project the MV Agusta Superveloce 1000 Serie Oro is. MV Agusta rates the inline-four at 153 kW (208 hp) at 13,000 rpm at the crankshaft and 116.5 Nm at 11,000 rpm.
Articles about MV Agusta motorcycles
Ducati, MV Agusta and Aprilia each shaped the Italian superbike story differently. This comparison explains their separate routes through superbikes, supporting performance models, engines and reader pathways without declaring a winner.
The MV Agusta F4 is not one flat model. This guide explains the main F4 family routes, from early 750 orientation to named editions and later R, RR and RC boundaries.
How the first-generation MV Agusta F4 750 brought a dormant racing name back to production — and why it mattered even without winning every test.
Four MV Agustas, two engine families: how the F3 RR, Brutale 800, Superveloce 1000 Serie Oro and original Rush differ in tune, gearing and purpose.
Ducati, MV Agusta and Aprilia each shaped the Italian superbike story differently. This comparison explains their separate routes through superbikes, supporting performance models, engines and reader pathways without declaring a winner.
The MV Agusta F4 is not one flat model. This guide explains the main F4 family routes, from early 750 orientation to named editions and later R, RR and RC boundaries.
How the first-generation MV Agusta F4 750 brought a dormant racing name back to production — and why it mattered even without winning every test.
Four MV Agustas, two engine families: how the F3 RR, Brutale 800, Superveloce 1000 Serie Oro and original Rush differ in tune, gearing and purpose.
