MV Agusta Applies for Bankruptcy

[oldbike54]

Triumph had been, for twenty years, the pet project of a billionaire that continued to finance its losses.
The bike that made it profitable (a thing thathappened only few years ago) had not been the Speed Triple, The Street triple, or the Daytona. It had been the Bonneville.

 Bloor set Triumph on a realistic trajectory , willing to lose money for a while to build the brand . MV had the same opportunity .

 Dusty

[bpreynolds]

Bloor set Triumph on a realistic trajectory , willing to lose money for a while to build the brand . MV had the same opportunity .

 Dusty

 :1:
And doesn't MV's owner have some kind of Cagiva history too or am I thinking of someone else?

[oldbike54]

:1:
And doesn't MV's owner have some kind of Cagiva history too or am I thinking of someone else?

 The Cagiva group owned the modern iteration of MV Agusta . Or did in the beginning , the Castiglioni (sp) family controlled the company .

 Look fellas , the MV sport bikes are beautiful to behold , and the company should be applauded for their efforts , but in the 675 triple model range , Triumph builds a wonderful motorbike , and seem to hold the edge . The 675 Daytona is a gorgeous bike , and the Street Trip is amazing . Maybe MV will survive this and thrive , always room for another Italian thoroughbred 


 Dusty
 

[bigbikerrick]

I really want an MVA F4rr.  I'm 55 years old and well on my way to being fully crippled.  Told Lorraine about wanting to buy one and she looked at it and the specs.  She then turned to me and said "you buying that is like you sleeping with a 21 year old nympho. You think you can ride that but you'll just end up hurting yourself on it."  Sometime honesty sucks.   

You wife was alot more" politically correct " than mine, when I wanted a full on sport bike a few years back, my wife just shook her head, and told me I looked like a "Monkey f%$&*^g a football!"
either way, I must agree.....honesty sucks!
Rick.

[drums4money]

Watching this with some interest. . .
Corresponded with my dealer today who said they know as much as is appearing on the interwebs today.  They haven't heard the official company line yet from their MVUS Rep - so no word on if/when/how it would/could affect new delivery, parts, serviceability, etc, etc, etc...

We laughed at the joke similar to Guzzi - MV's been going out of business since 1945.

[weevee]

These bikes have been cheapened with each successive year, IMHO.  There's more chinese metalwork/componentry and poor welding on them now than you'd find on a Jinlun.  The triple has been plagued with fuelling/sprag-clutch/fuel-tank deformation & vibration-fatigue issues from the very first - as well as a multitude of other things - and owners now have another thing to worry about.  Check out this pic of the inlet cams on an 800 after only 3,500mls (..and three oil changes).  Having been shown this, the company have said it's aware of this issue and as yet it's nothing to worry about.    At what mileage should the worry start??

As a lifelong 'real MV' enthusiast it saddens me to see what Cagiva have done to the reputation of this once legendary marque.  The badge was without doubt sold to them too cheaply.

           

[lucky phil]

These bikes have been cheapened with each successive year, IMHO.  There's more chinese metalwork/componentry and poor welding on them now than you'd find on a Jinlun.  The triple has been plagued with fuelling/sprag-clutch/fuel-tank deformation & vibration-fatigue issues from the very first - as well as a multitude of other things - and owners now have another thing to worry about.  Check out this pic of the inlet cams on an 800 after only 3,500mls (..and three oil changes).  Having been shown this, the company have said it's aware of this issue and as yet it's nothing to worry about.    At what mileage should the worry start??

As a lifelong 'real MV' enthusiast it saddens me to see what Cagiva have done to the reputation of this once legendary marque.  The badge was without doubt sold to them too cheaply.

           

I've owned 3 Mvs, 2 750's and a 1000 and this cam issue has been around for 15years. But as the factory says its not an issue.
Ciao

[canuguzzi]

Same thing with early V4 Hondas. A lot of talk about cam wear but in reality not all that many actually failed. Some did and they made all the news. Most racked up big mile numbers with and without oil kits and it was never proved that oil kits solved anything.

[Dogwalker]

I've heard this win on Sunday sell on Monday thing a bit in my life, but I don't buy it. The vast majority of motorcyclists I know don't watch racing.

Ducati built it's success on being the sportiest brand on the market.
Triumph don't.
Ducati sold the Monster thanks to it's victories.
Triumph didn't

[Dogwalker]

Bloor set Triumph on a realistic trajectory , willing to lose money for a while to build the brand.

To loose money for 20 years is not a realistc industrial trajectory by any means. Is a pet project that would have last as long as Bloor's interest in owning a motorcycle company, and had been saved by having the right model at the right moment, that's more a matter of luck than other (there is not a formula to made the right model at the right moment, it could happen, like it could not).

With regard to Castiglioni, he had always been more interested in doing the bikes that he liked than to own a profitable company. This outcome has always been predictable.

[Kev m]

Ducati built it's success on being the sportiest brand on the market.
Triumph don't.
Ducati sold the Monster thanks to it's victories.
Triumph didn't

I don't think I can emphasize enough how few people watch motorcycle racing in the US. You have to go looking very hard to find it televised here.

Sure, some vague notion of race history plays a part in the brand image.

And I'm sure more Ducati owners do seek out and watch racing here then say Harley, BMW, or Guzzi.

But again, I'm telling you that. At least in the US, most owners of Monsters or the new Ducati Scramblers have probably never seen a motorcycle race.

[boatdetective]

I would have to second the comment about current fit and finish of MV. I saw them in my local dealer and was totally underwhelmed.  No mention of this in the online reviews, BTW. There are plenty of components that are mass producd and look it. In the old days, MV would've milled every little bit from aluminum, so that it looked like the whole bike was custom machined (essentially- exactly what it was). The current 675 range is far from that.   I'm still in the camp that says- if you took the badges off the bikes, you'd know tha tthe triumph Street triple is a much more developed machine.

[oldbike54]

To loose money for 20 years is not a realistc industrial trajectory by any means. Is a pet project that would have last as long as Bloor's interest in owning a motorcycle company, and had been saved by having the right model at the right moment, that's more a matter of luck than other (there is not a formula to made the right model at the right moment, it could happen, like it could not).

With regard to Castiglioni, he had always been more interested in doing the bikes that he liked than to own a profitable company. This outcome has always been predictable.

 They didn't lose money for twenty years , it was ten . In the world of mega million dollar industries ten years is completely realistic . In fact , Triumph has performed beyond expectation , while MV has become a ping pong ball , bought and sold repeatedly , even once basically given back to the Castiglioni family by HD , and thet still couldn't make it work . Sounds like a cash cow to me .

 Dusty

[rocker59]

The T-300 series bikes were good, but low volume.  They helped triumph get into the modern world.  My Sprint Executive was a fine sport-tourer.

The T-500 bikes sold much better, but were still a relatively low volume deal.  The 955 Daytona and Girlie Tiger were great bikes! 

What really opened things up for Triumph was the introduction of the New Bonneville in 2001.  Sales instantly doubled and money started flowing in.

The rest is history.

[oldbike54]

The T-300 series bikes were good, but low volume.  They helped triumph get into the modern world.  My Sprint Executive was a fine sport-tourer.

The T-500 bikes sold much better, but were still a relatively low volume deal.  The 955 Daytona and Girlie Tiger were great bikes! 

What really opened things up for Triumph was the introduction of the New Bonneville in 2001.  Sales instantly doubled and money started flowing in.

The rest is history.

 There may be a lesson hidden in this somewhere , what could it be ? 

  Dusty

[bpreynolds]

The 955 Daytona and Girlie Tiger were great bikes! 

The 900 and 955 triples have some real character.  The Street Triple I owned was a vastly superior bike in every way to this one, but the one area it couldn't remotely compete in was soul.  When this one's running and not suffering under my less than capable wrenching hands, I can't help but love the thing, '99 Thunderbird Sport.  It is overbuilt to a fault with many engineering conundrums but each time I think of giving up this little project, I'll do something right, it'll start running, and I'm smitten again.  It's stolen more hours and heartache from me than I can recount here.  Someday I'll update my thread on the bike with my timeline and that sorta thing.  Most recently finally got it running again and shot a couple short 15 second videos.  Of course, it's back on the lift now 


http://youtu.be/_S0HEJVAAzk
http://youtu.be/K0xUYZZdCjI

[rocker59]

'99 Thunderbird Sport.   

Yeah, the T-300 Thunderbirds were cool "almost right" retros.  I really liked the T-Bird Sport.  We had one as a demo, and sold a few.

We had an Adventurer that we put Super-III cams/pistons/exhaust on.  It would really run!

The Thunderbirds and Adventurers were pretty slow movers on the showroom, though.  Especially after the introduction of the T-500 Speed Triple.

[oldbike54]

 Bipper , that T bird is junk , isn't ever gonna run right no matter what , unfixable . When do you want me to haul it away ?

 Dusty

[bpreynolds]

Bipper , that T bird is junk , isn't ever gonna run right no matter what , unfixable . When do you want me to haul it away ?

 Dusty

Thanks for the kind offer, Dusty.  Gimme a few more months of frustration and perhaps I'll take you up on it but for now my hands not that cold nor dead; however, maybe I can find some other things around the house to sell? 

Yeah, the T-300 Thunderbirds were cool "almost right" retros.  I really liked the T-Bird Sport.  We had one as a demo, and sold a few.

We had an Adventurer that we put Super-III cams/pistons/exhaust on.  It would really run!

The Thunderbirds and Adventurers were pretty slow movers on the showroom, though.  Especially after the introduction of the T-500 Speed Triple.

That's kinda been part of mine here too.  I swapped out to the faster green Daytona/Speed cams, opened airbox and installed KN filter, opened exhaust, rejetted carbs.  Others on TRat board who successfully did this say they dyno about 90 at the rear with these changes, but no matter what you do to the thing it's never gonna be a racer even with its fully adjustable front and rear shocks.  More than anything it feels to me like a straight line rowdy muscle car than any kind of "Sport" as its moniker implies - but I actually like this fact better.  Now waiting on arrival of Daytona Ignitor which will raise the rev limit.  Tons upon tons of other things too.  Maybe/likely too much in fact.  I'll have to update that thread sometime soon.  If it ever gets running. 

[Guzzistajohn]

Hot news!
http://www.motorcycle.com/features/trump-ebr-agusta-motorcycle-company.html

[ITSec]

Hot news!
http://www.motorcycle.com/features/trump-ebr-agusta-motorcycle-company.html

Maybe a week ago....

[Guzzistajohn]

Maybe a week ago....

Ok so it's news to me OK? and funny