2021 MV Agusta F3 Rosso First Look

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Could it be any more Italian? The new F3 comes in one color: red. (Bruno dePrato/)

Maybe you buy a Yamaha or a Honda or a Suzuki purely for the performance they offer, but nobody buys a new MV Agusta without being immersed in the company’s heritage. And of course, that’s true for the current MV Agusta F3 Rosso. MV’s original F3 was the product of an Italian dream duo: Maestro Massimo Tamburini and Claudio Castiglioni. Castiglioni wanted an entry model to support MV’s mighty F4. The new machine had to be sensibly priced, but still be worthy of the Agusta tank badge. Massimo proposed a middleweight supersport powered by a three-cylinder engine; MV, after all, has produced some legendary triples, notably its 350-500 GP racers, the most successful racing bikes to come from the Cascina Costa engineering department.

MV Agusta F3 History

Castiglioni immediately embraced the concept.The basic parameters were that engine size must meet the new Supersport rules, so displacement would come in at 675cc. Early on they decided that the engine would feature a counter-rotating crankshaft to mitigate the gyro effect on the bike’s handling.

Castiglioni entrusted the design of the original F4′s 750cc engine to Ferrari Engineering, and was disappointed with the result. It grew to 1,000cc and then to 1,100cc, but never delivered on its promised power; even worse, it didn’t deliver the required reliability. So when it came time for the F3, Claudio put former Cagiva Racing Department technical director Ezio Mascheroni in command. While Mascheroni is no certified engineer, his experience and competence are undeniable, and he got to work. Tamburini supervised the whole affair, constantly checking that the engine would be the most compact and lightest in the class.

There’s just something about a triple, and the new F3 Rosso’s exhaust lets you know that in an unmistakable way. (MV Agusta/)

This required expensive solutions. Consequently, when this new “entry-level” model was introduced in 2012, it was also pricey. On the plus side, the three-cylinder (79mm by 45.9mm bore and stroke) produced substantial power (126 hp at 14,400 rpm) and was very reliable, so much so that an 800cc edition (stroked to 54.3mm) was offered the following year, quickly becoming the better selling of the two thanks to its bump in power (148 hp at 13,000 rpm) and outstanding torque curve. As with the F4, the F3 also spawned a naked Brutale model.

As the public lost interest in superbikes and supersports, and because MV’s racing budget also declined, the F3 675 never brought home the expected racetrack success. Yet CPE Brian Gillen kept honing it, eventually achieving Euro 5 compliance at the cost of only a single horsepower, and actually increasing torque in the process (to 65 pound-feet at 10,000 rpm).

Thus, while MV Agusta no longer offers the F4, the F3 800 is still with us. And now we have the F3 Rosso, a new way to make these bikes both more competitive price-wise and more attractive overall. Yes, they are more essential, but all that really counts is they’ve taken no shortcuts in quality and potential.

2021 MV Agusta F3 Rosso Engine

The new F3 Rosso is powered by the same, fully updated edition of the MV Agusta 800cc inline-triple used in the magical Superveloce 800. While tuning for Euro 5 compliance, the MV Agusta technical team went through the whole project, paying special attention to frictional losses and improving combustion.

The lines of an Italian supermodel—nobody does motorcycle bodywork like the land of Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, and Claudia Cardinale. (MV Agusta/)

Sintered-metal valve guides replace the standard items, cutting friction. The same goes for the new diamond-like-coating-treated cam followers, while the latest generation of low-friction plain bearings take care of the crank assembly. The fuel system received more advanced injectors which produce 4 bar pressure (about 58 psi), 0.5 bar higher than the previous system, while delivering better fuel atomization. The revised lubrication system uses less oil, reducing drag from internal splashing. In addition, a more efficient oil pump and a dual-flow oil radiator lower lubricant temperature by a solid 5 percent.

On top of this refinement of engine internals, a new exhaust system features a more potent catalytic converter with no extra backpressure losses. A fully integrated ignition-injection system operates with six injectors, two for each 50mm throttle body. An improved Eldon Nemo ECU is also fully integrated with the cat, and the electronically managed gearbox is more precise and now offers rapid upshifting and downshifting thanks to a new sensor.

The F3 Rosso’s single-sided swingarm is another feature that makes this bike stand out. (MV Agusta/)

Chassis Details of the F3 Rosso

The F3 Rosso’s chassis also sees big improvements, primarily in the frame’s rear section. Here, stronger aluminum plates clamp the rear of the engine and rigidly locate the single-sided swingarm’s spindle. The F3 chassis is beautifully compact, allowing a 54.3-inch wheelbase. The steering geometry appears inspired by today’s MotoGP bikes, with the steering axis set at 23.5 degrees to produce 99mm of trail, with the 30mm fork offset and the customary 120/70-17 front tire.

Front suspension is a Marzocchi 43mm upside-down fork, while the rear single-sided swingarm teams with a Sachs shock absorber. Both units are fully adjustable for spring preload, compression, and rebound damping. The brakes are top-notch, with twin 320mm rotors in front gripped by radial-mount four-piston Brembo calipers; a 220mm rotor with a two-piston caliper handles the rear. A Continental MK 100 ABS system with corner braking and rear-wheel lift mitigation modulates it all.

Modern technology meets tradition in the F3 Rosso’s instrumentation package. Ditto for the engine management system. (MV Agusta/)

The Continental ABS teams up with a new six-axis e-Novia inertial platform to provide a suite of other functions, including traction control, launch control, cruise control, and front-wheel lift control. A 5.5-inch TFT display offers a clear view of all instrumentation, plus navigation maps. It also acts as a smartphone connectivity interface and pairs with the MV Ride app, which also lets you modify settings.

The F3 Rosso will be priced $17,200, making it a relatively accessible Italian purebred, especially in its classic red-on-red livery. There are rumors that a deluxe edition will appear later, but the Rosso edition is pretty attractive as-is.

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