The name Agusta first rose to
prominence in the early twentieth century. It belonged to a pioneer of the
emerging Italian aeronautics industry, Giovanni Agusta. Born in Sicily, he
later moved to Lombardy and founded his company in 1907. The company was
established at Cascina Costa, in the town of Samarate (Italy). Production of
the Agusta aircraft soared during the First World War.
However, when he died in 1927, the
company passed into the hands of his widow, Giuseppina and son Domenico. They
decided to shift the production from aircraft to motorcycles, in response to
Italy’s growing demand for individual motorized transport. As a result, the
first thing they came up with was a motorcycle engine. It was a two-stroke
engine with 98cc displacement, inexpensive to produce and run.
Development of the engine was
interrupted by the Second World War. By the end of the war, in 1945, Domenico
Agusta had established ‘Meccanica Verghera’, to complete his motorcycle
project. This new company gave birth to the legendary Italian brand, known
today as MV Agusta. In the autumn of 1945, the first MV Agusta bike model was
presented to the public. To be christened as ‘Vespa 98’, a registration error
resulted in it being referred to as simply the ‘98’. It had been made available
in Touring and Economical versions. In the wake of its early racing success,
the 98 Sport was built. It differed from the earlier model on account of its
telescopic forks, a new 5cm shorter frame, and sportier handling. Changes to
the engine increased its power to almost 5hp, a record time then, for an engine
of this size.
During the 1950s, MV Agusta became a
racing legend, thanks to its outstanding progress in performance and
technology. Moreover, racing generated off-shoots such as the four-cylinder,
four-stroke 500 Turismo, and the sporty 125 Motore Lungo. While the latter became
the most popular MV Agusta sports bike, the former became costly and never got
past prototyping. The year 1953 was something of an industrial milestone, with
MV Agusta producing 20,000 bikes for the first time. That year was the time of
developing its comprehensive range and the introduction of the unique 125
Pullman model. Moreover, the first MV Agusta plant licensed to produce
motorbikes for export was opened in Spain.
MV Agusta announced its intention to
enter the Indian two-wheeler industry in 2015. It chose Kinetic as its sole
importer, distributor, and retailer for India. Both the brands had been associated
since Kinetic designed and manufactured a 125cc engine for MV Agusta’s sister
brand, Cagiva. Kinetic also designed and manufactured the aluminium frame for
Cagiva’s Mito 125.
In May 2016, MV Agusta, in
collaboration with the Kinetic Group, officially made its way into India as
Motoroyale. The first Motoroyale showroom opened in Pune, Maharashtra, witnessing
the launch of five of its products. They were christened the F4, the F4 RR, the
F3 800, the Brutale 1090, and the Brutale 1090 RR. This was followed by the
second and third dealerships which came up in Ahmedabad and Bengaluru,
respectively. Among the offerings, the F3 800 was locally assembled as a
Semi-Knocked-Down unit (SKD) at the bike maker’s Ahmednagar facility. The
bigger, four-cylinder engine models – the F4, the F4 RR, the Brutale 1090, and
the 1090 RR came as CBUs.
The
range of MV Agusta bikes, ever sold in India, consists of the Brutale 800, the Brutale
1090, the Brutale 1090 RR, the F3 800, the F4, the F4 RR, and the F4 RC, among
others.
