Motorcycle specifications MV-AgustaF4 1000 RR CorsaCorta 2012 High limit

a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

episode 7: Mastery of the Force

at the edge of the outer rim, there was a small blue planet under the dictatorship of perfect order. Ships sped at 40 parsecs/hour, motorcycles at 40 km/hour... Only a small elite remained on a few clandestine circuits, hiding from the eyes of the despotic emperor. Some tried to fight, others gave in, and one left in an escape pod, taking with her a few coins, a lot of passion and a new hope.

at the end of a journey through power and technology, it's time to discover this guest from another world: the MV-Agusta clan. Daughters of Italy, these motorcycles have always been on the bangs of the sportbike world, distinguished by sublime, timeless design and prices that are always a notch higher, often flirting with the exceptional. Here, the F4 establishes a supremacy. Aesthetics first. Quite simply, it's beautiful. With its taut, exciting silhouette, single-arm design and 4 flute exhausts, the F4 has been playing the same tune for 15 years and has never ceased to captivate us.
By becoming an RR, the melody has moved up an octave. It's no longer enough for it to be the most desirable; it also wants to be the most powerful, the most talked-about, and to be able to give a dose of dream back to a category that's been badly battered, yet is bursting with excellence. And then there's that ambiguous name: CORSA CORTA. Italian for "short race". In a nutshell, a new engine has been installed in this MV sports car. A boiler that, as you'll have gathered, benefits from a shorter stroke of the pistons in their cylinders. But to turn it into a super-powered engine that now exceeds 200 hp, Meccania Verghera didn't skimp on 4-cylinder transformations.

in 2010, the F4's block had already evolved quite a bit, spitting out more than 185 hp. The manufacturer wanted to offer more than 200 hp, and had already done so on the 1080CC, by increasing the displacement (and the price). But to be able to compete, going over a liter was out of the question. So, to find more power, the engine-makers changed the internal dimensions, various parts, and went in search of watts in the rpm range. This short stroke is 50.6 mm, compared with 56 previously. The bore has been enlarged from 76 to 79 mm. With these new values, the piston's linear stroke is now 22.9 m/s. This is not only a reasonable speed for mechanical reliability, but also lower than that of the standard F4 1000 engine (24.7). With its super-square sides, this is well in keeping with an engine speed now approaching 14,000 rpm. The F4 1000 RR spits out its 201 hp at 13,400 rpm, and pushes its red zone to 13,700 rpm.
Wider combustion chambers allow larger valves to be fitted. On the intake side, their diameters increase from 30 to 31.6 mm, and from 25 to 26 mm on the exhaust. If you're going to change valves, you might as well do it in titanium. With the new exhaust line, larger headers, 49 mm injection and variable intake cone height, the boiler breathes hard, very hard. To channel it, the ECU offers a choice of two maps and 8-position traction control. Still on display, the cassette-type gearbox is backed up by an anti-dribble clutch. In short, it smacks of Superbike.

big horsepower means big welding, and big heart. But an MV with two R's must be riveted to the floor. The base remains unchanged, with the RR taking over the F4 chassis... but optimizing it to perfection. The height of the rear axle and swingarm can already be modified via a set of calibrated parts. When it comes to ground linkage, the best don't think twice and go to Sweden. Under the chin, it shines, and it's Öhlins. A 43 mm NIX fork adjustable from all sides, with a special feature: compression is adjusted on the left fork and rebound on the right. This ensures greater precision when adjusting, as one does not influence the other. The rear shock absorber is a TTX36, adjustable for compression, rebound, preload and length to vary the machine's attitude. Braking? All radial, from the master cylinder to the calipers, Brembo and monobloc, as we can only imagine the best for this super F4. By the way, we're going to change the wheels and fit forged aluminum rims. That'll save 1 kilo and improve agility. But even with that, we'll still have to hold on to this RR CorsaCorta. With a nuclear reactor as its engine and a surgical yet rigid chassis, the F4 1000 demands to be taken care of, to be forced to stay on course. Quite the opposite of a Japanese machine that just goes along for the ride. On the other hand, when it comes to precision, it's like the whole machine: haute couture.

its suspensions are tools... Its engine is the most powerful... Its lines are sublime... When it arrives, the F4 1000 RR Corsa Corta is already capable of knocking the socks off the formidable ZX-10R, S 1000 RR and RSV4. Demanding and uncomfortable, it exudes competition while leaning towards the objet d'art. It's more at home on a racetrack or in a living room than on the open road. As she strolls along, she thinks back to the stifling life of a sports car. She observes and exclaims: "Repression, radars, restrictions, plates, visibility, racketeering... Oh my! But this is worse than the totalitarian regime from which I came at the beginning of this article!?!!''
Then she looks at the track, the vibrators, the lap times, and thinks: ''Here, I'm free''.

M.B - Manufacturer's photos