MV Agusta is still plugging away in the sport tourer segment, thankfully. And it just updated it’s touring bike, the Turismo Veloce, for the 2021 model year.
Yeah, there are still a handful of sport touring bikes around, but middleweight tourers like the Turismo have been dying off for some time. So, it’s good to see more of these bikes, which trade outright displacement and power for ease-of-use and maneuverability.
Middleweight tourers are just as happy running around town as they are on the interstate. And, of course, because it’s an MV Agusta, the Turismo Veloce will look good anywhere you ride it. These are truly stunning machines:
The update to the Turismo was expected, because MV Agusta has rolled out new versions of its other bikes, among them the Superveloce and Brutale. All of these updated bikes come with Euro 5 compliant power plants.
The four new Turismo trims keep the same engine as the outgoing model, but it’s been retuned and reworked to meet the stricter emissions requirements. That means a more efficient engine—the new Turismo gets about 43 miles per gallon. That’s not bad for a fast bike that weighs 421 pounds.
The Turismo has a three cylinder 800cc engine that makes 110 horsepower and 59 lb-ft of torque. I still find it baffling that we call 100+ horses middleweight. I have to think that mindset is at least partially to blame for the loss of bikes like the BMW F800GT or Aprilia Mana 850 GT.There’s an Interceptor-sized hole in Honda’s lineup, too. That’s why I’m happy to see this new Turismo Veloce.
The many updates to the Turismo Veloce may look small when seen discretely, but when you add them up they make for a significantly revised machine. MV Agusta’s main focus was to increase riding comfort and livability.
To that end, you get a lower, more pliant seat. MV says it shaved 25mm, or nearly one inch, from the saddle height. You get a wider, taller windscreen. And a 5.5″ TFT color screen that can connect to a smartphone and interface with an updated MV Agusta app. The bike even has a GPS device integrated into its new electronics that will locate it in case of theft and show its location in-app.
And the bike keeps all of the goodies from the outgoing model: ABS, traction control, heated grips, Sachs suspension with preload adjustment and a slipper clutch on top of its fancy SCS clutch, which we’ve seen on many other MV Agustas.
The SCS is still optional and is available on the two upper-range trims, the Lusso SCS and RC SCS. This feature stands for Smart Clutch System and even though it’s not quite an automatic transmission, it does make the clutch mostly unnecessary while riding.
With the system, riders need make use of the clutch lever only to start the bike and to put it in neutral. All shifting can be done without the clutch lever, with the system using a sophisticated suite of electronics to measure throttle input, engine speed, and the ABS sensors to seamlessly downshift or upshift using only the gear selector. MV Agusta says that lets riders focus on the ride and the road instead of the bike’s operation.
This new Turismo Veloce does seem like an incredible sport tourer—the complete package–but it doesn’t come cheap. Pricing in the U.S. is not official yet, but the bike starts at €15,400 EUR or nearly $18,500 USD overseas.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
