Bellissimo

Italian motorcycle, in tricolore livery. It can’t get any better

- Rishabh Bhaskar

It’s arresting. If I had to describe the reflex upon catching the first glimpse of the MV Agusta F3 800 RC, that’d be it. The next few moments were spent ogling at the sheer beauty of this rare, Italian supersport. I probably would’ve gotten arrested for it. But, what do I do?

While your mind is registering the way it looks, your heart rate would put a cardiogram out of commission. And it wasn’t only me. Anis, our chief photographer, has shot over a dozen expensive and exotic motorcycles. To see him go weak in the knees is a good gauge about how gorgeous this motorcycle really is.

After clicking a million photos and few deep breaths later, I swing my leg over the seat, grab the handlebar and bring this exotic to life. My eyes are twinkling with excitement and the radiant smile on my boy-in-a-candy-store face could possibly brighten up the overcast day. And I haven’t even selected first gear!

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what the MV Agusta F3 800 RC does to your senses, even without you realising it. What you do realise, though, is that this machine is ultra rare. Only 400 will be ever made and only six motorcycles are allocated for our country. And incidentally, we are aboard bike number 46 of 400!

The RC in the model name stands for Reparto Corse (Man! These Italians can make anything sound good!) so, in essence, this is the go-faster version of the standard MV Agusta F3 800. The bits that set the RC model apart include the MV Agusta SBK team livery, lighter wheels, billet aluminium levers, and footpegs. The price also includes the race kit which explains the bespoke, SC Project exhaust and the special ECU, tuned to extract the most performance. Power has gone up to 153PS and the dry weight sits at 165kg only. I’ll leave you to do the power to weight ratio math.