That's not to say it's immune from criticism.
It's not the fastest thing out there, with only
the peerless aerodynamics permitting 174mph from
118bhp. Nor does it turn fast, strange given the
diminutive stature. So what did QB Carbon make
it for ?
Art, that's what. The MV F4 is my personal favourite
production bike and many previous attempts to improve
its aesthetics have exited stage left peeling scrambled
chicken puddings from their physiognomy. QB played
slightly safe by using the factory race colours
as a base but, nevertheless, this is a bike that
makes people stop and stare, for hours.
All of which meant that it had even more to live
up to once the poetic magnesium wheels were set
in motion on our Silverstone track day. It starts
on the button and idles as only a radial-valued
MV can. Nome more evocative, it makes you blip
the already warm engine just to hear it echo in
the garage. Select first by raising the lever -
it's a race pattern shifter - and ease out of the
surprisingly light hydraulic Magura clutch lever.
Rolling down pit-lane all eyes are on it. In my
spangly new Teknics that match the bike perfectly,
I'm more than happy to pretend it's mine.
The first two laps are somewhat tentative given
the cold and shagged Dunlop D207 GP's but the bike
already feel freer revving and move neutral than
the road version. With the tyres warm I head into
the left-right-left-right-left Beckett's section
for the first time in anger. The F4 sweeps through
so easily we could have gone 20mph faster, so next
time we do.
This one section demonstrated exactly what QB
has achieved in its development. The bike switches
sides quickly, but stops short of being twitchy
and tying the suspension in knots. Once on its
side there's a vast quantity of grip from the front
tyre and ground clearance is massive.
It's no surprise to learn that the team's riders
have a background in two-stroke racing. The MV
holds corner speed beautifully and is easy to hold
at the upper reaches of the rev range thanks to
the delicious fuel injection. The throttle response
at any point on the standard yellow tacho is smooth
but direct. Absolute power still isn't devastating, but
there's enough to get a run on an R1 down the
straight. That's pretty clever for a 750.While
it's not peaky as such, it certainly wants revving.
the redline isn't stratospheric at 13,500rpm
- the same as the road bike - so you aim to keep
it above 9,000rpm for the best results.
The faster steering, fortunately, does not come
at the expense of traction. It did spin up gently
at a couple of corners but the was more down
to the worn tyre. Chassis feedback still encourages
big handfuls of gas to be applied and lets you
know exactly where the limits lies.
It retains that stability on the brakes, which
have massive power with all the feel you want.
It turns in well on a trailing brake too which
suited Silverstone's sweeping turns.
On the flip side it also likes to be stopped,
slammed on its ear and screamed around a short,
tight apex almost flat on its side.
This bike doesn't just inspire confidence: it
gets better and better the harder you ride it.
A it more power and a quickshifter wouldn't hurt
but it made my heart race regardless.
After the mst exultant track session of my life,
I've finally found the reason to take a MV F4
endurance racing. Twenty minutes just isn't enough.
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