RSD MV Agusta Dragster

Jul 15th 2020

Commissioned builds are always fun and challenging. It's a subtle dance amalgamating styles, input, design, and vision. Ultimately it boils down to communication and trust. Depending on the client's style and or level of care, you can lean on one harder than the other. Luckily RSD has collaborated with this client on previous projects, and they've all been positive, so we felt confident to take liberties with the overall look and design.

This build started life as a 2015 MV Agusta Brutale Dragster 800RR and straight from the Varese factory the Brutale is designed to shred. 800cc of howling triple-cylinder goodness jammed in a compact GP like chassis. As with all our performance builds, maintaining a fully functional machine, and improving that performance are paramount in our process. With the MV Dragster, our goal was to bring a classic aesthetic to the platform while maintaining the MV's racer spirit.

One of the coolest cafe racers we've ever built, this special MV Agusta Brutale Dragster was made to eat asphalt and look good doing it. Now imortalized on a limited run of t-shirts.

We began by replacing the top triple clamp and standard upright handlebars with a set of clip on's more apt to manage canyon carver duties. The subframe was hand fabricated with Chromoly-tapered tubing, the same tubing used to construct BMX bikes. The one-off subframe also set the stage for the rest of the bodywork. We set a beautiful straight line through the bike, which maintained the new aesthetic from front to back. The shape of the entirely hand made aluminum gas tank was built in the spirit of championed MV racers of the past. However, we added a modern twist by replacing the typical twist off gas cap with a modern, quick fill style endurance racing fuel filler. The front light was ditched in favor of a modern minimalist café style light and complimented with a handbuilt aluminum shroud following the lines of the tank and tail and capturing that racer essence. The Radiator shrouds were also fabricated out of aluminum and then re-popped in carbon. A custom set of Roland Sands Design forged racing wheels were machined from blank billet aluminum using the standard MV hub design. The wheels were then covered in an Cerakote “Blue Titanium H-185” finish by Specialized Coatings. Specialized also coated MV’s trellis frame and custom subframe in the same “Blue Titanium” to match. Using MV's hub design allowed us to take advantage of the beautiful architecture of the stock single-sided swingarm showcasing the intricate design details of the wheel while giving the bike an un-obscured splash of color. Performance details are continued with the Brembo nickel GP racing calipers front and back coupled with RSD radial masters on the controls. Bitchin Rich stitched up a custom grippier suede Café seat. GP suspension rebuilt the forks and coated them in a slick black finish replacing the stock red fork tubes, which no longer matched the bikes' more subtle color pallet. The custom Aquamarine RSD wheels are wrapped in sticky Dunlop Sportmax Q4's. At the moment, no one makes a full system for the Brutale, so our friends Zard fabricated the unique custom header and exhaust in full titanium, ensuring the MV would scream when commanded.

The paint process and color scheme presented its own set of challenges. Getting the design perfect and ensuring the lines were straight required an extra trip to Chris Woods shop in Santa Barbra. Chris applied the precise taped linework on the freshly painted base job. The team at Airtrix did a brilliant job with the detailing some how colormatching the Cerakote “Blue Titanium” used on the stripes which were meticulously laid over eggshell white, giving the bike a sort of Lux-Race feel. They got us the body work back just in time to complete the project and make our deadline for the One Moto Show in Portland.

The final product is an ultra-modern and performance-based take on a classic café racer and is as fun to ride as it is beautiful to look at. Unfortunately, this one of one masterpiece has already found its home and is being thoroughly flogged and enjoyed by its new owner. However, RSD is giving you a chance to own a bit of the same build quality and design superiority found in all of our hard parts and custom build projects with the limited edition RSD MV Dragster T-shirt. Get yours while supplies last.

The standard MV Agusta Dragster was built for shredding. 900cc of howling triple cylinder goodness jammed in a compact GP like chassis. As with all our performance builds maintaining a fully functional machine and improving that performance were chief in our process. With the MV we also set out to bring a classic aesthetic to the package and in the spirit of MV racers of the past to build a racer out of it.

The paint was it’s own complication. Getting the line work straight required an extra trip from Chris Woods shop in Santa Barbra for taped line work on the freshly based paint job. The team at Airtrix then completed the paint work detailing with the aqua marine stripes and returned the body just in time for it to head out for a seat.

We started by replacing the top triple clamp and high bars with a clip on set up for full canyon carver duty. The sub frame was hand fabricated with chromoly tapperd bicycle tubing and set the stage for the bodywork. We set a nice straight line through the bike which was maintained in the new aesthetic from front to back. The Shape of all hand made aluminum gas tank was built in the spirit of past MV racers with the twist of a quick fill style endurance racing gas filler. The front light was stripped in facor of a simple light and hanbbuilt shroud that follows the line of the tank and tail. Radiator shrouds were fabricated in aluminum and re-popped in carbon. A custom set of Roland Sands Design forged racing wheels was machined from blanks to take advantage of the beautiful architecture of the stock swingarm and single sided wheel and covered in an aqua marine satin cera coat along with the frame and subframe. The details continued with the Brembo nickel GP racing calipers front and back coupled with RSD radial masters on the controls. GP suspension rebuilt the forks and coated them in slick black rather than the stock red forks which were very bright. Zard fabricated the unique custom exhaust in full titanium ensuring the MV would scream when prompted.

We're just waiting for a custom saddle and side panels Bitchin Rich stitched up for us to finish the build off. We should see it all come together in the next few weeks!

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