A split personality.

Doug Toland, www.cycleworld.com

I’ve always had a sweet spot in my heart for MV Agusta. Like most people, I find that part of my attraction to this most boutique of boutique manufacturers comes from the way MV’s designers turn wicked concepts into striking reality with no regard to price consciousness or manufacturing volume. Also, MV Agusta riders aren’t likely to see another example of their bike on an average Sunday ride, and when their MV gets noticed—and its distinctive looks, sound, and cool factor mean it almost certainly will be—the reaction the bike receives is unlike anything else.

But this combination of striking design and sheer cool would be meaningless without performance to match the style, and the Dragster RR SCS has performance in heaps. It makes for a really fun ride when it’s allowed to let its ride-by-wire, 13,200 rpm engine sing in the upper rpm ranges.

Doing this, however, is nontrivial. In order to achieve the best sound from the slash-cut triple mufflers that serve its 798cc inline three-cylinder engine, riders must first muddle through all of the not-too-intuitive electronic programming and rider-aid settings to select the correct engine maps (Rain, Sport, Race, and Custom); throttle response (quick or standard); engine-braking (normal or light), and traction control to match their riding style and riding conditions. Riders should expect this to take a bit of time and repeated referencing of the owner’s manual their first few times navigating this process.

In addition to the engine electronics, there are multiple settings for wheel “lift” (wheelie) control and ABS (including cornering ABS). Significantly, there’s also launch control, as one might expect given the Dragster name. To access all the electronic customization, the MV uses the minimum possible switch gear on the handlebars, which means a few of the switches are multifunction; for instance, the starter/engine stop switch also controls engine mapping.ADVERTISEMENT

This does clean things up in the cockpit, but one disadvantage of this multifunctioning popped up right away in testing when a stuck starter switch meant the button went from multifunction to multi-dysfunction. First, when the key was turned on, the engine would instantly turn over, which luckily wasn’t disastrous as the engine will not spin if the transmission is in gear or the sidestand is down. Second, adding irritation to injury, the defective switch was also randomly selecting and changing engine maps while the bike was being ridden. Allow me to say that going instantly from a custom map setting of full power and zero traction control to Rain mode with a high level of TC is a bit bothersome, especially midcorner, and that I definitely would not want it to be the other way around in wet conditions.

But once the rider sorts out the engine and chassis electronics, they can start dialing in the non-virtual stuff: a fully adjustable 43mm Marzocchi front fork, Sachs rear shock, CRC and pushrod steering damper. Get those sorted, fiddle with your tire pressures, and the RR provides confident corner entry, soaks up cornering bumps, and allows a forceful corner exit. Once all was properly dialed in, the RR really came to life everywhere.

Riding around Southern California, we did get those nods of approval; the bike is quite striking, with notable design features including the single-sided swingarm and black-spoked wheels; particularly interesting are the rear wheel spokes, which are attached only to one side of the rim for a strikingly unique look.

Practically speaking, the MV’s wide, flat, forward-rotated two-piece handlebar feels a bit awkward, and with mirrors mounted at the ends of each handlebar, the RR looks as wide as it feels. In reality, it should be regarded as wide indeed, because splitting California traffic at stop lights or navigating through narrow spots gets a bit dodgy; riders will find themselves rotating their mirrors inward quite often. These bar-end mirrors are also more susceptible to vibration, especially at freeway-plus speeds, when it’s difficult to discern if the vehicle behind you has its lights in front or on top—until they’re flashing. Pretty important stuff here. While I did not experience any flashing lights, constant mirror adjustment and vibration eventually caused the mirrors to loosen to the point where they vibrated inward on their own. Ugh.

On the other end of the convenience spectrum, the RR’s “SCS” Smart Clutch System turns out to be one pretty cool feature. The SCS is, basically, both a manual and automatic clutch; the rider has the choice to engage the clutch manually or, honestly, just forget about it altogether. Engineers at MV collaborated with Rekluse to refine this system, and it’s slick indeed, allowing the rider to put the transmission into gear without pulling the clutch lever and turn the RR into an automatic, meaning the bike will sit patiently and await throttle input before accelerating. Coming to a stop is just as easy, in that the rider does not need to pull in the clutch to do so. The transmission must be in first gear to accelerate from a stop or a warning light will tell you you’ve got it wrong, but that’s about as complex as it gets. The SCS also works well together with the quickshifter, meaning that as long as the QS is turned on, the rider can simply click through the gears for both up- and downshifts.

One note: Since the RR also has the automatic transmission feature, one needs to be aware that parking the MV on a hill and leaving it in gear will not prevent a roll-away tip-over, because technically the clutch is not engaged and the MV can roll while it’s in gear with the engine off. Hence, there’s an extra foot pedal on the right side in front of (and linked to) the rear brake pedal—that’s the parking brake.

The RR is, as noted, also equipped with launch control, but with the SCS auto-clutch, impromptu stoplight races can be easily spoofed by playing dumb, keeping the left hand off the bar until just before the light changes, and quickly turning the throttle as the light goes green, leaving stoplight opponents wondering just what happened. Using a launch-without-the-clutch method during CW’s performance testing, the MV achieved a best quarter-mile of 11.57 seconds at 126.40 mph versus a full-clutch launch of 11.31 seconds at 127.49 mph. It’s a full 0.26 second slower, but looking at the trap speed, it’s pretty close after the launch.

Even though the Dragster RR SCS is a naked design and appears to be focused on city riding, the engine/chassis/suspension combination, coupled with the electronics suite, would seem to make the bike a hybrid track-shredding sportbike/cross-country touring machine. To further support this split personality, there are two dash displays, one for street use and one for the track. The street dash has all the normal displays, speed, rpm, odometer, trip A/B, time of day and time riding, ambient and coolant temperatures, etc., but is missing a fuel gauge. The RR tells you when you are on reserve, but sometimes, as this rider found out while ripping around deep in the mountains, reserve doesn’t go very far; 12 miles, in one incident, after which I was very thankful for the random sportbike riders who happily pushed me to the closest gas station.

The track display provides a ton of information, all built around the six-axis IMU and its multitude of sensors. If the rider dares to keep one eye on the dash, they can see separate left and right real-time lean angles along with maximum lean, separate braking and acceleration Gs, a lap counter, lap time, maximum speed and more. After the ride, the display allows a review of GPS tracking as well.

There’s also an MVRide app allowing smartphones to access the MV data and make changes to the RR. The app also allows the rider to interface their phone through the dash for notifications, music, texts, and more; a lot of connectivity, if the rider wants that kind of access.

For any length of time spent touring down your favorite stretch of highway, using the navigation system, cruise control, talking on the phone, or listening to music, I’d strongly suggest a seat upgrade. Even though the stock seat is a memory foam unit, this 165-pound rider had a sore arse after about 40 miles of freeway flogging.

Canyon carving the RR is quite rewarding with everything correctly set up to rider preferences; most will find doing so gives a nice improvement over the standard settings. The steel trellis frame and geometry provide good feedback of what’s going on and allow taking full advantage of the wide 200/50ZR-17 rear tire, driving hard out of corners with an abundance of side grip. Helping propel the MV out of corners, and granting the ability to do third-fourth gear front wheel lift-offs, are three 50mm throttle bodies that house two fuel injectors each. This combination allows the engine to crank out a CW measured 119.4 rear wheel horsepower at 12,300 rpm, with a wide, usable torque curve that starts around 4,500 rpm, peaks at 10,600 rpm with 54.9 pound-feet, and signs off at 13,200 to give the engine a fair amount of over-rev. Practically speaking, this means the RR has reasonable around-town grunt below 6,000 rpm, above which is the Fun Zone where the engine sounds sweet and pulls hard and smooth.

One surprise about riding in this spirited manner was getting only 26 mpg from the 4.3-gallon fuel tank, which, come to think of it, may have contributed to that 12 miles of reserve range. Well, fun comes at a price, and a simple freeway cruise should get you north of the 43.1 overall mpg I observed.

Helping to stop the MV, which is 455 pounds when full of gas and ready to ride, are four-piston Brembo calipers up front forcefully squeezing dual 320mm rotors. Even though the brakes are strong with good feel, with ABS intervention for higher-performance street riding, we felt the ABS kicked in a bit early during our brake testing and panic stops, which actually decreased our expected stopping power.

The suspension setup that provided me (165 pounds) the best all-around balance and ride performance are:

• Front fork springs at maximum preload; compression damping at maximum – 1.75 turns; rebound damping at maximum – 0.5 turn
• Rear shock spring at no change from factory setting; compression damping at maximum – 2.75 turns; rebound damping at maximum – 0.5 turn
• Steering damper at maximum

I would have liked to try a bit more preload, or even heavier fork springs, but then that would also require more rebound damping. Also, for heavier riders who require additional preload or stiffer shock spring, the same would apply with regard to rebound damping in the shock.

Overall, the Dragster RR SCS has a great personality with an extremely pleasing sound and sleek appearance. Unfortunately, it also comes with a few quirky traits, though these can be easily remedied. Although we’d expect better standard suspension settings with more adjustable range on an 800cc naked bike with a $23,398 price tag, the sheer enjoyment of hearing the triple singing through the gears in the upper rpm, auto-blipping on the downshifts, and the awareness of riding something extremely exclusive is more than enough. Twist that throttle, and hear the beautiful music this Dragster makes.

2022 MV Agusta Dragster RR SCS Specifications

MSRP:	$23,398
Engine:	DOHC, liquid-cooled triple; 4 valves/cyl.
Displacement:	798cc
Bore x Stroke:	79.0 x 54.3mm
Compression Ratio:	13.3:1
Transmission/Final Drive:	6-speed/chain
Cycle World Measured Horsepower:	119.4 hp @ 12,300 rpm
Cycle World Measured Torque:	59.4 lb.-ft. @ 10,600 rpm
Fuel System:	Fuel injection w/ Mikuni throttle bodies, ride-by-wire
Clutch:	S.C.S. 2.0 (Smart Clutch System) Radius CX automatic, wet multi-disc; hydraulic clutch actuation
Frame:	ALS steel tubular trellis
Front Suspension:	43mm USD Marzocchi fork, fully adjustable, 4.9 in. travel
Rear Suspension:	Progressive Sachs single shock, fully adjustable, 5.1 in. travel.
Front Brake:	Brembo radial 4-piston calipers, dual 320mm discs w/ Continental MK 100 cornering ABS
Rear Brake:	Brembo 2-piston caliper, 220mm disc w/ Continental MK 100 cornering ABS
Wheels, Front/Rear:	Aluminum alloy spoked wheel; 17 x 3.50 in. / 17 x 6.00 in.
Tires, Front/Rear:	120/70ZR-17 / 200/55ZR-17
Rake/Trail:	N/A / 4.1 in.
Wheelbase:	55.1 in.
Ground Clearance:	5.3 in.
Seat Height:	33.3 in.
Fuel Capacity:	4.4 gal.
Average MPG/Range:	43.1 mpg/189.6 miles
Cycle World Measured Wet Weight:	455 lb.
Contact:	mvagusta.com

CW Measured Performance

Quarter-Mile:	11.31 sec. @ 127.49 mph
0–30 mph:	1.69 sec.
0–60 mph:	3.48 sec.
0–100 mph:	6.79 sec.
Top-Gear Roll-On, 40–60 mph:	2.73 sec.
Top-Gear Roll-On, 60–80 mph:	3.06 sec.
Braking, 30–0 mph:	139.92 ft.
Braking, 60–0 mph:	34.22 ft.