September is when MV Agusta is planning to announce its future plans and new investment and perhaps the news will be accompanied by a new bike.
MV and Italian car styling firm Zagato have both tweeted this teaser image and, more recently this video, giving the date of 4 September 2016 and showing a computer-generated image of a bike.
The stylised picture has the look of a concept bike rather than a production machine, but being a computer render it might not be representative of whatever is actually shown that day.
The video, however reveals the silhouette of what could just be retro-styled cafe racer.
As a teaser, it’s already doing its job. Speculation around the machine already ranges from suggestions that it will be electric to ideas that it will be powered by the firm’s F4 superbike. The latter , at this stage, seems more likely. And given the parlous financial state of MV over the last few months, it seems unlikely that the firm will be in a position to launch a radically new production bike with newly developed engine, electric or otherwise, in the near future so it’s likely the Zagato machine will be an F4-based concept.
History tells us that we shouldn’t raise our hopes for the MV Zagato, as car designers have a horrible record when it comes to styling motorcycles. Even Pininfarina, perhaps the world’s best-respected car design company, has a weak two-wheeled record. Its designs for the Morbidelli V8 of the early 1990s were poorly-received and the bike was restyled before slipping under the waves for good.
Will the Zagato do better? Time, three weeks’ time to be specific, will tell.