Another Week, Another MV Agusta – The 2021 Turismo Veloce

This is the kind of regular thing we enjoy, something new every week that’s both pretty to look at and brilliant in and of itself, too. MV have been our regular contributors in this regard recently, and this time it’s the latest evolution of the first front-to-back perfect motorcycle they’ve ever built – the Turismo Veloce.

The VT was also the first machine where they (mostly) eschewed away from the performance side of things. Well, sort of, but we’ll get to that later. The Turismo when released was, as aforementioned, a pretty much perfect bike when it came out. “This is all I could ever want or need from a bike”, said a fellow tester after a first week spent on the diminutive Italian Adventure styled machine.

And he wasn’t wrong, it was a brilliant bike and deservedly held station to be talked about in the same vein as much larger capacity, similarly styled rivals. It had everything, did everything well and looked the part at the same time. Also, and despite the same donor 800cc triple lump as MV’s sportier middleweight range, the VT crammed all of its power potential into and around a modest 100bhp at the wheel. Decidedly un-MV like, indeed, but all the better for it. The low to mid-range stomp, which is exactly what you need on a machine like this, was more than ample and, crucially, is thrusty and exciting. Job done.

The lastest update to the VT has finally been revealed, and there are four of them to choose from – lucky us! Available are, deep breath, the: TV RC SCS, the TVL SCS, the TVL and the TV Rosso, with the latter being the cheapest of the bunch, and the only one bereft of the Sachs semi-active electronic suspension fitted to the other three. All options do have the same internal engine upgrades as all the 2021 800cc range, and the same electronics upgrades, too.

The star of the show is of course the RC SCS, at the very least it’s the flashiest example garbed in the gorgeous racing colours adorned by all of MV’s RC models. It does appear to mostly just be a paint job though, rather than having anything extra special over the TV Lusso SCS, which just means there’s money to be saved there for the canny buyer – the TVL SCS is hardly a minger, is it? In fact, the RC is maybe a missed opportunity for MV here, a little extra power or another bell or whistle could really distinguish itself from the line but, oh well…

The smart buy, and the most interesting option in many ways, is the Rosso version. It may not have the lecky suspenders, but MV are absolute masters when it comes to a chassis. Even the first VT displayed agility a step beyond others of its ilk and we doubt they are likely to make it any worse. You wouldn’t miss the lecky suzzies, essentially. It’s lighter than the SCS bikes, yet has the exact same engine and electronics. And so long as you’re okay with the awful rigmarole of engaging and disengaging the clutch yourself, you won’t miss the (otherwise excellent) SCS system either.

Elsewhere there’s a new and more protective screen, the ABS has a cornering function and the dashboard is also both fresh faced and gorgeous. It has various different iterations of view, and can also link to a smart phone via the MV Ride app allowing control of systems and settings remotely. And what would an adventure bike that spends most of the its time on tarmac be, without a decent cruise-control system, eh? Yep, there’s one here too.

The TV is very possibly the best looking adventure’esque machine available and, as we’ve already said, has the goods to back up the sparkly visage. Nice of MV to give you four different options of awesome to choose from, isn’t it?