The year 1975 was a difficult one for Meccanica Verghera (MV) Agusta, the aristocratic Italian motorcycle makers. In its 30-year existence, an astounding 37 world racing championships had been won by legends such as Mike Hailwood, Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini. That year, MV Racing had no titles to show. The company was in decline, following Count Domenico Agusta’s death four years earlier.
But passion for the breed was to give birth to another noble steed. Christopher Garville’s Commerce Overseas Corporation, the official U.S. importer, urged the factory to produce a model for his market, and worked with MV’s artisans to shape a masterpiece. With just 200 hand-built examples, the 1975 750S America is testament to a name that signifies pedigree in the two-wheeled universe. A contemporary review proclaimed, “Nothing about the MV Agusta America is understated. Strong, visceral and bold, the bike overwhelms everything around it.” (Click image to enlarge)
Garville’s own America, shown here, won the Editors’ Choice Award at the Robb Report MotorCycling Concours d’Elegance in Monterey. Shaft-driven, the MV’s 507 pounds are powered by a 789cc twin-cam in-line four producing, in the words of its owner, “a mushroom cloud of sound” through a quartet of megaphone pipes. With a sand-cast engine, matched gear sets, a cassette gearbox, and a single seat sliding back to accommodate two, the machine exudes exclusivity. (Click image to enlarge)
Its 1975 price of almost $8,000 (approximately $30,000, adjusted for inflation) put it firmly in the court of the elite. Auction prices today reach $50,000. Garville, who rides his example regularly, underscores the point, “The America is a bike built for a prince.”
This week, Editors Don Williams and Nic de Sena discuss the new Moto Guzzi Stelvio. It has been around eight years since Moto Guzzi updated the Stelvio, and so expectations were quite high when Nic went to the launch in Spain. Don chats with Nic about his experiences with the new Stelvio, and whether this new version is now a credible ADV bike.
In the second segment this week, Associate Editor Teejay Adams chats with Ray Hammons. Despite his mature age, a couple years ago Ray realized a long time dream—to learn to ride a motorcycle. To say that he jumped in with both feet is somewhat of an understatement. Ray was fortunate enough to attend the YCRS Champ Street School when he first got his license, and interestingly, he credits the school with saving his life almost immediately. The topic of whether you should cover the brake when riding is actually quite controversial, and if you do it during an MSF course, you will fail. This is patently wrong, and Ray is clearly hoping the right people wake up, and this change is made to rider training across the country.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.