Still own my FZ07, but picked up my dream bike yesterday.

[SkH]

And learned an expensive lesson.  If you want to jump to my expensive lesson, scroll all the way down.

I vowed 4-5 years ago somewhere on these boards that I will never sell my very first bike, the FZ07, and so far have kept that promise.  I purchased my fifth bike yesterday.  But I did I have to get rid of two of them since I can only have 3 bikes in my garage at a time space-wise.

Anyway, been lusting over the MV Agusta brutale 800 for about 3 years now, and then when I saw the Dragster version, I vowed to get that bike one day.  Well, I sacrificed my 2015 Z1000 and picked up my Dragster 800RR yesterday.  The obvious statement is the bike is gorgeous in person and pics don't do it justice (on the flipside, the Triumph Bonneville/Street Twins look EXACTLY the same as the pics).  After about 3 hours, I finally got on it to make my way home. 

I'll just say, I hate this bike.  Now, granted I only put in 36 miles so far but sweet lord do I miss my Z1000.  Of all the bikes I've owned, plus the other 2 I've demo'ed, the Z1000 is still the best, and perfect bike I've ever ridden.  Why do I not like the Dragster?  Well, the seat is hard, that is the least of it.  The engine vibration is annoying.  Very annoying.  The most annoying engine vibration I've ever experienced.  The throttle, I guess in general I'm not a fan of ride by wire.  Every single ride by wire throttle I've felt just feels... off.  I really loved all 3 of my original bike's cable driven throttle.  But anyway, the throttle is sort of laggy from zero to start, and it needs a bit of gas before you can let go of the clutch- yes, it seems like all Yamahas are like this, so I shouldn't be too annoyed by the MV doing this, but my Kawasaki, I just have to barely move the throttle and release the clutch.  That was one of my favorite things of that bike.  But I'm back to rolling the throttle a good bit before releasing the clutch.  And the bike is light.  Although some people would say that is a pro, for me, the combination of a light bike and torque doesn't suit me.  It was the reason why I never liked the MT09.  But I'll say the Dragster feels like a worse version of the MT09 (but obviously with much better and stiff suspension).

Today my wife and I were going to hop on our new bikes for a lunch date as well as pick up her Triumph plates.  And I started the Dragster, and it quickly died.  Did this a few times.  I immediately went into troubleshoot mode, but long story short, my bad, the entire time I thought what was the fuel gauge was just a temp gauge and the bike was completely out of gas.  Apparently I was running on fumes just to make it home.  This bike has no fuel gauge, and the damn dealership apparently only put in 1 gallon of gas.  Good thing I still have my FZ07, I had to take that out instead, so yup, I've only ridden 36 miles total on the MV Agusta, I have to go buy a tiny gas can and fill er up enough so I can ride to the gas station.

Also, the battery is located under the gas tank (which is true of some Ducatis as well, thanks Italian engineers!), so the bike comes with its own battery tender and it recommended I always put the bike on tender regardless.

I hope this bike grows on me...

Here are the pics.  Second one is my current stable line-up. 

Oh yeah, the expensive mistake...  Don't buy a bike solely for its looks. XD.  Probably best to do a whole bunch of research (which I did before getting the FZ07).

EDIT:  I have since warmed up to the bike after realizing how it should be ridden:

>>New review here<<

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by SkH
Added words

[Lone Wolf]

13 minutes ago, SkH said:

...I'll just say, I hate this bike. 

Now, granted I only put in 36 miles so far but sweet lord do I miss my Z1000. 

I wonder if you can take a minor hit and take it back to the dealer.  
If you really don't like it, the depreciation is only going to increase from here.

Does look amazing though.

Do they have your Z1000 as a trade in, or did you sell it to a private party?

[SkH]

49 minutes ago, Lone Wolf said:

I wonder if you can take a minor hit and take it back to the dealer.  
If you really don't like it, the depreciation is only going to increase from here.

Does look amazing though.

Do they have your Z1000 as a trade in, or did you sell it to a private party?

I guess hate was too strong a word.

But strangely enough, I do not regret buying it.  I was actually looking forward to riding it today.  And I just love the way it looks too much.  I have a very strange plan, but I am kind of strange so this may or may not sound odd.

I'm planning on buying land (already looked at 2 different parcels of land) and having a custom house built.  One of the things I want is a 5 car garage (maybe 6) with a motorcycle bay that can hold at least 6 bikes (with garage doors on both the front and back of the structure).  When it reaches the point of my house being done and moved into, I'm going to obsess over constantly searching online to find a 2015/2016 Z1000 (hopefully not in green) and snag one so I will be reunited with my favorite bike ever and enjoy it even more after missing it for a few years.  I will also hopefully add an R Nine T and a Zero SRF (or some other electric bike) to my stable, and I suspect the z1000 will still be my favorite bike.  I know this all sounds kind of like an odd thing to do but I need to fill my time with something because I do not work.  I haven't worked since I was 30 years old and I go out of my way finding anything and everything to fill my time.  Like my current house, I have been renovating it myself for the past 3 years XD.  It took me almost 9 months to do all 4000sq. feet of hardwood flooring myself (took a lot of breaks, it destroys your wrists).  Took 13 months to complete the kitchen.  Currently starting on the master bathroom finally after ripping shower down to studs 2 years ago. Originally just going to re-tile the shower but then recently it turned into a full bathroom remodel so I have to remove and trash the current vanity, rip out all the floor tiles and well, I just added more time into filling my time.  And wife just said, "how about a curbless shower?" So I'm looking into how to do that currently.

Edited May 23, 2021 by SkH
more sentences.

[Lone Wolf]

OK, cool. Beautiful bike. It will definitely turn heads.

[SkH]

Thanks buddy.  I mean, off the bat, it wasn't all that bad.  In love with the quick shifter (it has up/down).  First time using a quick shifter and I did nothing but use it.  Also somewhere on these boards I did mention I love high revving bikes (power band), and this bike oddly enough is slightly more on the higher revving side of the power band.  I forgot to mention it shakes violently on low RPMs unless you do some clutch control.  Oh and something I found amusing during troubleshoot mode is instead of an oil sight glass, it has a dipstick   Good times.  Love those Italians.

Edited May 23, 2021 by SkH
:)

[robbo10]

I have aways admired the design of recent MVs but their engineering does not give me a bike that I want

[shinyribs]

Don't let a bad day turn you against the bike. None of my bikes had fuel gauges growing up, but you get used to it real fast- just watch the trip meter. We only need to get at a battery...what?...every 3-5 years? 

Man, she looks good and I bet she runs great, too! Congrats on the new ride. Give yourself time to acclimate

[TimmyTheHog]

Treat her well because just as any other Italian Beauty, they are FEISTY!

ride well, right side up, and enjoy...

[D.A.]

Oh no! You had to sacrifice some of your motorcycles because you don’t have room for all of them? Can’t decide whether to build a 5-car garage or a 6-car garage? And you’re disappointed with your latest $15K toy?

This is very a tragic story! No one should have to endure such hardship!!!

Dude, these are the kinds of first-world problems we all wish we had.

All jokes aside, I had a similar experience in the mid-2000s: I owned a 2005 Ninja ZX-10R that I loved, but I sold it nevertheless and bought another bike I had become enamored with: the Yamaha Warrior 1600cc cruiser.

As is often the case with a brand new bike, the dealer is not going to let you ride it until after you buy it so you don’t know in advance whether you’re going to like it or not.  

The Warrior was a beautiful machine — a real head-turner — and while it was comfortable, refined and had enough torque to tow a locomotive, it wasn’t very thrilling to ride, at least compared to the ZX. One reason I sold the Ninja is I was convinced it was either going to get me thrown in jail or sent to the morgue. What I didn’t realize is I had unwittingly become addicted to its mind-boggling top end power hit. Because of that addiction, the Warrior never really had a chance. 

So a few months later, I bought another 2005 ZX-10R. Kept the Warrior around for several years, too, but rarely rode it. I was single at the time and the women I was meeting seemed to like either sportbikes or cruisers, but never both. That’s something I never quite understood but figured I might as well cover both bases nonetheless. 

Anyhow, I eventually sold the Warrior to my little brother for a song. 

Some bikes touch your soul. Others just don’t.

Why fight it?

If you can afford to have it all, go for it. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by D.A.

[Pursuvant]

22 hours ago, SkH said:

lusting over the MV Agusta brutale

 

I really wanted to like the Husqvarna Svartpilen because I had history with the 250 wide range on houston  "mx" tracks if u can call them that.

I liked it for about 3 hours of research & snapped right out of it

[FrodoFZ]

Dude I feel you! I bought a Streetfighter 848 last August, solely because I've always wanted a Ducati and the 1st gen Streetfighters  just look sooo good IMO. Motor was a real hoot from the upper mid-range to the rev limiter, the sound it made with aftermarket exhaust, and it handled like it was on rails. But just like most Italian sport machines, if you're not riding it hard constantly, you will notice its shortcomings. Albeit it was kind of addicting to ride but it was a chore to do so.  And it didn't have a fuel gauge either  , among other little things that were cumbersome if you weren't hauling ass.

18 hours ago, D.A. said:

 Some bikes touch your soul. Others just don’t.

Why fight it? 

What he said!