SELLER SAYS: Selling my F4 Agostini tribute bike. It’s number 05/300 made world-wide and is in original and excellent condition with not a scratch on it. It has done no serious riding since new. The bike is not registered as I have never ridden it – the 982km on the clock were done by previous owner. It’s time for me to let it go to someone who will enjoy it as much as I have (without actually riding it). Contact Paul on 0407 856 976 (Perth, WA).
EDITOR TERLICK SAYS: Ask most bike enthusiasts who has won the most open-class world championships, and there’s a fair bet they’ll say Valentino Rossi. And they’d be close – but they’d be wrong. With eight open class world titles (one more than Rossi) the gong actually goes to Giacomo Agostini. The earlier Italian superstar was virtually untouchable from the mid-60s to the mid-70s, and his bike of choice was MV Agusta. Agostini won seven 500cc titles in succession on an MV, plus seven 350cc titles and, wait for it, 10 titles at the Isle of Man. The guy was astounding. (He’s still kicking, too. Read more about him here.) The pairing of Agostini and MV was, without doubt, one of moto-history’s most successful, so it’s no surprise that the modern incarnation of MV Agusta has been perfectly willing to remind the world of those glory days on the race track. And to the company’s credit, they’ve not used his name flippantly. The F4 1000 (that 4 for the number of cylinders and 1000 for the engine capacity) is a case in point. Drop-dead gorgeous as only the Italians can do, the bike hit the market boasting superb sports bike credentials including massive power and superb handling. British bike website MC News described the base mode as “possibly one of the most desirable two-wheeled creations of all time”. So how desirable would be an Agostini Special incarnation, with less than 1000km on the clock? Well, if you can stump up $60k, this bike’s in your shed (or maybe behind glass in your billiard room), giving you what is certainly one of the most desirable bikes of the past 20 years, and one of the top few of all time.
