2008 MV Agusta Brutale 1078

[SpankMe]

Perfection.

Edit: Well, I'd lose the mufflers.

Also needs to be a bit smaller. Seat height is higher than a SV1000s. The GB500 is my perfect café racer.

<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Honda_GB500_Clubman_Rechts.jpg/800px-Honda_GB500_Clubman_Rechts.jpg">

[jrandom]

Also needs to be a bit smaller. Seat height...

The GB500 is my perfect café racer.

Yes; I recall you looking quite happy and managing a fair turn of speed on yours straight out of the driveway of the chap you purchased it from.

[Blackbird]

That is NOT a café racer.

That's what Benelli call it and it's no more or less cafe racer than your GB in modern terms. In today's parlance, a cafe racer is pretty much any tarted streetfighter too. If you want to be pedantic, the term only applies to British Iron of the 60's.

When I was a sad little bastard at school we used to ride on our bicycles to the local cafe to watch the locals on their Nortons, Triumphs & BSA's stick music in the juke box and try to do a lap of town before the record stopped. Probably the biggest single influence on me getting into bikes, even if it was a Suzuki 50 with a windscreen the size of a house

BTW - this is an exceptionally nice Kawasaki W650 done up in cafe racer style. Highly tempting as a winter project

[avgas]

That ducati is fat rubbish - i was so disappointed on that bike when you thing of all the lovely sports stuff they make.
The Darmah was more cafe' than that and that over 20 now.
As for the Brutale 1078 i was hoping for more.......its really only a big Brutale - with f'all extra design. Shit if thats all they were going to do in 4 years design i'd hate to think that all we get from the lovely design house......especially when you consider the competition is wacking out new designs (Bimota Tesi2D, Benelli TnT variant a b or c, Buells, Speed Triple, CB1000, FZ1N.....). Not to mention all the after market crowds getting in there again (Spondon, Harris etc)

[Swoop]

For both or just one?

Both, of course.
Business is business.

[imdying]

Does nothing for me... wheels and those calipers are lovely... but the tail looks like any old jap bike tail, as does the headlight... rearsets and other detailing is yawn, except for maybe that lower triple clamp, that's fat that is. Exhaust wouldn't look out of place on any cheap jap bike, not exactly what I'd expect for my mega bucks Italian. Tank area is typically late model MV, overly detailed for details sake, but that's cool if that's what you like. I assume it's a trick of the light, but the grey in the middle doesn't match the surrounding silver which sorta sucks a bit.

Given that sort of coin, I'd want to save for that Bimota DB7 There's much of that bike that doesn't appeal either, but still appeals a lot more than this. Being an Italian bike, I expect they'll milk this design for as long as they can, so it's almost expected that the later versions will be much prettier/covered with more exclusiveness.

I've said it before, but worth saying again... photographers are doing a pretty shitty job these days, so definitely reserving final judgement till I see it in the flesh (or Big Dave shoots it, his are generally more flattering to new bikes imho).

[SpankMe]

BTW - this is an exceptionally nice Kawasaki W650 done up in cafe racer style. Highly tempting as a winter project

Tempted to replace the GB with the W650 as you can still get them new.

[Big Dave]

(or Big Dave shoots it, his are generally more flattering to new bikes imho).

Thanks - Stunning NZ locations deserve some credit.