This Superbike Was Modified By A Bunch of Audi Tuners, And We're Here For It

ABT Sportsline and MV Agusta teamed up for a 208-horsepower naked bike dripping in tuner-car influence.

Photo by: MV Agusta

By: Enrico Punsalang

May 19, at 7:58am ET

Add RideApart as a preferred source in Google

Comment

MV Agusta and German automotive tuning specialist ABT Sportsline just revealed the Brutale 1000 ABT, and it’s one of those rare machines that exists because two completely different corners of enthusiast culture looked at each other and decided enabling bad decisions together sounded fun.

Because here’s the thing: Motorcycle companies and car tuners usually operate in totally different universes. One side obsesses over lean angles, cutting-edge electronics, and shaving ounces off magnesium and carbon brackets. The other side spends its weekends arguing about wheel offsets, aero discs, Nürburgring lap times, and whether carbon fiber mirror caps add “presence.” Somehow, the Italians at MV Agusta and the Germans at ABT managed to mash all of that together into one extremely angry naked bike with turbofan wheels and more carbon than a DTM paddock.

Photo by: MV Agusta

Underneath it all, this thing is still the Brutale 1000. That means a 998cc inline-four making 201 horsepower at 13,500 rpm and 85.6 pound-feet of torque at 11,000 rpm in standard form. If you install the track-only kit with the Arrow titanium four-exit exhaust and revised ECU map, output climbs to 208 horsepower at 14,000 rpm. On a naked bike. With handlebars. Because apparently surviving acceleration wasn’t difficult enough already.

But the interesting part here isn’t just the power. It’s the way ABT’s influence completely changes the personality of the motorcycle. This thing doesn’t look like a traditional Italian exotic anymore. It looks like somebody parked an Audi RS6 next to a World Superbike machine and let them cross-pollinate in a carbon fiber laboratory.

Photos by: MV Agusta

The rear wheel is the biggest giveaway. MV fitted a carbon fiber turbofan-style cover inspired by racing aero wheels, the kind of stuff you normally see on endurance race cars and old-school touring cars. MV says it improves aerodynamic efficiency by reducing turbulence around the rear wheel. But I think it’s really more of a styling exercise than anything else. It makes the bike look like it’s blasting at 180 miles per hour while sitting still outside a coffee shop.

And then there’s the rest of the carbon madness. 19 separate components get the lightweight treatment, including the front fender, airbox covers, dashboard harness cover, engine covers, side tank panels, front spoiler, and rear belly fairing sections. This thing has so much exposed carbon fiber that Ducati Streetfighter owners are probably sweating right now.

Underneath the visual drama, MV also updated the engine for Euro 5+ compliance and revised the mechanical package with new camshafts, updated engine mapping, sharper throttle response, optimized gearbox ratios, and a shorter final drive. Suspension duties are handled by Öhlins hardware front and rear, while forged wheels help keep unsprung weight in check.

What do you think?

View

Comments

Only 130 individually numbered units are being built to celebrate ABT’s 130th anniversary, and each one costs 40,990 euros, or roughly $48,000. Buyers also get a dedicated bike cover, welcome kit, and certificate of authenticity, which is useful when trying to explain to future generations why their inheritance was converted into a naked motorcycle with carbon turbofan wheels.

Source: MV Agusta

The funniest part about the Brutale 1000 ABT is that it shouldn’t work. Car tuning culture and motorcycle culture usually overlap only in parking lots at Cars and Coffee events where somebody’s stretched Hayabusa is idling next to a bagged Volkswagen Jetta. But somehow, MV Agusta and ABT turned that crossover energy into an actual production motorcycle. And against all logic, it‘s totally badass.