Back in 1999 MV Agusta relaunched their brand with the F4 Serie Oro (Italian for “Gold Series), a cutting edge bike at the time of which only 300 units would be produced with 60 of those units shipping to the US. The F4 was a product of legendary moto-designer and Bimota cofounder; Massimo Tamburini, shortly after he designed the iconic Ducati 916. The bike’s liquid cooled 749.5cc inline four engine was derived from the Ferrari Formula One engine of the early 90’s, resulting in the bike’s name, the F4 short for Ferrari 4-cylinder.
The F4 Serie Oro is simply a beautiful machine. With ground-breaking bodywork and arguably the best looking stock exhaust on the market (at the time, though arguably still), the F4 is an apt example of what people call “motorcycle art”. It’s not hard to see why the F4 didn’t get its first major facelift for over a decade. The machine’s look was in fact so ahead of its time that it was featured in the 2004 sci-fi film ‘I, Robot’ which was set in 2035 and the MV didn’t appear out-of-place in the high-budget movie’s futuristic setting.
But what makes the Serie Oro so special is what it’s hiding beneath its surface. The sheer amount of premium materials found on this bike is ridiculous even by today’s standards and this bike was designed in 1997-98. Every painted part on this bike (and some not painted such as the air box) are all made of carbon fiber, including all of the bodywork (and under-bodywork), front/rear fenders, ankle/heat guards and tank. Every part in anodized gold is made of magnesium. This includes the bike’s wheels, swingarm and frame side plates, parts that are aluminum on the regular F4 750. Because of these exclusive materials the Serie Oro weighs in at less than 400lbs.
These limited edition F4 models also come equipped with a Showa fork that has fast detach axle clamps that were specifically designed for the MV. Nissin calipers with a six piston front and four piston rear came standard on the Serie Oro as well.
If someone out there is pining to own a piece of MV Agusta history in the form of a motorcycle and can’t shell out the $200k-300k required to buy one of the Agostini replicas coming up at auction, the F4 Serie Oro may be just the right bike with this low mile (7,600 miles) fully stock example available for sale in Santa Cruz, CA with an asking price of $37,000. As the seller points out, these bikes have been “rapidly appreciating” in value in recent years and with some popping up at Bonhams auctions, it’s clear the Serie Oro is becoming increasingly prestigious. This bike comes with factory rear stand, owners manual, engraved number plate on the triple tree, tool kit, and my favorite small touch, two gold keys.
Find this MV for sale in Santa Cruz, California for $37,000 here on Craigslist.