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2016 TVL - review after two weeks of ownership

15K views 38 replies 15 participants last post by  apelsinelise 
#1 ·
Here is my review of the 2016 MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 Lusso based on the two weeks of ownership and my first 500 miles on it. I'd also like to do a short comparison to some other bikes I test rode before choosing TVL, but I'll save that for another post.

This is my first MV Agusta.

1. LOOKS

It may sound strange to start the motorcycle review with looks, but this is the MV Agusta we are talking about here. The TVL is absolutely gorgeous from any angle you look at it! Without a doubt, it looks better in the flesh - the pictures just do not do justice.

Every single curve in the bodywork is an absolute work of art. Every single part of the motorcycle looks just in the right place and compliments all the other parts surrounding it.

This is the motorcycle that makes the owner always look back at it, and not just walk away after the riding is done. Heck, I even make extra trips to my garage just to look at the TVL!

2. OVERALL PACKAGE

The TVL is also, IMHO, complete. This is only the second bike I own that I have absolutely no desire to put farkles on. Everything on it is as it should be right from the factory:

- Indicators are LED, already all in the right places.
- Brake and clutch levers have no free play and are nicely adjustable.
- Bodywork looks great without any carbon fiber embellishments.
- Exhaust style matches the rest of the bike.
- Tail tidy is not needed, the tail is already clean.
- The side cases cannot be integrated with the bike any better.

3. ERGONOMICS

I am 5'11" and TVL fits me nicely. Given the stratospheric seat hight I was a bit surprised that the seat-to-pegs measures at only 18" (same as on my Ducati Monster 1200S). However, this definitely makes for an awesome ground clearance.

The body position is very comfortable, the slight lean forward is perfect for touring.

The rider's seat does not provide for much back-and-forth movement. Nevertheless, it turned out not to be a concern in the canyons as I could easily hang off the bike (albeit not as easily as on the Daytona :)). Yes, it's not possible to move one's ass back and tuck all the way in at speed, but the bike will not go 150+ mph anyway (the 120 mph wall is real).

Handlebars are mounted on a very tall risers, thus making it easy to clear the tank at full lock. No fear of pinching hands in tight turns.

Windscreen is surprisingly capable. The air bubble is relatively small, but it's turbulence free. The windscreen is also very solid and does not flop around or buzz at speed as on some other bikes.

4. ENGINE

MV Agusta 800 triple in the TVL is an Ok motor. It is not as powerful as Ducati or KTM twins, nor it is as turbine-smooth as Triumph triples. The sound is somewhat agricultural or even diesel-like sometimes. There is no low range wave of torque, there is no mad rush at high rpms. There are no holes in the rpm range either. The name of the game for this engine is LINEAR. The engine does not force itself on the rider asking him to ride the bike as a cruiser or always scream near the rev limiter. The power is merely adequate, but it's predictable and usable everywhere.

5. CLUTCH

Clutch is strange. The friction zone is well defined but somewhat mushy. Slipping the clutch with precision on the TVL is not as easy and natural as it should be. Also, there is a very pronounced rattling ("rolling marbles") feel in the engine with the clutch engaged in neutral (maybe this will be taken care by the clutch TSB). The slipper aspect of the clutch, however, works extremely well. Even screwed up rev-matching downshifts with this clutch are smooth and easy. Smooth upshifts, surprisingly - not so much.

6. QUICKSHIFTER

Up and down quick-shifter works, however making clutch-less upshifts and downshifts requires throttle finesse. Apparently, the gearbox needs to be loaded just right. I'm still smoother with the clutch shifts (except for the full-throttle upshifts in which MV Agusta quick-shifter really shines).

7. BRAKES

Front brake is good. Stopping power is great, one may ask for more feel on the lever though. Rear brake is useless as it is. I may need to look at adjusting it or something.

8. SUSPENSION

Skyhook works as advertised. Make no mistake, this is not a "magic carpet" Ohlins. In the end, I have adjusted preload, put the electronic compression and rebound to "Hard" and forgot about it. Anti-dive works really well. Suspension is very stable and predictable in turns, at least in the Sport mode.

Steering is very light, though it's been a while since I rode a bike without a steering damper. Not sure TVL needs it unless you plan to do wheelies on it all the time.

9. ELECTRONICS

Rider modes work, but not as clean and well defined as on Ducatis and BMWs. After playing with all the different settings (including custom tuning through iPhone Turismo Veloce+ app) I ended up using stock Sport mode most of the time. As for the ride-by-wire throttle, there is slightly felt disconnect between the throttle and the engine sometimes but not too much to cause a concern.

10. CONCLUSION

TVL is exactly the bike I was looking for. It is gorgeous, light, nimble, well designed, fun to ride hard and practical. Nerdy and modern enough with all the electronics and rider aids.

I ride (and I would venture a guess a lot of other riders do too) the bike for those rare fleeting moments when my mind, body and the machine become one in a pure bliss of flying through the curves on a deserted mountain road, enhanced by the scenery, sound, smell and vibration - nature, human and machine becoming something more that the sum of the parts. High-speed mechanically enhanced meditation, if you will.

Some special motorcycles are capable of taking their riders to that highly desired state of mind at will, but most of them punush their owners with some kind of brutal vengeance every second spent outside of "the zone" (cue in typical and inevitable comparision with women here).

TVL does not take the rider into "the zone" to the 10. It reliably delivers 8. But it does not punush on the exit either. Which makes it a great bike in my book.
 

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#4 ·
I'll second that, I put FM projects on mine and WOW it can breathe....Really opens it up! I have a little over 4k on mine, and it does benefit from a break in period, everything works very good. Tuning suspension takes time with your preferences.

IMHO, and for my riding style it performs better than a 2015/16 DUC MS-s. In comparison DUC is heavy, sluggish handling. The TVL is very nimble, very quick and easy on the body, also I can tune the bike to many types of conditions on the fly. A big plus with the MV APP.
 
#7 ·
I have the QD, I think the sound is great and louder than stock but not offensive with the baffles in. Although I don't think it's compatible with a centre stand.
I use the quickshifter all the time (when it's working!), both up and down, shifts beautifully on up changes as long as you have positive load on the drive train, doesn't need to wide open, just pulling. It will improve as the the bike runs in and the the gearbox action gets smoother.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the write up apelsinelise.

I have the HP Corse Hydro Tre fitted to my TVL. This works with the centre stand and isn't as loud as the FM Project. Quality is superb, as I would expect 'cause it was pretty expensive. The burble on the overrun is something that you either like or dislike.

Only other mods I've done are as follows:

Puig screen; better than OEM for wind protection and noise, effectiveness depends on your height.

R&G radiator guard; essential given the shorty front mudguard.

R&G crash bungs; just in case...

MV comfort rider and pillion seats. Originals are good but these are a touch firmer, have gel inserts and look great. A week's tour just done on these and I didn't have any issues/aches etc. Two bigger tours coming up between next Friday and mid July as an acid test.

Givi tanklock tank bag; supplements panniers for a week or two away from home. It's a sports tourer after all :)
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
Looks like HP Hydro Tre is getting the votes... time to research it.

On the side note, I don't think my quickshifter works properly. Well... the "up-quick" portion works but "down-blip" doesn't.

On the dash setup page for quickshifter there are just two settings: "ON - OFF" and "DYNAMIC: UP - UP/DOWN".

1. Turning quickshifter OFF disables clutchless upshifts as expected. I can still downshift without using the clutch if the throttle is slightly open (slipper clutch smoothes out the downshift perfectly well by itself).

2. Turning quickshifter ON enables clutchless upshifts in exactly the same manner quickshifter works on my Daytona 675R. Click - shift. No drama.

3. Now, "DYNAMIC" setting has no effect on my TVL whatsoever. I can downshift without the clutch if the throttle is partially open regardless of the setting. I CANNOT downshift without the clutch with throttle fully closed regardless of this setting. Or any quickshifter setting for that matter.

I thought the whole point of autoblipper is to be able to downshift with the throttle fully closed. But it's not happening.

Does this make any sense?
 
#12 · (Edited)
Your quick-shifter doesn't sound quite right, it should downshift as you're expecting it to. The sensor is quite susceptible to moisture, mine failed completely and has recently been replaced under warranty. Still not perfect I'll admit and the work seems to have effected gear selection, i.e. difficulty finding neutral which was fine before. Shifting with the QS requires positive drive on the up-shift to work smoothly which makes sense, should work on a closed throttle for down-shifts though.

During the few thousand miles I did with a non functioning QS I found that clutch-less up and down shifting was a breeze with correct throttle input. Had used clutch-less up-shift previously but not down. A slick gearbox combined with, as you say, the slipper clutch, made those easy to do smoothly.

Might be worth getting your dealer to have a look.
 
#13 · (Edited)
UPDATE: TVL at 3 weeks of ownership and 1000 miles.

I'm starting to like the Skyhook suspension. Coming from several Ohlins equipped bikes the Skyhook was a bit of a let down at first. The overall suspension feel is floppy and unsettled in all but Sport mode accentuated by too much road noise transmitted to the rider. I played with different suspension settings in the MV+ app but could not find the setup I liked.

Eventually I settled on the default Sport mode and HARD suspension settings and started to ride the bike harder. We have lots of marvelous canyon roads here in Colorado. Fast sweepers, off-camber and decreasing radius turns, sudden hairpins, 100+ mph straights, severe elevation changes - everything you'd wish for :) I'm trusting Scorpion Trails more and more - not quite to the point of knee dragging, but chicken strips are completely gone - and that's good enough for now.

Most likely due to its height, the TVL rewards smooth brake-throttle-brake transitions in turns. The bike is feels very comfortable leaned over and on throttle - a bit surprising with its height, short wheel base and absence of the steering damper. TVL is a very exciting bike to ride hard and fast!

BEST NEWS: Last night my clutch switch failed with the same well described here on this forum symptoms - warning message on the dash, check engine light, TC and QS rendered inoperable. I was a bit disappointed at first, but then... Yay! The clutch is now perfect! My jerky upshifts are history! It was not the clutch, it was not my hand - it was electronics cutting into the shift! Now - buttery smooth upshifts and downshifts with me just barely tapping the clutch lever. Good riddance TC and QS. Pure bliss.

:grin2:

To sum it up: with just a few weeks of ownership the electronics on the TVL are self-destructing at an alarming rate, but the bike is getting better and better in spite (or maybe even as a direct result) of it.

Can't wait to ride it more.
 
#14 ·
"Most likely due to its height, the TVL rewards smooth brake-throttle-brake transitions in turns. The bike is feels very comfortable leaned over and on throttle - a bit surprising with it's height, short wheel base and absence of the steering damper. TVL is very exciting bike to ride hard and fast!"

Agree with you absolutely!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
I'm continuing to troubleshoot quick-shifter/clutch issues happening on my TVL. As it would be nice to have the bike working 100% as it should. Eventually.

Here is my theory, for what it's worth:

COLD ENGINE: Clutch hydraulic pressure sensor operational. Bike starts in gear, quick-shifter works.

HOT ENGINE: Clutch pressure sensor starts to malfunction. Bike can no longer be started in gear, quick-shifter is acting up.

HOT ENGINE FOR A WHILE: Clutch sensor fails. Message on the dash, check engine light on, traction control and quick-shifter are disabled and inoperable.

Rinse and repeat on the next cold start.

Does it make sense? Has anybody else had the same experience on their TVs? If yes, what was the solution?
 
#17 ·
My bike is going in next week with 5000 miles on it for the clutch sensor replacement. My traction control would act up at time while starting off from a stop. I thought I was just being too aggressive with the throttle when launching.

Then I was on a longer ride with the cruise control on last week. Slower traffic pulled in front of me, so I squeezed in the clutch to turn off the cruise control. The engine just started to bounce of the rev limiter, and would no longer cancel the cruise control.

Then on Monday this week in stop and go traffic while feather the clutch in and out, something phyically changed in the clutch pull. Suddenly the engagement point was right at the bar. Moments before it was about half way out.
 
#20 ·
Then on Monday this week in stop and go traffic while feather the clutch in and out, something phyically changed in the clutch pull. Suddenly the engagement point was right at the bar. Moments before it was about half way out.
I've had this happen half a dozen times now! The first time it happened pulling out of a right hand T junction uphill, clutch seemed like a microswitch, about where it would bit suddenly full engagement then a little pull back on the lever no drive, release a fraction and fully engaged again. At first I thought it was just me, but now that it's happend more times it seems like an issue with the clutch. It's going in next Thursday for a couple of warrantly jobs including the clutch basket TSB, hopefully they can sort it out then.
 
#18 ·
I stalled today at a light and then I couldn't start the engine again pressing the clutch with 1st gear engaged. Everything else works, but now the bike has to be in neutral, wich sometimes is hard to find, in order to start. Only 350 miles here, but in Florida (humid and rainy).
Is this it? In that case I am glad it is happening so soon before the 600 mile service...
 
#19 ·
I stalled today at a light and then I couldn't start the engine again pressing the clutch with 1st gear engaged. Everything else works, but now the bike has to be in neutral, wich sometimes is hard to find, in order to start. Only 350 miles here, but in Florida (humid and rainy).

Is this it? In that case I am glad it is happening so soon before the 600 mile service...


I had the same problem on my Turismo Veloce. Just returned from the service and they ordered new clutch switch. It's common as I can see.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#23 ·
FIRST MOD: The Mirrors!

Just completed my first TVL mod - mirror replacement using Rivale OEM factory mirrors. The setup is 100% plug-and-play.

Initial observations: The bar-end Rivale mirrors buzz about the same as factory TV mirrors, maybe a little bit less. However, the visibility is MUCH improved. I'm no longer looking at my elbows, but have a nice wide view of what's behind me. Side-to-side visibility is also much improved. The mirrors fold nicely, there are even rubber inserts integrated within the mirror mounts preventing the mirror glass from being scratched while folded. Very high quality setup.

The bar-end mirrors make the handlebar visibly wider but I don't line split and thus don't care. Added benefit is ability to stand up on the pegs without worrying about hitting the mirrors with forearms.

Also, to cover up the mounting points for the stock mirrors I've used replacement rubber feet for MacBook PRO off eBay. $2. Self-adhesive. Perfect fit.

Overall, the mod is not exactly cheap but the situational awareness is well worth it IMHO.
 

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#24 ·
I like the look of those Rivale mirrors on your TV. No lane splitting allowed where i live so I may go down the route you went.

Do you notice any turbulence changes with the removal of the stock mirrors?
 
#25 · (Edited)
Do you notice any turbulence changes with the removal of the stock mirrors?
Not really. I could not tell any difference.

Now, the bar end mirrors may be making the steering somewhat less stable at speeds > 80 mph, though I cannot definitely say they do. Short wheel base + absence of steering damper = not going to be extremely stable at speed no matter what. You can easily fold the mirrors for those speed runs, problem solved :)

Rivale mirrors make it a little bit harder to maneuver the bike in and out of a garage. I also wish the mirrors would have more curvature to the glass (such as CRG Arrows), but they still offer quite an extended field of view compared to stock.

Lane splitting is illegal here in Colorado as well.
 
#26 ·
I'd surely give up lane splitting for those CO mountain roads!

I noticed my large HDB handguards and side mirrors make my FE501 more unstable at 80 mph in windy conditions also. I'm sure it is more noticeable due to the 21" front knobby tire which floats a bit at high speed on the pavement. Plus these hand guards and the mirrors are big and flat with no hint of areo..
 
#27 · (Edited)
UPDATE: TVL at 2 months of ownership and 2000 miles

I. LOVE. THIS. BIKE.

As simple as that. Notes of interest:

1) Handling: Nice. The bike came stock with Pirelli Scorpion Trail tires with 38/38 psi recommended. I'm not sure what's the benefit of such high tire pressures. After riding with recommended 38/38 for a while I decided to air down to somewhat more conventional 32/34. The handling is MUCH improved. Also, the high speed wobble on highway is now gone. The bike is now very stable at speed.

The only handling downside so far is that I do not have complete confidence in the rear tire at full lean. It's doing something... I'm not sure what. Once the Scorpion Trails are gone, I'll replace 'em with something stickier to see if it makes a difference. Interestingly enough, the front tire is wearing down as fast if not faster than the rear.

2) Fuel mileage: Great. This is a 250 mile range bike (the longest I got so far was 230 miles to refuel - odometer miles, not GPS miles). Granted, I tend to fill it to the brim, but still. Every single full tank gave me over 200 odometer miles.

I ride twisties and backroads mostly. I'm not easy on the throttle.

3) Reliability: Mixed bag. Clutch switch and GPS sensor have failed. Both will be fixed by the dealer eventually. Rear sprocket has excessive free play. Meanwhile, solutions:

- Clutch switch: Disable quick shifter, make sure to be in neutral to start the engine. Ignore the rest.

- GPS sensor: My dealer got rid of the error. Took down the whole data logger functionality with it.

- Rear sprocket: Ordered replacement rubbers for the cush drive. Meanwhile, ignore.

4) Mods: None. Except for the mirrors. Described earlier in this thread.

6) Comfort: Exceptional. This is the most comfortable bike I ever owned.

7) Enjoyment: Through the roof!!!

:smile2::smile2::smile2:
 
#29 ·
The only handling downside so far is that I do not have complete confidence in the rear tire at full lean. It's doing something... I'm not sure what. Once the Scorpion Trails are gone, I'll replace 'em with something stickier to see if it makes a difference. Interestingly enough, the front tire is wearing down as fast if not faster than the rear.


"It's doing something" in corner or in exit of the corner? sliding or what? I used to change 2 front tires to one rear on my BMW (Pirelli angel GT) cause too much breaking before corner, F800R is not powerful to "eat" rear tire as MV does, i will change Scorpion T with Diablo Rosso 3 just to see difference...
 
#30 ·
"It's doing something" in corner or in exit of the corner? sliding or what?
As I said, I'm not sure what's it doing.

The best I can describe it: once I bring the bike close to full lean on the edge of the tire the rear suddenly becomes soft. It does not step out. I don't think it's sliding. The bike still holds the line - I just don't like the feel. Standing the bike back up a few degrees restores the solid feel of the rear suspension.

TVL makes it easy to forget it's a tourer - I ride it as a sports bike too often :)

Gotta be able to solve this problem with proper tires and some experiments with air pressure.

I'm also thinking about Pirelli Diablo Rosso 3.
 
#34 ·
I've had odd clutch behaviour when pulling away from a standstill on a few occasions. Almost like sudden engagement and disengagement. Quite disconcerting. Seems to be when the engine is hot. Clutch bleed is something I'll try once I'm back home from my current tour. Thanks for suggesting Jrocket.
 
#38 ·
Did you flush the oil fluid out first, or just bleed the current fluid.

If the fluid is bad, bleeding won't do much on its own.

My bike "seems" to be better. I agree it was worst when the bike was hot, and I was in lots of heavy traffic with lots of clutch use. It has not reoccurred to me since they flushed the fluid.
 
#37 ·
I changed out my clutch fluid after my clutch quit working. The problem was the clutch switch I think, but the reservoir had a lot of black residue.
 
#39 ·
Update on the clutch:

The clutch on my TVL has been getting worse and worse. Finally it gave out completely, dumping all of its hydraulic fluid down on my garage floor. Luckily, at about the same time my dealer has received all the parts for the clutch TSB, replacement clutch switch, etc. so in for the repairs it went.

Now I'm happy to report.... everything is fixed!

According to the service tech the clutch switch sensor was not only messing up electronics and throwing ECU codes, it was also squirting fluid. Now, with the switch replaced all clutch related problems are solved.

I cannot fully express how much better the bike is now!
 
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