1983 861 Magni MV Agusta

By Neale Bayly
Published on November 27, 2007
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Owner Shane Chalke warming up the 861 Magni MV Agusta at Summit Point Raceway.
Owner Shane Chalke warming up the 861 Magni MV Agusta at Summit Point Raceway.
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Lucky man: Neale Bayly sets up for a turn on the 861 Magni MV Agusta.
Lucky man: Neale Bayly sets up for a turn on the 861 Magni MV Agusta.
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The view from the seat of the 861 Magni MV Agusta.
The view from the seat of the 861 Magni MV Agusta.
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In addition to a bump in engine capacity from 750cc to 861cc, the 861 Magni MV Agusta features a Magni-designed dry clutch.
In addition to a bump in engine capacity from 750cc to 861cc, the 861 Magni MV Agusta features a Magni-designed dry clutch.
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Yes, we wish we had one of these 861 Magni MV Agusta bikes sitting on our back patio. Don't you?
Yes, we wish we had one of these 861 Magni MV Agusta bikes sitting on our back patio. Don't you?
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The 861 Magni MV Agusta also features a Magni-designed chain drive in place of the stock MV Agusta driveshaft.
The 861 Magni MV Agusta also features a Magni-designed chain drive in place of the stock MV Agusta driveshaft.
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So perfect, the 861 Magni MV Agusta looks like a small scale model when seen without a background.
So perfect, the 861 Magni MV Agusta looks like a small scale model when seen without a background.
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Arturo Magni in his shop in the 1990s, preparing a Magni Moto Guzzi.
Arturo Magni in his shop in the 1990s, preparing a Magni Moto Guzzi.
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A BMW-powered Magni MB2 alongside an 861 Magni MV Agusta.
A BMW-powered Magni MB2 alongside an 861 Magni MV Agusta.

1983 861 Magni MV Agusta
Claimed power:
95hp @ 10,000rpm (est.)
Engine: 861cc DOHC, air-cooled inline four
Weight (dry): 440lbs (200kg)
Fuel capacity: 6.35gal

Just listening to Shane Chalke’s 1983 861 Magni MV Agusta warming up as he blips the throttle sends the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. As he rolls up to greet us, the sound of the Magni’s engine shatters the quiet of his rural Virginia home with the most raucous, feral, mechanical shriek I can remember. For once in my life, I’m rendered speechless.

Standing next to Motorcycle Classics editor Richard Backus, I notice we are gazing at each other with identical dumb, slack-jawed grins that communicate the mutual realization that we are sharing a motorcycle lifetime high.

Sound ideas
Shane continues blipping the throttle to get the 861 Magni MV Agusta up to temperature, and as he does my mind transports me back to the vintage festival at the Barber Motorsports Museum in Alabama in 2006, when I had my first real taste of the legendary MV Agusta sound. At that memorable event, Backus and I met “Sir” John Surtees, uniquely famous for being the only man ever to win world championships on both two wheels and four. At Barber we watched Surtees, now 73 but still competent as ever on the track, making parade laps on his MV Agusta race bike, one of the very bikes he rode to a world championship in the late 1950s.

As intense as that experience was, watching a legend in motion, and watching and listening as they warmed up his equally legendary bike in the pit area, I have to say Shane’s 861 Magni MV Agusta sounds better to me.

Hear the Magni MV Agusta and read more about the origin of the bike

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