1978 MV Agusta 789cc America 'Magni'

Registration no. YUC 77T Frame no. 2210352 Engine no. 2210352

• Purchased in 2004
• Enthusiastically used on road and track
• Serviced and MoT'd regularly up to 2019
• New Magni exhausts in 2018

Motorcycle race engineers are rarely household names but one exception to this general rule is MV Agusta's legendary Arturo Magni, under whose direction the Italian manufacturer won no fewer than 75 World Championships. In 1949 Count Domenico Agusta had tempted Piero Remor away from Gilera to design MV Agusta's first four-cylinder race engine. Magni followed him in 1950 as chief mechanic and later managed the racing department during MV's Grand Prix 'golden age'. At the height of its powers the Italian team could command the services of the world's finest riders, among them Sandford, Ubbiali, Surtees, Provini, Hailwood, Read, and Agostini.

When MV retired from Grand Prix racing in 1976, Magni and his two sons set up their own company in Samarate, producing performance parts for the MV Agusta 750 street bikes, including big-bore kits, special frames and chain-drive conversions. Magni commenced production of motorcycles under his own name in 1980, initially using the Honda CB900 engine, with BMW, Moto Guzzi and Suzuki-engined models following. In the mid-1980s Magni commenced what would turn out to be an immensely fruitful association with Moto Guzzi, using the latter's well-established transverse v-twin engines.

Yet despite all his latter-day successes with Moto Guzzi, Arturo Magni's name will forever be linked with that of MV Agusta, whose reputation this great engineer did so much to forge. The first MV model officially to bear his name was the 'Monza Arturo Magni', a stretched (to 832cc) version of the 750S America. Official production of the Magni, together with that of all MV Agusta's other models, ended in February 1979, although Arturo and his sons Carlo and Giovanni continue to create bespoke MVs to special order.

First registered in October 1978, this MV Agusta America has been modified using numerous Magni components: tank, seat, exhausts, etc. The machine was purchased in 2004 by the lady vendor's late husband and used on the road and at track events throughout their ownership, being serviced and MoT'd regularly up to 2019. The Magni exhausts were replaced in 2018 with new pipes supplied by the factory, and the machine comes with all its original America parts including the tank, seat, fairing, rear light, indicators, badges, etc. Ridden regularly on the road in 2020 and described by the vendor as in good condition, the machine is offered with a owner's manual and V5C document.