American Dream: MV Agusta 750 Sport America

 

For Sale: Ultra-rare MV 750S America from Moto Borgotaro…  

Four years after the Wright brothers made their historic flight at Kitty Hawk, Count Giovanni Agusta built his first aircraft, the AG. 1 biplane. In 1923, the count founded his own aircraft company, Costruzioni Aeronautiche Giovanni Agusta S.A. — known simply as “Agusta.”

For a time, the aeronautical company flourished. After World War II, however, peace treaties forbade Italy from producing aircraft, so Count Domenico Agusta — son of the late Count Giovanni — pivoted to manufacturing motorcycles, founding MV Agusta in 1945.

In its first 30 years of existence, the Italian motorcycle marque boasted an incredible 37 Grand Prix Championships.

“The racing pedigree of the MV Agusta marque is often forgotten nowadays, but from 1952 to 1973 they won 37 world road-racing championships including 16 500cc titles in just 18 years — a record that still stands and doesn’t look like it’ll be broken any time soon.” –Silodrome

 

As with Vincent, however, the records and racing successes did not readily translate into stellar sales. By 1974, MV Agusta had fallen into financial hardship. That year, US MV Agusta importers Chris Garville and Jim Cotherman traveled to Varese, Italy, where they convinced the company to produce a limited-edition of the MV 750 Sport for the American market.

The 750S was already the most expensive Italian sporting motorcycle of the early 70s, with fewer than 600 hand-built models produced between 1970-75. Legend has it, Count Agusta even insisted on the bike having a shaft-drive so the privateers couldn’t compete with his chain-driven factory racers.

“The MV has a quality denied to almost any other machine. The bike’s attraction lies wholly in its raw, almost crude appeal of pure speed suitability.” –Cycle World, 1973

Introduced in 1975, the 750S America would up the ante considerably, both in style and performance.

“The ‘America’ edition of the 750S took things further, introducing more power and a striking design for a street-legal GP bike. Today, it stands as one of the pinnacles of MV motorcycling design and history.” –Moto Borgotaro

The Sport America was no mere design exercise. The engine boasted a 2mm larger bore, resulting in 789cc of displacement — compare this to the 743.3cc of the regular 750S — and an output of 75 bhp at 8500 rpm. The angular styling borrowed from MV’s race bikes, and the America offered US-spec features such as a left-side shifter, turn signals, and air filters.

“A 13.06 second standing quarter-mile with a 105.14 mph terminal speed was achieved by Cycle magazine when they tested the bike in the mid-1970s, and the top speed was rated as 130.4 mph.” –Silodrome

The Sport America’s sandcast DOHC engine featured four individually removable aluminum alloy cylinders attached to a crankshaft block, and power was delivered via an enclosed driveshaft.

The 1975 MV Agusta 750 Sport America you see here is one of only 200 produced in the first year of production, and it happens to be frame #009 — the first to arrive in America!

“The first to be delivered outside of the MV Agusta family, with frame numbers 001-008 reportedly going to company VIPs in Europe, marque racing legend Giacomo Agostini among them. This example, frame #009, was delivered new to MV Agusta’s sole US importer, Commerce Overseas Corporation of Elmsford, New York, where it served as a test loaner for motorcycle magazines including Cycle, Big Bike, Motor Cycle World, and was later employed in a display capacity at various exhibitions and trade shows.” –Moto Borgotaro

The bike remained in the care of aforementioned US importer Chris Garville of Commerce Overseas Corporation until 1984, when ownership was transferred to his brother in California. In 1990, it was traded to the late Perry Bushong — a master mechanic, restorer, and MV Agusta dealer in Fort Worth, Texas. Perry sold the bike to one of his old shop hands — a man who vividly remembers the first time he heard a customer revving his Sport America behind the shop.

“I had to drop what I was doing to go see what it was because it was just such a glorious noise.” –Motorcycle Classics

 

In 2014, the bike underwent a two-year refurbishment at the hands of aforementioned MV legend Perry Bushong — his final restoration. Now this 750S is for sale on Bring a Trailer through our friend Peter Boggia and his team at Moto Borgotaro, a boutique dealer of high-end exotic motorcycles based in New York and Milan.

It’s being offered with the workshop and owner’s manuals, parts lists, special tools, shipping and ownership records, marketing brochures, copies of publications in which the bike appeared, refurbishment records, removed and spare parts, and a clean California title in the seller’s name. There’s even an old “MV 750” California plate included!

More Details

• Three owners from new, expert-level restoration undertaken by Perry Bushong
• 789cc DOHC inline-four
• Five-speed transmission
• Black suede seat
• Clip-on handlebars
• Rear-set foot controls
• Borrani alloy rims
• Scarab front disc brakes
• Ceriani fork
• Adjustable Sebac shocks
• Aluminum cylinder head and cylinders
• (4) Dell’Orto VHB carburetors
• 4-into-4 Kay’s Engineering exhaust system

The bike also comes with special tools, workshop manuals, copies of magazines in which the bike appeared, an old California “750 MV” license plate, and lots of spares.

Details Gallery

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