This MV Agusta 500 could be Agostini's best title‑winning bike

Thankfully, a certain Mr Giacomo Agostini – motorcycling royalty to the uninitiated – has brought his very own replica bike along to the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard; enabling his hordes of fans to take a closer look at a racing icon from years past.

Up close the bike is sleek, slippery and deceptively small. It’s beautiful, no doubt, but doesn’t immediately strike you as a dominating championship-winning bike. Dominate it did, however, winning 13 of Agostini’s 15 World titles between 1966 and 1973 in both 350cc and 500cc configurations.

It’s not until the inline three-cylinder four-stroke 500cc engine gets its bowels awakened that the thoroughbred comes to life. If you’ve been lucky enough to hear it up close and personal, the aggressive bark of the tapered black pipes soon cements the Agusta’s presence in the paddock. For such a diminutive bike, by modern standards at least, it’s acoustically hostile, and easily one of the best sounding on the Hill, across eras.

Dan Setford, founder of Setford and Co, a historic race support company who are here tooling for Mr Agostini agrees: “There’s nothing that sounds like this bike. It’s absolutely incredible”.

Along with propelling Agostini to the top of the pile in the 60s and 70s, both the 350cc and 500cc MV Agustas took the likes of Mike Hailwood and John Surtees to impressive wins and titles in their own right. The Italian team conceived by Count Domenico Agusta quickly cemented themselves as the premier destination for the world’s greatest motorcycle racers.

Giacomo ‘Ago’ Agostini is in no doubt about the MV Agusta’s quality. It’s his favourite bike. Some accolade from a man who has achieved a staggering 122 GP wins and 15 world titles. 68 wins and eight titles in the premier 500cc category, as well as 54 350cc wins and seven world titles in that class. He’s also scored 13 podiums and 10 wins at the Isle of Man TT, along with 10 Italian championships. The chap knows his bikes.

After such a long and successful career, consistently risking life and limb, it takes a particularly special appreciation for a race bike for retired champions to keep slinging a leg over a fuel tank in their spare time. The MV Agusta 500 is one such machine.

At top chat, the MV Agusta can twist out 163mph. A terrifying prospect, and one that only increases the mystic appeal of the vulnerability and excitement bikes provide. Oh, and it stops itself using a front 240mm drum brake. All well and good, but imagine grabbing a handful while approaching a hairpin bend with 30 other bikes bringing up the rear. Mr Agostini has some minerals, that’s for sure.

“Ago just wants to ride it. He doesn’t want to pootle, he’s still pretty quick! We’re going to take it up to Isle of Man next year”, says Dan Setford as ‘Ago’ parts the sea of fans who have flocked to the paddocks to see the living legend take on another committed run up the Hill. 

“Ago goes at his own pace. It’s not our pace. It’s not Goodwood’s pace. It’s Ago’s pace. And he just loves it” smiles Dan.

We love it too. So thank you, Mr Giacomo ‘Ago’ Agostini, for coming to FOS and bringing your wonderful bike: A real treat. 

Photography by James Lynch