CC foto: Brian Blades
Overall not such a bad weekend really, but the high point was when MV Agusta rep Matt Stutzman and myself snuck away down PCH to shoot a few photos of the MV Agusta F4CC one morning. That's CC for Claudio Castiglioni, Managing Director of MV and a serious motorcycle nut with the juice to have his moto dreams mass-produced; 100 of these were supposed to have been produced. Unlike many "collector edition" deals, slapped together to squeeze money out of wealthy dilettantes, this thing was one of the sweetest motos I have ever flogged. Could've been the setting too. Photographers like early or late light, so we were up at the crack of dawn and heading down the coast from Half Moon Bay. I'd ridden the regular F4 1078 all the way up from Orange County, and now I believed the hype; this CC machine definitely had more power all across the board, and a throaty, instantly responsive exhaust note that began having a hard time keeping up as my early morning synapses defogged.
There was definitely a nip in the air, but the sun was on its way up and if you haven't ridden Highway 1 on the central Cali coast, I can't describe it for you. Cliffs, ocean, sky, fast smooth curves and long straights--very few buildings or humans. Basically, it's a high-speed road, and as it turns out there aren't many motorcycles as high-speed oriented as the F4CC. Powerful like Formula Xtreme racey bike when they were 1000cc but torquier. Magically suspended, with just enough steering effort and heft to give the impression it's absolutely stuck to the road, and more so the faster you go. On top, the thing howls like an F1 car. Keeps your full attention, even on the straights. What a fantastic bike. Eventually I turned around and found Brian the photographer, but I could've just kept going on this bike.
"Oh you rode-a the CC?" Erraldo Ferracci asked later. "Yeah, that one's a little bit-a special." Wink. Yup, packed with special Del Webb titanium valves and a little personal attention from Ferracci himself.
The next day we rode home on an inland route, little Kristi and myself. Not a bad weekend, really.
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