It has been a couple of days since I rode this MV Agusta. I’ve eaten, I’ve slept and I’ve gone about my everyday chores. And all this time, only one thing has been ringing in my ears. A sound that refuses to leave my being. It’s the sound of the F4 screaming through its quad pipes as it closed in on its 13,500rpm redline. This sound goes from

being a deep, hoarse rumble at around 4,500rpm to a bellow that’ll make you scream yourself hoarse trying to replicate it with your vocal cords. It’s a scream that exaggerates the speeds you achieve, to a point where it sounds like a chainsaw let loose, screaming in a manner that is as exciting as it is scary. Wait, let me change that: it sounds like a chainsaw being held to your face because it simply is that terrifying. Especially on tarmac soaked with rain and with a front wheel that’s constantly threatening to rise every time you twist the throttle hard and keep it pinned past 10,000 revs.

But, let’s start from the… er, start. Before all the mayhem, the F4 was parked in a small factory shed at the Kinetic Engineering plant, looking beautiful rather than threatening. Where I could sit and let my eyes take in its splendid lines and its neatly sculpted surfaces. There may be an argument about which of the many mental super bikes of our generation is truly king of the hill as they’re separated by marginal differences in horsepower and weight, and now nearly all of them are level on the electronic aids front. There’s very little to set them apart, really. But, then again, the F4 isn’t like every other motorcycle.