Before it was unveiled, CEO Giovanni Castiglioni told us the MV Agusta F3 “will be the smallest supersport ever produced.” We saw the F3 at EICMA, but without dimensions and without any other motorcycles close by for comparison. So, wanting to see just how small this thing is, we decided to do a visual comparison between it and its big brother, the F4. The white silhouette you see above is the F3, super imposed over the F4. As you can see, it’s demonstrably smaller.

Now there is one problem with this comparison. Lacking official dimensions for the F3 or the ability to shoot the two bikes next to each other ourselves (yet), we’re relying on a visual comparison between two photographs taken from slightly different angles and using slightly different lenses. As such, treat this as a rough guide, not a definitive comparison.

So what can we see? Well, the F3 appears to be shorter both overall and in wheelbase, but retains the same seat height, with that seat located slightly forward in comparison to its big brother. That makes for a shorter reach to the bars.

We do have dimensions for the 2010 MV Agusta F4. The seat height is 33.84 inches; the overall length is 82.63 inches and the wheelbase is 56.27 inches. For the F3 to match the dimensions of the Triumph Daytona 675, a close rival on both spec and price, it’ll need to shrink that overall length by 3.1 inches and drop the wheelbase by 1.4 inches. Judging by these silhouettes we made, the F3 will have a taller seat height than they Daytona, matching that of the F4.

How small is the MV Agusta F3?

Maybe not by teensy tiny current 600 standards, but the F4 is already a very small motorcycle. That’s me riding it in the above photo and even at 6’ 2” I dwarf the F4. My particularly large noggin appears to emphasize this. The four-cylinder superbike feels nearly as slim as a v-twin, meaning the very tall seat isn’t a problem, we’d expect at least a similar slimness from the F3.

In the gallery below you’ll also find comparisons between the F3 and F4’s components. The 675 is on the left in all of them. Giovanni tells us the F3 will retail for €11,500 in Italy (undercutting the Triumph by €90) when it goes on sale next fall. Looking at some of these images you can see where MV has saved some money in comparison to the $18,500 F4. Fairing fasteners are allen bolts rather than DZUS, the mirrors are less intricate and black rather than body color, the headlight doesn’t use an LED/HID combo.

There’s currently no word on when or if the F3 will debut in the US, but we’re working on that.

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