Written by Tim Huber.
MV Agusta has a rich and lengthy race history as one of the winningest motorcycle marques of all time with the Varese firm having nabbed more than 75 world titles between ?52 and ?74. The company?s also had the honor of seeing a slew of motorcycling legends pass through its ranks and pilot its bikes with racers like Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini famously at the helm. So, it?s frankly unsurprising that when looking to build an MV Agusta-based cafe racer, that Switzerland?s Tricana Motorcycle?s would draw inspiration from the Italian brand?s illustrious race machines from around half-a-century-ago. 

First founded in 2016, Tricana is a Swiss Italian motorcycle dealership that also has one serious knack for whipping up the occasional one-off project. Headed up by Jonathan Natario, the outfit?s latest bespoke creation is constructed around a 2013 example of MV?s full-faired F3 675 and has been dubbed ?La Rouge?.  ?The bike started life as a track day machine, so it hadn?t been babied, though it was still in solid shape with only 6,000km?s (3,730-miles) on the clock,? explains Jonathan. 

The project was commissioned by a client that had requested a cafe racer, so plans were drawn up for a pretty standard build with clip-ons, a round headlight, and a cafe-humped tail, though over time, Jonathan suggested to the customer that Tricana could do a bit more, and from there things morphed into the machine you now see before you.

The F3?s stock fairing, tail...