The MV Agusta F4 was the motorcycle that launched the resurrection of MV Agusta in 1998. The F4 was created by famous motorcycle designer Massimo Tamburini at CRC (Cagiva Research Center), following his work on the Ducati 916. The F4 is unique with its four pipe undertail exhaust, single-sided swingarm, large front forks (49 or 50 mm diameter) and traditional MV Agusta red and silver livery. The F4 is also one of the few production superbikes to have hemispherical chamber 4 valves per cylinder engine.
The F4 engine is a liquid cooled inline four cylinder (4-stroke) with two overhead camshafts (DOHC), 16 radial valves, electronic multipoint injection, induction discharge electronic ignition and following capacity variants: 749.5 cc, 998 cc and 1078 cc. The engine was derived from the 1990–1992 Ferrari Formula One engine. Early in the design process Ferrari engineers assisted in the development of the engine. MV (Cagiva at the time) quickly deviated from the Ferrari design, but they kept one important feature, the radial valves. The F4 engine is unique in the sense that it is the only radial valved motorcycle engine currently in production.
The F4 Tamburini, F4 Veltro, and F4 CC models are equipped with variable length intake ducts known as the "TSS" system. The "TSS" system is designed to increase torque in the low to midrange, while still allowing for max. horsepower at the top of the rev range (usually two mutually exclusive properties of an engine). The "TSS" system has two positions, it is not able to vary the height of the intake ducts continuously. "TSS" is able to lower peak torque from the 10000 rpm to 9000 rpm while maintaining maximum power. This system debuted on the F4 Tamburini and was lauded by independent motorcycling publications such as Australian Motorcycle News.