Viba Lara 800 – a pricier scrambler
23 MV Agusta Brutale 800-based scramblers to be made for £22,840 each
SCIENTISTS announced last year that we’d reached ‘peak beard’ – a phenomenon whereby women find hirsute chins attractive only until a certain proportion of men sport face fungus, after which their appeal wanes and those with a healthy appreciation of Mr King Camp Gillette’s products once again become the preferred type.
Now we’re going to try not to mention bearded hipsters here (damn, make that no mentions from here on…) but is it possible that we’ve also passed ‘peak scrambler’?
We’ve certainly noticed a trend here at Visordown Towers, and by ‘trend’ we mean tendency rather than anything to do with fashion, for comments on any scrambler-related articles to be tinged with a suggestion that some of our dear readers are tiring of retro-inspired, off-road-styled machines.
But the wheels of motorcycle development turn slowly and the world’s bike makers, both big and small, are still just getting started on scramblers.
Here’s one that’s definitely at the ‘small’ end of the spectrum, the Lara 800 from French firm Viba.
Based on the MV Agusta Brutale 800, the Lara 800 is a frighteningly expensive take on the sort of off-roader that’s unlikely ever to even be ridden in the rain, let alone risk getting mud on its awkward-to-clean trellis frame and exposed engine. The firm has plans to make 23 of them. It’s sold #1 already, according to the website, and #2 is pre-ordered. So just 21 more are up for grabs.
As well as the handmade aluminium fuel tank and plenty of carbon fibre, Viba has bolted on a set of Borrani wheels and reworked the suspension, added a custom exhaust with a Zard silencer and chucked those stock Brembos (hang on, didn’t people used to add Brembos when they built specials?) in favour of Beringer calipers.
The price for all this? That will be €32,310 (£22,840) before taxes, and with a €10,000 (£7,068) deposit required to put your name down for one. And that’s before you start speccing-up with bits like the optional Ohlins forks. Suddenly, 23 sounds like a quite ambitious target…
