[4] As a hobby of the director, Count Domenico Agusta, the company entered motorcycle racing.

It began in the popular Italian lightweight classes, and the first race bike was a 125cc two-stroke with a power output of 8 hp and a top speed of 115 km/h.

In 1949, the engine delivered around 10 hp with a top speed of 130 km/h, but even in the national races in Italy, it was unable to compete with the fast four-strokes of Mondial and Moto Morini.

The MV Agusta Bialbero 125 engine even resembled the Benelli 250 cc racer from before the Second World War.

The engine was an air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke with double overhead camshafts (DOHC) powered by a gear train.

The MV Agusta had a double cradle frame that was constructed from chrome molybdenum tubes with a diameter of 25 × 1.2 mm.

At the rear there was a swinging arm with friction dampers, but these were replaced around 1954 by normal spring/damper elements with hydraulic shock absorbers.

Domenico Agusta decided that he needed British drivers for the World Championship, as they would know the Mountain Course at the Isle of Man and the Clady Circuit in Northern Ireland, and signed Cecil Sandford for the 125 cc class.

[13] That machine immediately became popular, meaning that no fewer than eleven MVs were at the start of the Isle of Man TT.

[14] Sandford finished third and Carlo Ubbiali, who joined MV from Mondial, retired from the race.

[12] The NSU Rennfox was unbeatable in the hands of Rupert Hollaus in 1954 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.

[16] When Hollaus died during practice for the Nations motorcycle Grand Prix in Monza, NSU withdrew from racing.

[12] An over-bored version of the machine, the MV Agusta 175 Bialbero, was produced for use in the Italian 175 cc Championship, a popular series at the time.

The new Gilera 125 GP, on which Romolo Ferri regularly put in strong performances, and also the Mondial 125 Bialbero with the rising star Tarquinio Provini.

For the 1958 season, the MV Agusta the 125 cc riders were Carlo Ubbiali and Tarquinio Provini.

Fabio Taglioni had built a fast four-stroke single-cylinder engine with three overhead camshafts.

[31] The 125 Desmo Ducati was an immediate success: the young rider Alberto Gandossi won comfortably.

MV Agusta would have liked to win in the home race in Monza, but Ernst Degner very surprisingly won on the MZ RE 125 with a two-stroke engine.

The cost of racing for MV Agusta had become very high: A lot of money was invested in the 350 and 500 cc racers.