top drivers boycott the Grand Prix of Germany. In Assen, three brands were on the first row: Yamaha (Teuvo Länsivuori and Giacomo Agostini), MV Agusta (Phil Read) and Suzuki (Barry Sheene). Agostini won this race, but in Belgium he was again second behind Read. There he drove the new YZR 500, but the MV Agusta was also new and finally had a full 500cc engine. Due to falls in Sweden, Agostini and Sheene lost their chance for the world title. Phil Read came second there, but his win at the Grand Prix of Finland clinched the world title for MV Agusta again. Bonera finished second in the final ranking of the world championship. A decision of the FIM to reduce the sound volume of the racing machines in the future to 113 dB(A), would be particularly problematic for the four-stroke MV Agusta. Two-stroke were easier to dampen without sacrificing performance with a revision to the expansion chamber. The four-cylinder MV Agusta was measured at between 125 and 130 dB(A) on unrestricted exhaust pipes. Read and Agostini drove with earplugs to endure the noise. 1975 Although they had obtained the first two places in the previous year's world championship, the opposition for the MV Agustas was becoming stronger. The FIM had committed to long races. The two-stroke machines had to make fuel stops or mount larger, heavier tanks which favored the MV Agusta four-stroke. Read was not at all satisfied with the handling of the four-cylinder machine. A tubular frame was installed instead of the old demountable double loop frame to achieve higher chassis stability. A wider swingarm was also used to allow a slick tire on the rear. Gianfranco Bonera broke a leg during the preseason and had to be replaced by Armando Toracca. Giacomo Agostini, sought rapprochement with the MV team, but was still employed by Yamaha. Toracca disliked "second driver" status and forced Read to fight for third place in the opening race, causing them to lose a lot of time to Agostini and Kanaya with their Yamahas. In Austria, Read was only third behind Kanaya and Länsivuori (Suzuki). On the Hockenheim circuit, pure speed was important and as a result Read was able to compete with Agostini, but Agostini won. In Imola, Read had no chance against Agostini and in Assen he was only third. In Belgium, another speed circuit, Read won. Moreover, Agostini dropped out, as