Bike Reviews Bimota

Heading into EICMA, we were expecting Bimota to announce a new motorcycle based off an existing Kawasaki model. After all, that has been the pattern since Kawasaki acquired a stake in the Italian brand in 2019. Last year, we saw the debut of the Ninja 1000SX-based Bimota KB4 and KB4RC in Milan, and so this year, we expected another new mode.

Kawasaki’s November 2019 acquisition of a 49.9% shareholding in Bimota has brought the Italian boutique manufacturer back from oblivion, to the point that despite a slowdown caused by component supply issues, it’s now constructed all 250 examples of the its limited edition kickoff model unveiled at the 2020 EICMA Milan Show, the supercharged hub-centre Tesi H2 now being shipped to its dealers around the world – but mainly in Japan. As Bimota’s strapline for the bike succinctly puts it – “The Revolution Continues!”

One thoughtful stop if you were traveling back in time 25 years, would be Rimini, Italy. You could pop into the Bimota workshop and tell Signores Bianchi, Morri, and Tamburini, NO, for the love of God, DON’T DO IT! IT’S NOT GONNA WORK!!

Just as Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri, and Massimo Tamburini started doing in Rimini in 1973, Bimota is still cranking out exotic motorcycles to make us swoon, clutch our pearls, and check our 401k balances. If it starts with “K,” then this one must contain an inline Kawasaki engine, and that the KB4 does. This 77 x 56mm, 1043 cc Four is lifted from the current Ninja 1000 SX, which churned out 124 rear-wheel ponies and 75 lb-ft of torque when we had the pleasure of testing one last year. These two, really, since, there’s a standard KB4 and a “Vintage-Inspired” KB4-RC (RaceCafe’).

Kawasaki is acquiring a stake in Bimota, breathing new life into the Italian brand best known for its hub-steering motorcycle designs. Once the deal is completed and passes regulatory approval, Kawasaki Motors Europe, through its subsidiary Italian Motorcycle Investment, will purchase a 49.9% share in Bimota, with the controlling 50.1% being retained by its current owners (formerly Bimota S.A. but officially renamed B and Motion S.A.).

The Bimota YB5 was tagged as the fastest, maddest, most expensive hyperbike on the planet when it was rolled out in 1987. With 130-horsepower from the amazing FJ1200 engine, the YB5 was what the Hayabusa is now, only with the flair and exclusivity that comes with a bike that is hand built and one from a run of only 208 units.

Motorcycle companies like to return to their roots to draw inspiration. Kawasaki did it with the Ninja H2 and Ninja H2R models, BMW with the R nineT, and this year Yamaha did it with the XSR900. Well, Bimota is also looking to its past too, but unlike many other manufacturers, however, that past only goes so far as to produce a rolling chassis. With the Bimota BB3 kit, now customers can re-live Bimota’s early days.

Bimota calls its new Impeto, introduced at EICMA 2015, a Hyper-Naked. We don’t know when all these specialized categories for motorcycles is going to stop, but from the sound of it, here’s hoping Hyper-Naked catches on.

Recently, Bimota gave us a preview of the new models and technologies it would be unveiling at EICMA 2015. Among them was a new Tesi 3D RaceCafe model utilizing the famous hub steering seen in the rest of the Tesi line. Now we finally have photos of the Tesi 3D RaceCafe to go along with the specs revealed earlier.

Why did the Tesi never make it big? For one thing, its $40k list price made it the most expensive motorcycle going at the time, and for another it was just too different and probably also too complex. Then again, the whole point of being a Bimota is that none of them ever make it big.

If pure fun in an exotic package is what you’re after, the B.motard doesn’t disappoint. In fact, it’s hard to envision a motorcycle more fun and exotic than this one. Motards are built for the purpose of attempting acts of craziness you can only dream about on a sportbike, and the Bimota DB10 delivers this temptation in style.