It was clear that Ducati had a lock on the “sexy v-twin” market in the mid-90s, selling basically every 916 they could make at a very premium price. But, aside from the funky, springless valves, they weren’t really offering anything all that innovative, and Suzuki figured they could do something much better for cheaper. And…
At some point, you may get to thinking, “These modern sport bikes are going to kill me.” It’s a pretty logical conclusion. It’s bad enough we have to dodge car drivers on cell phones, off-leash dogs, deer, moose, apparently coyotes… We have to watch out for road debris, sand, rocks, wet leaves, and sometimes discarded…
As the 1990’s wound down Bimota ventured into powerplant development, and produced a race-derived 500cc two-stroke mill for their 1997 V-Due. Not for the meek however, fuel injection difficulties forced a recall and Bimota re-fit the entire production with carburettors, leaving them mostly outside emissions regulations for street machines, and ultimately forcing the partners to…