2008 Bimota Tesi 3D Limited Edition – #23 of 29 – w/876 miles for sale with a bargain Buy It Now price of $25,000!
What the heck is going on? This is the 3rd Bimota Tesi 3D that we’ve listed (not counting serial #00 listed back in July) for sale in the span of less than a month! First it was LE #06, then it was #28, and now it’s #23 – the world must be coming to an end!
Up for sale is a Bimota Tesi 3D Limited Edition number 23 of 29 produced worldwide.
This bike was carefully broken in and is fully sorted. The 600 mile service was performed by Ken Zeller of Evoluzione Cyclesports. This bike is completely stock and in “as new” condition, no disappointments. Retail price was over $40K.
From the Bimota website:
Bimota have now sold the 29 limited edition version of last years Tesi 3D. In 2008 Bimota are offering a more “standard” version of the Tesi 3D. There is no such thing as a standard Bimota, but the new Tesi 3D will cost 3,000 Euro less featuring less carbon fibre and Bimota’s own CNC machined brake and clutch levers. Bimota themselves think these are just as good as the Accossato items on the pricier limited edition. The fluid reservoirs are now standard items rather than CNC machined units. The powertrain is the Ducati air-cooled 1100cc L-twin. Choose between an all blacked out carbon version or the white and red. All at around 26,000 Euro.
This bike is one of the more desirable Limited Editions with the extra carbon fiber, CNC reservoirs and wet clutch.
The bike is located in Thousand Oaks, California.
Regular readers of RSBFS will need no further introduction to the Tesi 3D, but to those untrained in the art of hub center steering, here’s a very brief intro to why there’s a swingarm hanging out in front instead of a pair of telescopic forks: regular forks are inherently flawed in their design in that they have to handle braking, suspension, and steering forces all at the same time, resulting in issues such as fork compression (and hence reduced suspension travel) during braking, causing a change in steering geometry and affecting stability of the bike during cornering.
Hub center steering designs separates braking, suspension, and steering functions, all but eliminating brake dive (or front suspension compression) and geometry change during braking, allowing the front suspension to remain “active” during braking and cornering, greatly increasing stability.
The Tesi 3D is the 3rd hub center steered bike from Bimota (after the 1990 Tesi 1D and the 2004 Tesi 2D), with the punchy Ducati air-cooled 1100DS engine pushing a welterweight 370 lb. It won’t trouble any supersports on the track, but in the real world riding on the roads, it should be plenty fast enough. Here’s a previous article on The Kneeslider on the Tesi 3D with some great pics.
So all that technical info sounds great, but what’s it like to ride? Two words: confidence inspiring. But don’t take my word for it – read what these magazine guys have to say about the handling of the Tesi 3D: Cycle World, Motorcycle.com, and Motociclismo.
Now we’ve addressed the technical / logical side of things – but what about the emotion side? We all know that purchasing a motorcycle is as much a technical exercise as it is an emotional one, and the Italians – and more specifically Bimota – are the absolute masters at pushing the right buttons – just look at that CNC machined “omega” frame; the machined billet reservoirs sitting oh so pretty on top of the triple clamps; the carbon fiber tie roads and bodywork; even the saddle is exquisitely finished with the words “Tesi 3D” embossed on it. You could park the Tesi 3D in your living room, pour yourself a glass of red wine, and sit there and admire it all day – it’s that much of an eye candy.
Just to get your pulse running, here’s a great video of a Tesi 3D being flogged around the Tsukuba circuit in Japan:
And here’s a Tesi 3D race bike being started (note the roar of those open Zard exhaust @ 0:48):
With the world coming to an end sometime in 2012 according to the Mayan calender, I would not walk, !
ph
