Mike writes us, “Bimota BB1 in Scotland! I’m a regular reader/occasional commenter on your posts. I thought I’d bring your attention to a bike that I’ve just listed for sale, in a vain attempt to encourage some additional publicity :-)” I had never even heard of this model and with such flattery I had to oblige! He also has a great description of the bike quoted below.
1996 Bimota Supermono for sale on eBay UK for £3,900.00 (~$6200)
from the seller:
An interesting little bike this. It’s not of mass appeal, but I’ve had a fetish for single-cylinder bikes for some time, and looked for ages to find a good example of its kind. When I got it about two years ago, it arrived with the original tyres that it left the factory with. Probably with the air of Rimini still in them too, I’ve serviced it, and had a lot of fun on it. It’s not the fastest bike out there, but it handles and is extremely light. You’ll have fun trying to keep momentum through the corners with the throttle pinned.
The engine is a single cylinder from the BMW F650, built by Rotax. The frame is an aluminium alloy, machined in a typical Bimota style.
Although it’s extremely light in it’s factory standard condition, I see a lot of potential for losing a few more kilos. If I were to keep it, I’d be looking at getting a new exhaust made up to save a few kilos. But alas, my garage is full at the moment, and I’ve got yet another bit of vintage exotica on its way, so something probably ought to go (in the interests of marital harmony, you understand).
As you’d expect for such a low milage (4803km), it’s in factory fresh condition. The bodywork is in excellent condition. It’s one of the monoposto bikes (I never really understood why they bothered with a biposto version)
It’s a rare wee beastie too – only 148 of these monoposto versions were made (making them rarer than the biposto version, of which 228 were built). So long as you’re not teaming up with the guys from bimotaforum.co.uk, you can be pretty confident that you’ll not bump into another one in the petrol station.
And, it’s worth explicitly pointing out – this is a single-cylinder bike. With lots of vibration and lots of character, you get a rare opportunity to really explore the limits of engine and chassis on those twisty backroads at a speed that will limit the potential damage to your license, and challenge your ability to handle a bike, rather than simply relying on the throttle to power you down the straight bits.
Simply put, this won’t appeal to multi-cylinder high capacity sportsbike riders, unless they have a good appreciation for what this wee thumper is about 🙂
It’s probably the wrong time of year to be trying to sell this, but I’m in no particular hurry, as I’ve got a very flexible arrangement with the next one arriving. Daft offers won’t be entertained, but if you’re interested, get in touch and we can chat. The bike is in West Lothian in Central Scotland, right next to one of the train stations on the main Edinburgh/Glasgow line and very close to Edinburgh Airport for your convienience.
MOT expires in June 2013, and it’s currently on SORN.
Transportation within the UK is possible.
Good luck with the sale Mike!
dc