The idea behind the SB6 is classic Bimota: take a dead-reliable, honking big Japanese engine and wrap it in a sexy, lightweight frame, drape with carbon bodywork, and fit top-shelf suspension at both ends. Unfortunately, by the mid-1990’s, Japan had well caught up to the Europeans in terms of handling and, although their bikes sometimes…
Although they built their reputation around their race-spec bikes, Bimota also built plenty of street-biased bikes. There’s obviously no real racing class for a bike like the Bimota YB5, powered as it was by Yamaha’s 1188cc FJ1200 engine and 5 speed transmission. But while it may not have been eligible for any race series, the…
Bimota made their name building lean, spare, race-oriented bikes with only the barest nods to streetability. So the DB3 Mantra was a bit of a left-turn for them, as it was purely meant to be a road bike and had no track pretensions. Unfortunately, released from the requirement to make the bike aerodynamic for speed…
Quite rare stateside, the Yamaha 400-four powered Bimota YB7 might be the exotic you feel safe sending your girlfriend out on. While most of the 321 production models went to Japan ( due to insurance regulations ), a handful has found there way here. Though you can wind it out in every gear, the feather…
“Like any habit that becomes a vice, you think you can handle it. Just the one. That’s what you tell yourself. As a man of fortitude and strong character, you can take it or leave it. But before too long you’ve crossed a line. You don’t even know where that line was and now you’re…
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…
Some people seem to think that RSBFS should only focus on “unobtanium” bikes, bikes that that meet all the major criteria of sportbike collectibility (numbers produced, technology, condition and location). Here is a 1980 Bimota KB1 which meets all four of the collectibility criteria and has been considered one of the 6 sexiest Bimota models ever…
Here is something a bit unusual, a pre-bankruptcy Bimota SB3 that looks like it was actively ridden. Bimota was founded on the idea of taking an existing bike and making it better, with particular focus on the frame. The SB3 debuted in 1979 and while not as dramatic looking as the SB2 it was derived from, the…