Update 7.28.2016: The seller has informed me this bike is now sold. Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc
Update 7.18.2016: This KB3 has been relisted and now has a buy-it-now of $14,995. Links updated. Good luck to buyers and seller. -dc
Several years after its original 1984 build, Motorcyclist and SportRider magazine writer Nick Ienatsch purchased a crashed basket-case and rebuilt it into the iconic 1980’s sportbike it was – even more so as he upgraded the engine to 1,260 cc’s. Due to the ergonomic realities of riding a 1980’s sportbike with a 1950’s body, this KB3 is again available to be the most extreme road machine in the gallery or on the vintage ride.
1984 Bimota KB3 for sale on eBay
Bimota’s early perimeter frame design is executed in chromoly steel and cradles the sides of the big Kawi four cylinder. Billet frame connectors hold the rear sub-frame and swingarm pivot, which is directly in line between the rear axle and primary sprocket. Ienatsch took the rebuilder’s opportunity to install a dream engine, a 1260cc engine built by Gatlin Racing with dual-plugged and ported heads with oversize intake valves, Webcam cams, MTC cylinders, Wiseco pistons, and Falicon crank. With 38mm Mikuni smooth bore flat slide carbs, the engine claims 140 hp, rarified air for a two-valve per cylinder engine.
Chassis design being Bimota’s specialty, the KB3 uses offset triple clamps to help control fork compression under braking. The 40 mm Ceriani forks have magnesium tubes and 8 settings. The De Carbon gas monoshock supports the chromoly swingarm with a rocker arm and pushrod arrangement. The subsystems are beautifully mounted on mostly billet brackets, from the brake calipers to footpegs, clutch slave to rear axle eccentric adjusters. The lightweight wheels are upgraded PM wheels as noted in the ad – 17” front and 18” rear. The KB3 carries a supersport’s 3/4 fairing with roomy windscreen, and one of the sweetest integrations of the tank, side covers, and seat fairing ever.
In that era Bimota sold chassis kits and completed bikes, and the KB3 frame could also be a Suzuki-powered SB4 with different engine mounts, which was how this particular bike started life. The owner rides this bike occasionally and has brought maintenance up to date for the next caretaker, as he says in the eBay auction:
The bike was serviced about 500 miles ago with an oil change, brake and clutch fluid change and valve adjustment. I just installed (mid-May ‘16) a new Duracell AGM battery that has a two year full replacement warranty. The engine starts easily and runs well and the bike is a blast to ride. (I just did a 2-½ hour ride on it this past week.) Whenever the bike was going to sit more than a couple of weeks, I always drained the gas tank and carburetor float bowls to prevent any corrosion issues. It is air/oil cooled and easy to work on with easy top end access from above given the wrap around frame (see pics), and it is carbureted so you can work on it easily without a computer – not that I’ve had to do anything major – it is a well dialed in motorcycle. The custom exhaust with Supertrapp muffler sounds wonderful, and I don’t think there has ever been a more beautiful Bimota made! I prefer limited electronic gadgetry, and this bike fits the bill perfectly.
The final Kawasaki-engined Bimota, the KB3 was built for only two years and a total of 112 machines. Rarity assured, and the superb condition is a lot better than more neglected super specials, even as shown unfaired. The tricolore harlequin might be a leap of faith for some, but they will never be able to say they didn’t see you coming. As featured in Motorcyclist magazine’s Heavy Artillery series, it certainly qualifies – the big bore motor work, Bimota’s heavyweight chassis engineering, and concours preparation.
The auction has 9 days left to run with a buy-it-now of $18,995. The Phoenix-based owner requests questions via his eBay listing.
-donn
Holy awesome batman, but I think it’s too wide to fit in my garage.
This is the Bimota that started it all for me back when it was originally featured in a magazine many years ago. Loved it then, love it now.
I love that paint. Wish I could do that with my track bike, even if tricolore on an SV doesn’t make a lot of sense. You need that slabby 80s bodywork to make it work though.
Nothing short of amazing,cannot believe how beautiful bimotas of that era are and the tricolor paintwork just tops it off.
I am surprised PM does not make a run of those wheels. They used to make some cool go- fast stuff some time ago.
Some interesting stuff on this build, I especially like the Performance Machine ‘CHICANE’ rims, which if you know me isn’t surprising ’cause I’m goo-goo ga-ga over the composite wheels of ALL types, Honda Comstar, wire-spoke, Akront “NERVI”, what-have-you.
And I agree, PM should run off another batch of these things. Furthermore, MORAD needs to be pressured via “plebiscite” etc, to bring the Akront “NERVI” tooling out of moth-balls. These rims would change the landscape for the Ducati F1 Montjuich/SantaMonica/LagunaSeca owners AND all of us fans of early ’80s Honda whether that be SOHC-4 or DOHC-4, VF-series, etc etc. ‘Cause the “NERVI” rims are a good 50% lighter than the D.I.D. rims which are OEM for the Honda Comstar wheels. Plus they were made in all the same widths & diameters as all of the regular Akront wire-spoke rims, meaning you could put wider rims on that F1 Montjuich, or bump ’em up to 17″ even, plus folks could use ’em to repair/modify/improve damaged/busted cast-mag wheels to make similar composites to the MARVIC rims fitted to certain of the F1’s.
IMHO, now THAT would make for an even better result than bringing back just the one line of Performance Machine wheels, the “CHICANE” which seems like a poor copy of the “Boomerang” Comstar rims from Honda, in a similar vein to the ASTRALITE 5-point composite wheels. Which, by the way, ARE already being produced once again!
But HEY – Back to the BIMOTA In question for a moment. Or at least, what I THINK maybe MIGHT have been the exact same specimen:
I thought I had seen this exact same bike a while back in ‘Motorcycle Classics’ magazine, or perhaps it was “Classic Motorcycle Mechanics, circa 2008 or 2009-ish – ANYWAY the bike was a Bimota SB3 or thereabouts IIRC (this is rebuilt with the KZ motor, correct?) Well the bike in question had the exact same PAINT SCHEME as this one here, if that says anything.
The thing which interested me, was that the rear brake had some very trick mods wherein the torque rod or stay arm was hollow, and the hydraulic fluid was conveyed via this tube, with two short flex lines one at either end. I’d very much like to COPY that aspect. Only I haven’t been able to find another example of it, nor have I found that same original article.
I’d like to get back to the hard lines on brakes, as much as possible, ’cause obviously they’re gonna be that much stiffer than the stainless braided lines which IMHO don’t live up to their reputation due to the stainless braid itself but rather due to the polyethylene tubing at it’s core – And when the aftermarket replacement lines are often longer than stock especially when they skip the T/Y-splitters and go for two full-length front lines for instance, this might be no intrinsic improvement at all other than the fact that it’s new material. But yeah, if I were to use several of the rigid metal pipes at both the top and bottom of the system, with some beefy industrial spec flex-line at the points where it needs to move? Well, this could make for an absolutely rigid brake line, the like of which you could never achieve with the braided lines.
Of course, that AND it would look cool! Ha-ha. I like that older look on a Honda, like the ’69 CB750K0 Sand-Cast etc – The Suzuki GT750K+ models also used the rigid metal brake lines.
Tough to say which would be the more affordable or practical method, but I’m guessing it’s smarter to get the kits & assemble one’s own flex lines, and also to buy the rigid tubing by the foot and get a flare fitting kit to make ’em custom to the application.
The REAR brake however, this rear torque-rod/stay-arm fluid conveyance would have to be one very special bunch of components indeed. I’ve got some great threaded rods to start with, from some old IKEA floor lamps, decent thick steel seam-welded tubing with a thread around the size of a 16mm-ish metric bolt. I’ve just gotta find some banjo bolts and banjo fittings to suit the things, or at least some rod-end, clevis etc type of fittings – or T-fitting adapters to turn the threads 90-degrees to the side and use a threaded line end fitting rather than a banjo of any type. One thing which concerns me is the compression washers on banjo fittings, how they would interact with the compression or tension (under-slung) on the rod itself during braking.
So THIS is why I’m searching for more pics of this bike’s history OR similarly coloured Suzuki powered Bimota SB3/KB3 specimens. I absolutely NEED to find some pics of that rear brake line set-up. For my “CB900K0 Bol Bomber” (a DOHC-4 ’82 Honda CB900F Bol D’Or based ‘homage’ to the ’65 CB450K0 Black Bomber) wherein I’m having to figure out an entirely new rear brake for my wire-spoke wheel swap, ’cause of the piggy-back type rear shocks where the OEM shocks normally have a diagonal off-set to the reservoir and my aftermarket Marzocchi Strada-II shocks aren’t off-set this way. Between that, and the original Cal-Fab Aluminum swing-arm and well, I’ve gotta figure out SOMETHING. I’ve got several rear rims to use, several sizes but two identical 4.25×18″ Akront with the only difference being one’s drilled for the CB750F1 rear disc hub or drum etc – and the other’s drilled for a Harley hub aka Honda front hub. Either way, I’ve got to shrink down the rear brake diameter, but the smaller hub would make this much easier and allow for a much smaller disc and save tons of weight. However it’s complicated by the need for a bolt-up cush-drive and bearings converted from the 15mm front axle to the 20mm rear. So, it’s up in the air right now until I can find a few rare components I’m searching for. I’d really LIKE to go with the “Front Hub Trick” right off the bat, but I might wind up using the enormous over-weight SOHC rear disc hub anyhow, simply ’cause it’s on hand and ready to go. If $$$ weren’t so tight, I’d have done the smaller hub already….
But yeah – just this one particular mod, the rigid pipe rear brake line? This is something you could use on ANY bike. Well, a classic bike which uses a rod type brake stay in the first place. A lot of the modern mono-shock rear brakes simply fix the caliper hanger to the swinger right close to the axle. But who cares? WE’RE all into the classics, right?
-Sigh.
SoyBoySigh,
Sorry to disappoint but this bike has a conventional steel braided line between the rear master and slave cylinders. You can see it pretty clearly in the eBay pics. The bike was featured in the September 1992 issue of Motorcyclist Magazine, but I’m not aware of any other articles written about it. I also agree about the PM wheels. They are one of the defining components on the bike! Wish they still made them. Let me know if I can answer any more questions. Happy to help. The bike needs to find a new home with someone that is a bit more limber than me. My 60+ year old body no longer works the way it used to 🙂
Thanks.
Chuck S.