Middle Child: 2006 Bimota Tesi 2-D in California

Update: This one sold before we could finish writing it. Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc

Hub center steering bikes make the occasional appearance here on RSBFS.   Sometimes they are wild like the Gilera CX125, sometimes they are mild like the Yamaha GTS listed earlier this week…and then we have the Bimota Tesi/Thesis series.  The Bimota Tesi lineup originated with a fairly standard sport bike with an oddball front end with the 1-D, went to the other extreme with the 2-D and then came back to the middle with the 3-D.  While the 1-d and 3-d make occasional appearances on RSBFS, this is the much rarer middle child, the 2-D.

For those unfamiliar with the middle child Tesi, the 2-D began in 2002 when Ascanio Rodorigo, a former Bimota employee, founded his own motorcycle company ARP and decided to produce an updated version of the hub centered Tesi.  Less than 6 months later Rodorigo unveiled his creation, the Vyrus.  Given his close relationship with Bimota, its not surprising Bimota and Vyrus reached an agreement on how to sell his creation; Vyrus would build the bike and could sell it as a Vyrus, Bimota would be able to re-body/re-badge and sell it as the 2-D Bimota through its more established sales network.

2006 Bimota Tesi 2D for sale on ebay

To put it simply, the 2-D not only looked miles better than the 1-D, it performed much better too. Handling was a quantum leap over the old bike due to the shocks on both front and rear plus the huge reduction in weight and bulk from the 1-D, with the new Tesi having no fairing and almost no bodywork leaving the aluminum omega frame exposed.

Like most limited edition models (only 30 were made each year), the Vyrus/Tesi 2-D wasn’t cheap.  Interestingly the Bimota Tesi 2-D was the more expensive option at  €46,000 while the Vyrus was only €38,000. The 2-D was removed from the Bimota lineup in 2007, after less than 50 units were built so as not to compete with the Tesi 3-D under development at the time.

Here is the info about the bike from the seller:

One of 10 brought to the US.  To my knowledge two have been exported, one is in the Barber Motor sports museum.

I know of one more private owner so at the most six are here.

One owner, part of a collection & it is just not getting used.

Southern Ca. Location , will assist with a trusted shipper.

FLAWLESS paint, ceramic coated exhaust & Kellerman signals.

Owners manual, & extra key.

So what’s it worth?  Well, the Tesi bikes are kind of like the Ducati Supermono – prized by collectors, rarely seen on the actual street.   Given that this one is one of the rare 2-D series the asking price of 39,000 USD actually seems about right.   Personally I would love to have this one tucked away in my collection…maybe a RSBFS reader will pull the trigger and let me come over and drool on it a bit?

MG