Update 3.11.2019: This bike has SOLD! Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc For the money, 1990s Bimotas offer some pretty incredible bang for your buck. Obviously, a more modern machine of equal value will be faster, as well as more reliable and practical, but if the goal is to own something different, something exotic, and…
Over in the comments sections of another post, we’ve been debating the relative merits and values of some of the priciest motorcycles, but it’s still possible to find something cool, collectible, and very competent if you’re on a limited budget. It’s not one of Yamaha’s fastest sportbikes, but this first-generation FZR1000 might be their most…
Bimota’s formula for success involved plentiful, reliable engines supplied by outside manufacturers, top-shelf braking and suspension components, frames designed with pure performance in mind, all wrapped in sleek, often wildly-styled bodywork. The use of well-developed and widely available engines meant they managed to survive much longer than most other boutique motorcycle manufacturers and their style…
Update 3.14.2018: Turns out this one sold faster than we could post it. Congratulations to buyer and seller! -dc A modern literbike is a relatively peaky beast: chasing horsepower without increasing displacement means ever-higher revs are required, and a six-speed box makes sense. It’s telling that bikes like today’s Featured Listing Yamaha’s FZR1000, one of…
It’s hard to find an FZR 1000 that isn’t as cool as a snow cone in a blizzard, but the ’89s and ’90s really speak to me. Maybe it’s the Bike of the Decade designation for the ’89s. Maybe it’s the Ow01-aping bug-eyed fairing. Maybe it’s the sub-three-second 0-60 and 170 mph top end. Probably…
Bikes today are faster, lighter, better-handling, and safer than ever before. But while there have been huge advances in terms of electronics and the materials used to build them, they use basically the same layout and suspension since motorcycle design became codified sometime in the late 1980s. The familiar telescopic forks are most definitely a…
By the end of the 1990s, it could be argued that Bimota was basically irrelevant. After all, the whole point of a Bimota was simple: take a powerful, reliable engine from a bike from an established manufacturer, then slip it into a stiff, lightweight frame with the best suspension money could buy at both ends,…
Considering that Bimota is still… in business [was going to type something else, but had second thoughts as maybe “thriving” is a bit too strong a word] it’s a little surprising that some of their older offerings are so affordable, considering their exotic looks, extreme rarity, high specification, and performance that will at least keep…