The motorcycle considered the most sophisticated in the world is on sale again, after a hiatus of nine years.
The very expensive hub-steering Tesi 2D superbike marks the rebirth of Italy’s Bimota company, in whose 2001 bankruptcy it helped play a part.
The new Bimota Tesi (Italian for thesis) can be yours for about $44,000 if you’re burning for a 150-m.p.h. sportbike that draws crowds the way a Norton leaks oil. The price is up 50 percent from the last Tesi sold in 1994, but what isn’t?
The re-energized company, which restarted in the spring of ’04, is also making the SB8K, powered by Suzuki’s TL1000 motor, and announced a new Ducati-based DB5 at September’s Munich motorcycle show.
Bimota is often considered the Ferrari of motorcycles. Founded in 1973 by Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri and Massimo Tamburini (the name Bimota takes two initials from each), it’s based in the seaside town of Rimini, where factory prototypes may be seen running errands or parked outside cafes. Bimotas feature hand-made frames of aircraft-quality aluminum and carbon fiber, precise attention to detail, florid colors, aggressive riding position and razor-sharp handling.
And the company boosts power from engines it buys. Indeed, the first normally aspirated stock bike to top 200 m.p.h. was a Suzuki-powered Bimota SB6 on Oct. 18, 1998. It was timed at 202.247 m.p.h. at Maxton Airbase in North Carolina–in street trim.
But the Tesi is the most extreme realization of Bimota’s design ambitions, with a hub-steering front suspension and a thundering air-cooled, 992-cc V-twin from the Ducati Multistrada. Hub steering has fascinated motorcycle designers since the 1920s, as separating the steering, braking and suspension forces enables each to be more accurately controlled.
The Tesi began at the hands of designer Federico Martini and two design students, Roberto Ugolini and Pierluigi Marconi. The first Tesi was shown in Milan in 1983 with hydraulic steering. But the idea stalled until Marconi became chief engineer in 1989 and fitted a Ducati engine and mechanical steering. The Tesi design is his thesis for his engineering degree.
In all, 366 Tesis were made between 1991-1994, selling for $29,175 when you could buy a conventional Bimota for about half that and a top line Japanese bike for about one third of it.
Later bikes with Ohlins shocks work better than the early Marzocchi-shod models, though Ohlins and Penske shocks can be retrofitted. There were 127 Tesi IDs made in 1990-91; 164 Tesi ID SRs in 1991-92; 50 Tesi 1D ESs in 1993 and 25 Tesi 1D EFs in 1994. All Tesis used Ducati V-twins, first 851 cc then stroked to 904 cc.
The development of the latest “naked” Tesi 2D–called “seriously quick and sorted” by Superbike magazine–has been credited to Rodrigo Ascanio, a former Bimota technician who continued to improve his Tesi while the company was moribund. He adopted a lighter Ducati engine, replaced steel sections of the frame with aluminum and modified the rear swing arm. He proved his ideas in Italy’s Battle of Twins race series, setting many lap records.
But the complexity of the Tesi construction means you’ll have to become your own mechanic or find somebody with the finesse of a Ferrari or BMW shop. For example: Adjusting Ducati desmodromic valves is time consuming, but on a Tesi the motor must be removed.
Importer Bob Smith at Moto Point (www.motopoint.com) has spares in the U.S. and some new bikes, including a Tesi 1D SR, some DB4s, SB6 Rs and SB8 Rs. Where spares are concerned, owners can always call the factory in an emergency.
Other resources for Bimota motorcycles and information are www.bimota-central.com and the Web site for the Bimota Club Italia, www.infoservizi.it/bimotaclubitalia/clubeng.htm . Then there’s Giorgio Sarti’s book “Bimota–25 Years of Excellence.”
Bimota led up to the Tesi with a series of superbly finished but more conventional bikes and some solid racing credentials with 300 victories. Tamburini made his reputation by building frames for Yamaha and Aermacchi bikes that took several 250-cc and 350-cc world championships in the 1970s and ’80s. The company’s crowning success was Virginio Ferrari’s 1987 World Championship on a Martini-designed, 750-cc Yamaha-powered YB4 R. Asked if he remembered it, Ferrari said: “I don’t remember it, I feel it.”
Ten carbureted YB4 Rs were made in 1987, followed by 37 fuel-injected YB4 E1 Rs in 1988 and 1989.
Bimota has used engines from all four major Japanese manufacturers. The letter in the model name indicates the engine maker–HB is Honda, KB is Kawasaki, etc. There are believed to be 304 Hondas, 1,116 Kawasakis, 5,183 Yamahas, 2,946 Suzukis, 2,154 Ducatis, 524 Rotax-powered Supermonos and 315 V-Dues, Bimota’s ill-fated two-stroke twin, which also contributed to its temporary demise. In all, the company made about 12,500 bikes before its 2001 bankruptcy and subsequent revival.
There are about 50 Tesis in the U.S., and designer Marconi rides one in Italy. Marconi says the most exciting aspect of his job is the ability to build complete motorcycles tri-dimensionally on computers.
“The time to market today is very short and you can calculate all the systems quickly, then model in clay to get the shape just right,” he says.
It’s the meeting of mathematics and art that makes the Tesi so satisfying, says Marconi.
“The Tesi concept is very innovative and a work of art. I have a Tesi and I don’t think I’ll ever replace it. I get so much satisfaction every time I ride it.”
