Bimota is an Italian manufacturer of

custom Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to: Traditions, laws, and religion * Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom * Norm (social), a r ...

and production

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

s. It was founded in 1973 in

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

by Valerio Bianchi, Giuseppe Morri, and

Massimo Tamburini Massimo Tamburini (November 28, 1943 – April 6, 2014) was an Italian motorcycle designer for Cagiva, Ducati, and MV Agusta, and one of the founders of Bimota. Tamburini's designs are iconic in their field, with one critic calling him the "Michel ...

. The company name is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words Because the state of

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

design was stagnant in the 1970s, Bimota concentrated initially on building high-quality motorcycle

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

around existing engines. From the beginning they customised the top models of

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

and Kawasaki. During the late 1970s, Bimota also helped develop and build motorcycles branded as

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993) ...

s. In the 1980s they also customised

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

and

Ducati Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. () is the motorcycle-manufacturing division of Italian company Ducati, headquartered in Bologna, Italy. The company is directly owned by Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini, whose German parent company is Au ...

motorcycles. Bimota's co-founder and long-time chief designer

Tamburini Tamburini is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Tamburini, Australian bass-baritone singer with Zelman Symphony * Antonio Tamburini (baritone) (1800–1876), Italian operatic baritone * Antonio Tamburini (racing ...

has been an influential player in the development of other Italian brands, most significantly his work on the popular

Ducati 916 The Ducati 916 is a fully faired sport bike made by Ducati from 1994 to 1998. Featuring a fuel injected, 4-valve, desmo, liquid-cooled, 90° V-twin engine in a trellis frame with a single-sided swingarm and USD forks, the 916 is frequently cit ...

, the

Ducati Paso The Ducati Paso was introduced in 1986 with the slogan "Il nostro passato ha un grande futuro" (Our past has a great future). The name was in honour of racer Renzo Pasolini, nicknamed "Paso", who died on 20 May 1973 in an accident at the Monza ...

, and the

MV Agusta F4 The MV Agusta F4 is an inline four-cylinder sport bike made by MV Agusta from 1999 until 2018. It was the motorcycle that launched the resurrection of the brand in 1998. The F4 was created by motorcycle designer Massimo Tamburini at CRC (Cagiva ...

; other designers such as Bimota chief ''Sergio Robbiano'' have also been involved with larger-volume manufacturers. More recent Bimota models included the DB5, DB6, DB7, DB9 and the Tesi, with a DB8 featuring the

Ducati 1198 The Ducati 1198 is a sport bike made by Ducati from 2009 to 2011. For the 2011 model year there were two models: the 1198 and 1198SP (replacing the 1198S). The 1198 shared design elements with its predecessor 1098, but has more power and torque, ...

engine. The Tesi 3D was especially unusual, which, along with the co-designed

Vyrus Vyrus is a small, exclusivist Italian motorcycle manufacturer based in Coriano, Italy. Vyrus initially worked alongside Bimota on the evolutionary development of Bimota's "Tesi" motorcycle. The "Tesi", meaning ''Thesis'' in Italian, had its origi ...

, was the only motorcycle then in production to use

hub-center steering Hub-center steering (HCS) is one of several different types of front-end suspension/steering mechanisms used in motorcycles and cargo bicycles. Hub-center steering is characterized by the steering pivot points being inside the hub of the wheel, ra ...

Racing

Bimota first experienced international racing success in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

when

Jon Ekerold Jonathan "Jon" Ekerold (born 8 October 1946) is a South African former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ekerold is one of the few racers in the modern era to have won a world championship as a ...

, a true

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

, won the 350cc world championship on a Yamaha-powered Bimota. They also experienced success in the early years of the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

Virginio Ferrari Virginio Ferrari (born 19 October 1952) is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. His best season was in the 1979 500cc world championship, when he finished second to Kenny Roberts. Motorcycle racing career Ferrari t ...

won the 1987

Formula TT The Formula TT was a racing class for motorcycles from 1977 to 1990 as the official World Cup under the umbrella of International Motorcycling Federation. It was in three engine capacity classes, and was divided into both two and four-stroke engi ...

title aboard a YB4 EI, partnering with

Davide Tardozzi Davide Tardozzi (born in Ravenna, January 30, 1959) is a former Italian Superbike racer and current race team manager. After an unsuccessful attempt at competing in the 250cc Grand Prix world championships in 1984 and 1985, Tardozzi turned his at ...

. Tardozzi won five races in the inaugural world superbike championship, more than any other competitor, but inconsistent results relegated him to third place in the final standings. After many years without success, the Australian rider

Anthony Gobert Anthony Gobert (born 5 March 1975 in Greenacre, New South Wales, Australia) is a former professional motorcycle road racer, nicknamed The Go Show. He was a rider of immense promise and talent who had his career derailed by a personal struggle ...

caused a major shock in by winning a wet race at Philip Island on a Bimota SB8K. The Alstare team entered a

Bimota BB3 The Bimota BB3 is a sport bike produced the Italy, Italian motorcycle manufacturer Bimota. At the EICMA 2012 show, Bimota presented the BB2. First, it is a prototype intended to receive public criticism. The following year, Bimota offered the BB3 ...

package into

World Superbikes Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

for riders

Ayrton Badovini Ayrton Badovini (born 31 May 1986) is an Italian motorcycle racer. He has competed in the Italian Superbike Championship, the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, where he was champion in , the Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (a ...

and

Christian Iddon Christian Iddon (born 7 January 1985) is a British motorcycle racer from Stockport, England. He is the son of former racer Paul Iddon. Career summary After two seasons with Paul Bird Ducati, Iddon is contracted to Buildbase Suzuki for 2022, ...

, however the bike initially did not have enough units in production to pass the championship's homologation rules. As a compromise, the bikes were allowed to enter from round 2, but ineligible for points until homologation was achieved. At the end of the year the team finished unclassified and disqualified. File:Bimota YB3.jpg, Bimota YB3 File:Bimota-Yamaha_YB4-750.jpg, Bimota YB4 File:Bimota_SB8K_di_Anthony_Gobert.jpg, Bimota SB8K of

File:Bimota HB4 Martinez.jpg, Bernat Martínez on Bimota HB4 at the

2010 British motorcycle Grand Prix The 2010 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the fifth round of the 2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 18–20 June 2010 at Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone. It was the first event Valentino Rossi missed since ...

File:Bimota_BB3_Brandon_Cretu_at_Ballaugh_Bridge_-_IOMTT2015.jpg, Brandon Cretu on Bimota BB3 at the 2015

Senior TT The Senior Tourist Trophy is a motorcycle road race that takes place during the Isle of Man TT festival, an annual event traditionally held over the last week in May and the first week in June. The Senior TT is the Blue Riband event of the festi ...

Bankruptcy and rebirth

The V Due, introduced in 1997, had a design flaw with its engine. Bimota was forced to abandon the novel fuel injection system and re-engineer the entire engine. Bimota ultimately recalled the entire run of the V Due, and made an improved version, the 'Evoluzione'. Only 340 original V Dues and 21 Evoluziones were built. While this was occurring, during the 2000 World Superbike season, one of Bimota's main sponsors disappeared, owing the company a great deal of money. The combination of events forced Bimota to file for bankruptcy and close their doors. In 2003, new owners of the marque assets, Lorenzo Ducati and Giuseppi Della Pietra, formed Alternativa Moto, with the intention to manufacture all-Italian machines using Ducati engines, and sold the V-Due rights to Win-Win. A new group of investors purchased the rights to the Bimota name and designs and restarted the company. The investors that bought Bimota, Marco Chiancianesi who is the president and his business partner Daniele Longoni are both active Scientologists. Recent reports paint a less optimistic picture for the future of Bimota. In 2017, the factory at Rimini had reportedly closed, with spares and incomplete bikes mothballed elsewhere, possibly Switzerland. In October 2019,

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headq ...

purchased a 49% stake in the company, and soon after announced an intention to manufacture Bimota bikes using parts from the Kawasaki supply chain.

Models

;Racing motorcycles : * Bimota GB1 * Bimota HB4 * HDB1 * HDB2 *

HDB3 Modified AMI codes are a digital telecommunications technique to maintain system synchronization. Alternate mark inversion (AMI) line codes are modified by deliberate insertion of bipolar violations. There are several types of modified AMI codes, u ...

* Bimota SB1 *

Bimota SB8K The SB8K is a sportbike made by Italian motorcycle manufacturer Bimota. The bike was added to the present lineup after the company hiatus in the late 1990s financial crisis. The bike was built with a profusion of light alloys and carbon fiber; the ...

* Bimota YB3 * BIC 500 8v BM 3 * V 90 BM 4 ;2021 motorcycles : * Bimota Tesi H2 * Bimota Tesi H2 Carbon * Bimota KB4 * Bimota KB4 RC

Notes

References

* "The Ultimate History of Fast Motorcycles", By: Brown, Ronald. Pages 148-149, 174-175, 210-211, 230, 248-249, 286-287 Published by Parragon Publishing 2002. . * Bimota.it Historical Models. Accessed October 5, 2012. http://www.bimota.it/en/storia_modelli.asp * Bimota.it Company History. Accessed October 5, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121027002943/http://www.bimota.it/en/storia.asp

External links