Bimota 2 Stroke For Sale

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Giorgina Makara

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Jul 24, 2024, 10:08:45 AMJul 24
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Only in Italy could someone bet the company's future on a complex, high tech, ridiculously expensive two-stroke, which couldn't compete with a 1000cc superbike of the time. The gamble was taken by Bimota in 1997, when (after eight years of development) the V-Due 500cc two-stroke appeared, and was almost universally slated as a rough-running, not particularly fast, oddball motorcycle for rich posers. Oh dear.

Big respect here, a superb chassis, probably over-engineered for the 500cc motor, but super-lightweight and possessed of outstanding suspension and brake. It made the Bimota V-Due a sweet thing to razz around corners, when in the right gear/rpm combo...

bimota 2 stroke for sale


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If you're going to build a two-stroke, then make it a tiger, not a pussycat spitting up a fur ball. The sad reality is that the Bimota V-Due never really had enough poke, and it made its claimed 110bhp in a narrow power band, which made the motorcycle very hard work to ride. When the 175bhp R1 appeared a year after the V-Due was launched it made the Bimota V-Due look like some badly jazzed up club racer's 250 stroker.

Nearly everyone who bought a Bimota V-Due seemed to take it back and demand a refund at some point in the late 90s. The trick upper cylinder lube system didn't work effectively and the fuel injection rarely played ball below 5000rpm. Body parts were rumoured to crack. Oh Lordy. The motorcycle was such a warranty and PR disaster it more or less sank Bimota financially.

As a classic bike investment, picking up a Bimota V-Due now might - just might - pay off in another 10-20 years time. But forget about riding it anywhere, just air bubble the thing and hope that the Italian government funds a musuem of motorcycle design folly in 2025. Find a Bimota V-Due for sale.

Hmm, perhaps it was the way that the mirrors looked straight off a Cagiva Mito 125, or the naff indicators poking through the carbon fibre bodywork, but the Bimota V-Due didn't exactly drip from head to toe in designer kit for 14,500. They even put two warning lights in the headstock and not the dashboard...bit poor. Compare and buy parts for the Bimota V-Due in the MCN Shop.

Rather than steer a conservative ship in the face of the delicate financial situation, Bimota chose to build its own engine for the 500cc GP class which was then the domain of four-cylinder two strokes which had a minimum weight of 130kg. It was a v-twin two stroke which initially used a Tesi-style front end, but strictly speaking, Bimota did not actually build the engine, which was outsourced to the nearby Franco Morini Motori. The FIM had recently gazetted a lower (105kg) limit for 500cc class twins, the aim being to encourage production of cheaper machines that privateers could afford to buy and race, and Bimota aimed to exploit that advantage. The fuel-injected engine used forced lubrication for the twin crank bottom end and poked out 132 hp. Parallel to the racing effort, Bimota was also working on a road-going version of the 500, but it was a long time coming. This was the Vdue, which first appeared in prototype form in 1992 but took a full five years to reach the stage of production. During this period, various mock-ups of the Vdue (without the hub-centre front end) did the rounds of the Expos, to the point that few believed it would ever reach the production stage. But eventually, and against all conventional wisdom, it did. Sadly, the sole remaining company founder Morri had been forced out in the face of dwindling sales, his place taken by Walter Martini.

There was no pre-mixed fuel required (with its inherent contribution to the emissions) because the Vdue used forced bottom end lubrication, four stroke style, sharing the oil with the gearbox. A separate pump sent oil from a tank within the fuel tank to the big and little end bearings, while the Nikasil bores and pistons were lubricated via orifices in each cylinder. Some oil was still burned and sent out the exhaust pipe in the form of smoke, but Bimota claimed this was less than half of that on a conventional two stroke.

A new name is to enter the WorldSBK paddock. Or rather, an old name is to make a return. Today, Kawasaki announced that Italian bike builder Bimota are to take over the running of their WorldSBK program, with the KRT team switching from Kawasaki to Bimota.

Though at first glance, it looks like a withdrawal by Kawasaki and the entry of Bimota, it is a little more complicated than that. As a major shareholder in Bimota, Kawasaki have decided to switch their focus from promoting their own Kawasaki brand to marketing the more upmarket and sports-oriented Bimota brand.

The KRT team, currently fielding Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani, will continue in 2025, though they will be running Bimotas - Kawasaki ZX10-RR engines in Bimota chassis. The team will run under the name Bimota by Kawasaki, to make the link between the two clear.

Though this is a switching of focus rather than a new entry, the Bimota will need to be homologated for use, as it is sufficiently different from the ZX10-RR. The bike will have to be available for sale to the public, with 125 units produced on the date of the homologation, 250 at the end of the first year of competition (in this case, 2025), and 500 sold by 31st December the year after that.

This move would seem to indicate a shift in marketing direction for Kawasaki. By reducing the visibility of the Kawasaki name in WorldSBK, and promoting Bimota, the Japanese factory appear to be aiming to boost sales of the high-end Bimota machines, and use that as a so-called halo project. Kawasaki may then focus more on more road-based machines.

Winners of the 1980 350cc World Championship fielding Jon Ekerold on a two-cylinder, two stroke Bimota YB3 machine, success was also achieved in TT Formula 1 with legend Virginio Ferrari aboard a YB4R taking the Championship honours in1987. No strangers to four stroke machinery, Bimota won no less than seven races in the very first World Superbike Championship year of 1988 thanks to Davide Tardozzi (5) and Stephane Mertens (2). Even as late as the year 2000, Bimota were still able to achieve a WorldSBK race win thanks to the late, great Anthony Gobert aboard an SB8R machine mounting the top step of the podium at a wet Phillip Island race weekend.

For the 2025 season, Bimota is partnering with Kawasaki in a joint venture which will result in a Bimota chassis with Kawasaki engine (plus allied technology), competing in WorldSBK. Not only will the donor Ninja ZX-10RR powerplant be familiar, but also many of the team staff as Kawasaki transfers its efforts into the Bimota racing program marking a landmark moment in the journey of the Kawasaki Racing Team after nearly four decades in the premier global racing series based on production machines that can be purchased at dealerships.

Recognising not just the legacy of Kawasaki in Superbike racing, but also the close cooperation and synergies between majority Bimota shareholder, Kawasaki, and the Rimini based Italian manufacturer, the new team will operate under the title of Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team.

Fielding a machine jointly developed by Bimota and Kawasaki, the new team will play a pivotal role in the wider global recognition and market presence of the Bimota brand as well as being crucial in highlighting the hand built craftsmanship and care that goes into the creation of every Bimota product. This wider appreciation of the Bimota brand and its core racing DNA is also expected to create increased demand and sales of Bimota street motorcycles.

The engineering, technology and day to day business support already offered by Kawasaki has put Bimota firmly back into the consciousness of the media and potential customers, now it is time to take a next step in our evolution.

Bimota has had racing as part of its DNA from day one and to compete in WorldSBK alongside developing our new product range, while expanding the European and global dealer network, has an undeniable logic to it.

I'll have to admit upfront I am a bit of a Bimota tragic, having some experience with them (owned a YB6 Exup for 20 years now, and have first hand experience of others). My interest peters out in the late 90's though, the 'oragami' style since the relaunch of the company with the Tesi 2D and onwards doesn't appeal, and since the Kawasaki buyout even less so. Nonetheless, still a soft spot for them and it'll be nice to see the brand out there even if it is not really what Bimota used to be.

The press release does not mention the bike, will it be their present KB4 or something new? Is the KB4 a WSBK bike? It doesn't really seem like it. Merlin made a good point that this allows Kawasaki to build a high priced WSBK special without the limitations of the ZX10 street bike and the requirement to sell that at a sensible price - if indeed it even continues.

^ Bregs, interesting. How was the Marzocchi suspension for you? Always thought the FZR's were the best bike late 80's but didn't even know Bimotas existed. I still don't think I've seen one riding around in the flesh.

Kind of exciting, looks a shake up for sure! Kawasaki has been making some bikes that don't fit a need or mold recently (250 and 400 RR inline 4's just lately, 636 broke the 600 mold and was a legend a while back, H2 obviously being damn near bizarre...). Huh! Still shocked.

v So now crystal balling betweenst WSBK and MotoGP bending trajectory with this...oh boy! Ok, so for sure Ezpeleta is pursuing another manu for 2027. BMW says they are interested in his flirtations. KTM has been saying they could add a third sister to make it triplets for 6 bikes, and he holds them off due to limited space in his bed. Ducati is is right now changing it's dowry size since she is so very tantalizing, some belt tightening within 2nd/3rd Teams. Done in tandem with the matchmaking of currently awkward phase ugly duckling Yamaha. Who used to treat their partners with relative disregard! Leftovers for a small rice and fish meal yet again no longer suffices!

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