Bimota
Parent Italian Motorcycle Investment S.p.A. (IMI) (50.1%) | Kawasaki Heavy Industries (49.9%)[1] | |
| Website | bimota | |
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Bimota is an Italian manufacturer of
Products
Because the state of
Bimota's co-founder and long-time chief designer Tamburini has been an influential player in the development of other Italian brands, most significantly his work on the popular Ducati 916, the Ducati Paso, and the MV Agusta F4; other designers such as Bimota chief Sergio Robbiano have also been involved with larger-volume manufacturers.[citation needed]
More recent Bimota models included the DB5, DB6, DB7, DB9 and the Tesi, with a DB8 featuring the Ducati 1198 engine. The Tesi 3D was especially unusual, which, along with the co-designed Vyrus, was the only motorcycle then in production to use hub-center steering.[citation needed]
Racing
Bimota first experienced international racing success in
After many years without success, Australian rider
, 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.-
Bimota YB3 -
Bimota YB4 -
Bimota SB8K of Anthony Gobert -
Bernat Martínez on Bimota HB4 at the 2010 British motorcycle Grand Prix -
Brandon Cretu on Bimota BB3 at the 2015 Senior TT
Bankruptcy and rebirth
The
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.[6]
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.[7]
Recent reports paint a less optimistic picture for the future of Bimota. In 2017, the factory at Rimini had reportedly closed,[8] with spares and incomplete bikes mothballed elsewhere, possibly in Switzerland.
In October 2019, Kawasaki Heavy Industries purchased a 49% stake in the company,[9] and soon after announced an intention to manufacture Bimota bikes using parts from the Kawasaki supply chain.[10]
Models
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- Racing motorcycles
- 2021 motorcycles
- Bimota Tesi H2
- Bimota Tesi H2 Carbon
- Bimota KB4
- Bimota KB4 RC
See also
- Bimota V Due
- Bimota BB3
- Bimota DB1
- Bimota DB2
- List of Italian companies
- List of motorcycle manufacturers
Notes
- ^ "Greeting by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Mr.Hiroshi Ito, B and Motion S.A. (former BIMOTA S.A.), Mr.Marco Chiancianesi and Mr. Pierluigi Marconi" (PDF). 9 November 2019.
- ISBN 1-4054-5466-0
- ISBN 978-1-874557-83-8
- ^ "1988 World Superbike Championship final standings". worldsbk.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
- ^ a b c Cormier, Jason. "Bimota V-Due 500 - The Bike That Killed Bimota". www.odd-bike.com. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ "Back from the brink. Bimota reborn". Motorcycle Sport & Leisure, July 2003, pp.59-61. Accessed 12 July 2022
- ^ "Meet a Scientologist - Bimota Motorcycles". 10 April 2018.
- ^ "Storied Italian Motorcycle Company Bimota Hits Another Bump in the Road".
- ^ "Kawasaki Acquires Bimota".
- ^ "Pre-production Bimota KB4 Coming Summer 2020". 10 February 2020.
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. ISBN 1-4054-5466-0.
- Bimota.it Historical Models. Accessed October 5, 2012. http://www.bimota.it/en/storia_modelli.asp[permanent dead link]
- Bimota.it Company History. Accessed October 5, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121027002943/http://www.bimota.it/en/storia.asp
External links
