This book traces the progress of the fabulous Italian Bimota range of high performance motorcycles during the 1990s. It reports on the Tesi 1D & ES, Dieci, DB2 & 4, 500 V-Twin, Furano, SB6 & 7, SB8R & K, YB9 & SR, BB500, Mantra, Drako 900 the V-Due Trofeo and YB11. Included are road & comparison tests, new model reports, riding impressions plus full performance data and specifications. The Italians always seem to have that special flair for creating something different from seemingly mundane components. Whether it be cars or bikes, the passion for what they are doing shines through and the results are always the same?a fabulous driving or riding experience. Bimota is no different. It is exotic and expensive and only appeals to a few well-heeled enthusiasts who want something that is truly individual. And as an added qualification those owners need to be ?machine heads,? people who can and do appreciate the Bimota for its machine beauty and not merely its specifications. Annual production in this period was often counted in the hundreds, not thousands. A statistic that always means a lot to me is that in the first 25 years Bimota produced approximately 11,000 motorcycles, fewer than Honda produce in just two days of manufacture! Therefore the word that we should attach to the Bimota marque is ?exclusivity?. Of course, there are other manufacturers who claim to create near perfect motorcycles, but Bimota has been able to blend genuine passion with the allure of a genuine ?hand made? piece of machinery. Although they may well be less than perfect in some ways they do satisfy our need for something ?special? in our lives. The origins of Bimota came not from within a normal background but one which was built out of a company that specialized in heating and air conditioning units. Valerio Bianchi, Guiseppe Morri and Massimo Tamburini founded their first company in 1966. The now famous name was made up from the first two letters in each of their surnames BI-MO-TA. It was Massimo Tamburini who had the true passion for bikes and started by modifying and racing an MV Agusta 600 (much to the disgust of Count Agusta). This was the start of a fascinating journey, the bike going on to become a true winning ?special.? Tamburini even replaced the frame and soon everyone who raced wanted modified parts that Bimota had made. Because of this success the company was divided into two business units to accommodate their passion. ?Bimota? stayed with the heating business whilst ?Bimota Meccanica? was formed to become the motorcycle development side. When Bianchi left in 1972, Morri and Tamburini decided to go full time into motorcycle development and, as they say, the rest is history. Models covered: Tesi 1D & ES, Dieci, DB2 & 4, 500 V-Twin, Furano, SB6 & 7, SB8R & K, YB9 & SR, BB500, Mantra, Drako 900, V-Due Trofeo & YB11.
