Exotic, rare, collectable and downright awesome…
It’s taken five years since Kawasaki bought a 49 per cent stake in Bimota, but now we have them in Australia. You can actually go and buy a new Bimota — either the Tesi H2 or the KB4 — from your local Bimota dealer, of which there’s one in the country at the moment, Procycles in Sydney.
The Bimota dealership network will grow. I think initially we’re going to end up with one in each of the capital cities, but at least that means you’ll be able to take your bike in and get it serviced and you’ll also be able to go and see one in a showroom, which is a big improvement on Bimota from back in the old days.
I love the way we now have Bimota back again in Australia. These are such exclusive machines — beautifully manufactured, gorgeous design, stunning finish and amazing attention to detail. And with this latest generation of machines, it’s as good as it’s ever been, if not better. The partnership with Kawasaki means they’re getting modern technology in the form of engines and electronics, which was a big problem for Bimota back in the days before the Kawasaki buy-in. And these bikes will be able to be used in a conventional manner of riding, as well as being something that’s very exotic and very unusual around the traps.
Bimota has said it’s committed to continuing to develop “handcrafted Italian industrial products that are technologically innovative and highly exclusive” and that the partnership with Kawasaki will reinforce these qualities. Its bikes will be rare and exclusive because they won’t be produced in large numbers and the company plans to continue building “products unmatched in their advanced technology”.
With the initial machines, the Tesi H2 is an $85,000 hub centre-steered sportsbike with some amazing body work, lots of carbon fibre, an incredible level of technology, beautiful Öhlins suspension, and a design that is not copied or seen anywhere else in motorcycling. The KB4 is a more traditional machine in the sense that it uses a trestle frame, aluminium swingarm and conventional suspension all wrapped around an engine from the Ninja 1000SX. At $65,000, the KB4 seems like a much better buy, but it’s not going to have the same kudos in the future as the supercharged Tesi H2, even if for most of us, most of the time, it will actually be a better bike.
TESI H2
BMW is about the only company to really popularise any sort of front suspension on a modern motorcycle other than the conventional fork with its Telelever front end. The Telelever appears on many BMW models, although it’s starting to fade from the range just a little bit. It’s still there on some Boxer models while being replaced by conventional forks on others. That makes the Tesi H2 about the only other motorcycle I can think of which you can buy today that doesn’t have telescopic front forks. That’s not to say it’s a good or bad thing, it’s just really an observation, but with the hub centre steering they’ve created for the Tesi models, which actually goes back 30 odd years to the original bikes, the machine does have a certain cachet and point of difference that attracts a crowd.
Bimota is being imported by Kawasaki into Australia and the team there brought us out to Sydney Motorsport Park and the short Amaroo circuit for a brief ride on the new machines. If you count the esses, there are about 14 corners in a minute or so’s lap (it’s the back section of the old Easter Creek GP circuit with an additional section added some years ago). To do that on a 230-horsepower machine, well, you don’t really need much of a gearbox. I stuck it in third and just left it there, using the torque to drive the bike out of the corners, being able to roll off the throttle and get the engine braking, a little bit of a squeeze on the brakes and set up for each corner.
Thirty degrees of steering lock is available from the hub centre steering. The system effectively separates steering and braking from the suspension duties, so when you hit the brakes, the suspension doesn’t immediately compress.
Braking on the Tesi H2 is an interesting feeling. Instead of the bike diving on the front and a lot of the weight landing onto the front wheel, the bike tends to squat a lot more and you don’t get quite as much feel through the handlebars of how the braking is affecting that front tyre as I would like or expect. Same thing when it comes to cornering. When you are pushing harder, trying to get as much performance out of that front tyre as you can, it does lack a little bit of feel. I think a lot of that comes down to setup; there’s a lot that can be done by an owner to get this bike working exactly the way they like it and we certainly didn’t have the time or resources to do that during our short stint on the bike.
The system effectively uses two swingarms — one at the rear, conventional, and one at the front, highly unconventional, with everything else required bolted to the engine. There’s not really a conventional chassis in the normal sense of the word on this motorcycle.
With the suspension duty separated from the braking, it would be really interesting to ride this on a bumpy road and see how well it performed to separate the suspension and keep you comfortable and fast, as well as keeping that wheel on the ground while allowing full use of the brakes and steering at the same time.
Another reason for using just a single gear was that the throttle is quite snappy, caused by Euro5 requirements where the fuel must be cut off completely when you roll off the throttle. This makes getting back on the throttle a challenge. Even cracking the throttle a tiny amount produces a lot of horsepower, so the bike wants to rocket forward rather than accelerate smoothly.
Switching the exhaust system for the included (but not street legal) Arrow system not only saves you around 8kg in weight, but I’d reckon it might go some way to solving the edgy throttle response.
I certainly didn’t get to test the aerodynamics with the giant wings on the side of the bike either. It didn’t go fast enough for any of that. But those wings look pretty radical and you can actually pull a couple of them off with a few bolts if you don’t like their appearance.
The quality of the included fittings, machining, the chassis, the paint — everything is absolutely top-notch on this bike. I could find almost nothing to fault in its quality of finish and the way it’s been put together. Of course, everything on the bike is top shelf, from the Brembo Stylema brakes to the Öhlins TTX36 shocks (used for the front and rear), to the acres of carbon-fibre.
KB4
After a session on the Tesi H2, my next ride was on the KB4 and this was almost like jumping back onto the bike that you’ve ridden before. It felt so much more planted, so much easier to ride, and the Ninja 1000SX powerplant was easier to use than the H2 engine in the Tesi around the short circuit. Again I didn’t need to use a lot of gear changing for so many corners in such a short space of track, but it was easy to ride fast and easy to have a lot of fun.
The style is heavily influenced by earlier Kawasaki-powered Bimotas. Way back in the late ’70s, there was the Z900/Z1000-powered KB1. The KB2 was built as a race bike for the TT-F2 class, running a Z550 motor. The KB3 was again a streetbike with the engine from the Z1000(J).
With the KB4 there’s a strong family resemblance: retro sports done well. There’s a big round headlight, but it’s LED, not halogen. There’s encompassing bodywork which runs the length of the bike, a low-slung pipe wrapped in carbon fibre, a trestle frame, a leather solo seat finished in beige… yet the technology hiding behind the retro good looks is modern.
The bodywork is “exclusively” carbon fibre. Hiding underneath is a plastic fuel tank. The frame is tubular chromium molybdenum steel trellis, quite old-school — but the strong aluminium swingarm is mounted to the engine via alloy plates rather than to the frame, which helps keep the wheelbase closer to that of a 600 Supersport than a conventional 1000cc sportsbike (50mm shorter than the Ninja ZX-10R). Another example is that bodywork — it’s asymmetrical, with the left side housing a duct to direct air from the front of the bike to the under-seat radiator, incorporated to keep the bike’s overall length down and keep a forward weight bias. Bimota claims 53.6 per cent of the bike’s weight is carried by the front tyre.
The forks and rear shock are from Öhlins, as is the steering damper — all fully adjustable, including ride height. The electronics come from Kawasaki: IMU, cornering ABS and traction control, power modes, quickshifter, cruise control and more.
The KB4 is a fun machine to ride, and unlike most mass-produced sportsbikes will likely draw a crowd for decades, whenever it’s parked where riders who know gather. Modern sportsbikes are so good these days there’s probably less of an advantage to owning a Bimota than there once was, but if you love the idea of exclusive, different, capable and Italian, you’ll probably love a KB4 or Tesi H2.
BIMOTA HISTORY
Back in the 1970s, there were a lot of great engines being manufactured, but they were usually housed in chassis that simply couldn’t cope well with the horsepower. Bimota was founded with the idea to produce great chassis to harness the power of these engines, make them work better, and help them win races.
Bimota-framed bikes would eventually win at World Championship level, would come very close to winning at Superbike World Championship level, and would pick up various interesting accolades and results through the years. However, management, Italian finances and the improvements being made by motorcycle manufacturers — often emulating Bimota designs — made it difficult for the company to be profitable.
By the 1990s, the company was in trouble and released its DB1, its first Ducati-powered machine which went on to become the best-selling bike for the company. Bimota then tried to develop its own engine, a 500cc two-stroke, and the Tessy, a hub-centred-steered motorcycle. Both projects ended up costing the company a heap of money, didn’t result in good sales, and effectively sent the company broke.
Bimota has been reborn a number of times, however Kawasaki buying 49 per cent and committing to supplying engines and electronics to Bimota means the Italians can sit back and spend their time putting their efforts into developing beautiful, exotic, sporty and highly desirable motorcycles.
BY NIGEL PATERSON. PHOTOS HALF-LIGHT
SPECIFICATIONS
Bimota KB4
ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, inline 4-cylinder; DOHC, 16 valves; Euro5 compliant
Capacity: 1037cc
Compression ratio: 11.8:1
Engine management: EFI
PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: 142hp (104.5kW) @ 10,000rpm
Claimed maximum torque: 111Nm @ 8000rpm
TRANSMISSION
Type: 6-speed, up/down quickshifter
Final drive: Chain
Clutch: Wet, multiplate, slip/assist
CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Chassis: Front: chromium molybdenum steel front trellis frame: Rear: machined aluminium plate, aluminium swingarm
Front suspension: Öhlins FG R&T 43 NIX30
Rear suspension: Öhlins TTX 36
Front brakes: Radially-mounted Brembo, 2 x 320mm discs
Rear brake: Brembo, 220mm disc
Tyres: F: 120/70ZR17; R: 200/50ZR17
DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Rake: 24.0°
Trail: 100.8mm
Claimed wet weight: 194kg
Seat height: 810mm (+/- 8mm)
Wheelbase: 1390mm
Fuel capacity: 19.5L
ELECTRONICS, RIDER AIDS & CONVENIENCE FEATURES
Brake control (ABS): Yes, cornering
Riding modes: Yes
Engine power modes: Yes
Traction control: Yes
Wheelie control: Yes
Inertial measurement unit: Yes
Quickshifter: Yes, bi-directional
Speed limit setting: No
Cruise control: Yes
ETCETERA
Price: $55,000
Colours: Red and White
Test bike supplied by: Kawasaki Australia
More info: Procycles, 02 9564 8015
Warranty: Two years, unlimited kilometres
Tesi H2
ENGINE
Type: 4-stroke, 4-cylinder, DOHC, 4-valve, liquid-cooled, supercharged
Capacity: 998cc
Compression ratio: 8.5:1
Engine management: DFI with 50mm throttle bodies (4) with dual injection
PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: 170kW / 231hp @11.500rpm
Claimed maximum torque: 141.7Nm @ 11.000rpm
TRANSMISSION
Type: 6-speed, return shift, dog-ring, constant mesh
Final drive: Chain
Clutch: Wet multiplate, quickshifter
CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Chassis: Hub-centre steering via linkages: front and rear swingarm suspension. Aluminium alloy plates billet machined, with rear swingarm mounting plate
Front suspension: ????
Rear suspension: ????
Front brakes: Dual radial-mount, opposed 4-piston Brembo Stylema® calipers, dual semi-floating 330mm discs, KIBS ABS
Rear brake: Opposed 2-piston calipers, single 220mm disc, KIBS ABS
Tyres, F: 120/70ZR17; R: 200/55ZR17
DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Rake: 21.3°
Trail: 117mm
Claimed wet weight: 219kg
Seat height: 840mm (+/- 10mm)
Wheelbase: 1445mm
Fuel capacity: 17L
ELECTRONICS, RIDER AIDS & CONVENIENCE FEATURES
Kawasaki Cornering Management Function (KCMF), Kawasaki Traction Control (KTRC), Kawasaki Launch Control Mode (KLCM), Kawasaki Intelligent Anti-Lock Brake System (KIBS), Kawasaki Engine Brake Control, Kawasaki Quick Shifter (KQS) (upshift & downshift), Öhlins Electronic Steering Damper, LED Cornering Lights
Rideology the App Smartphone Connectivity, TFT Instrumentation, OEM APP Smartphone
ETCETERA
Price: $85,000
Colours: Red/White/Grey, Carbon
Test bike supplied by: Kawasaki Australia
More info: Procycles 02 9564 8015
Warranty: Two years, unlimited kilometres