history
Bimota is a very young Italian motorcycle manufacturer, founded in 1973 by Bianchi, Morri and Tamburini. The name of the company is made up of the first two letters of their names, BI-from Bianch, MO-from Morri and TA-from Tamburini. Their first notable motorcycle was the SB2, powered by a Suzuki GS750 motor, basically a high-quality, “tricked out” GS750.
Other notable models from Bimota are the YB1, YB2, HDB1, HDB2 and SB1, model which were meant for those serious racers, because Bimota saw a new market for high-performance bikes. They also sold their bikes as kits, for those who wanted to get their hands dirty. Their most successful model was the KB1.
In the 1980s the company followed its successful path, even tough Tamburini left the company in 1983. He was soon replaced by Federico Martini, who previously worked for Ducati and shared his knowledge to create the DB1 powered by Ducati 750. The most representative models for Bimota in the 1980s were HB2, HB3, SB3, SB4, SB5, YB4ei, YB6, YB6 Exup, YB6 Tuatara, KB2, KB3, DB1se and DB1rs.
As regarding motorsports, Bimota also left their mark there. The company's first experience with motorsports was in 1980 when Jon Ekerold rode a Bimota in the 350cc championship and the second in 1987 when Virginio Ferrari rode a Bimota YB4 R in the TT F1 World Championship.
Unfortunately for Bimota, Martini leaved the company at the beginning of the 1990s, but he was quickly replaced with Pierluigi Marconi. The company then focuses on making models with aircraft allow frames, the most important being the YB8, YB8e, YB8 Furano, YB9 Bellaria, YB9sr, YB9sri, YB10, YB10 biposto, YB11, DB2, DB2sr, DB2ef, DB3 Mantra - SB6, SB6R, SB7, SB8R Supermono, Supermono biposto and the 500 Vdue.
By this time only one of the original founders of the company, Giuseppe Morri, was still running it. He was the last one to leave the company, also in the 90s, being replaced by Walter Martini as General Manager of the company. This move proved to be a good one from the business standpoint, because production doubled by 1995.
Management changes again in 2000 and also a new model comes out, the SB8R produced in fiberglass and carbon fiber. This model was once again using a Suzuki model, but only that this time the engine was encased in a aluminum and carbon fiber frame.
Today, Bimota is on a fast track to success after winning the Motorcycle Design Award in the Supersport category at the Intermot Show. The Bimota model which received that award was the DB5.
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