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BIMOTA REBIRTH<br />
Bimota have also revealed a<br />
concept sketch of a more conventional<br />
KB4 model that will<br />
follow the line established by<br />
the KB1, one of the marque’s<br />
biggest hits of the Seventies.<br />
A retro-themed sports bike<br />
with full fairing and single<br />
round headlight, the KB4<br />
holds the Ninja 1000SX’s<br />
1043cc, four-cylinder engine<br />
in a tubular steel frame.<br />
a network of suppliers and,<br />
potentially, an army of testers<br />
and engineers, marketing and<br />
sales people.<br />
Testing is due to start this<br />
summer, and the KB4 looks<br />
deliciously promising. It won’t<br />
have the radical engineering<br />
or all-conquering performance<br />
of its early, Tamburinidesigned<br />
KB forebears, but<br />
like the Bimotas of previous<br />
decades it’s set to be lighter,<br />
faster and cooler than its<br />
Japanese donor bike. Against<br />
all odds, the old Rimini format<br />
appears to be generating<br />
some magic once again.<br />
Much work is still needed to<br />
turn Bimota into a thriving,<br />
21st-century manufacturer, but<br />
the future looks brighter than<br />
for many years. The firm aims<br />
to produce 200 bikes this<br />
year, most of them the Tesi<br />
H2 whose development will<br />
be overseen by Marconi. At a<br />
rumoured 50,000 euros, it will<br />
have a price tag to match its<br />
exalted specification.
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