Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127601
Japan. However, Bimota's own big -bore exhaust s y stem a n d revise d a i rb o x deliver a 1-2 bhp improvement in ou tp ut, up to 156 bhp at 10,000 rpm. Pr oduction of the SB6, which is clothe d in Bimota 's n ew tradema r k b o d y w ork design derived fro m the ES Tesi, will commence in November, with the firs t 100 units already sold in a single day at the Ge rman Suzuki deale rs' a n nu al meeting by Bimota's local importe r. It appears tha t in many countries, the SB6 will be marketed hand in hand wi th the loca l Suzuki sales ne twork, as an apparently co mplementary addition to the top o f t he Japan es e co m p a ny ' s ra nge . This m a y h el p Bimota's n ew boss, Walter Ma rt ini , ach ieve th e volume his ra dical new pri cin g structure for the Italian marque is ai ming at: the SB6 will be keen ly priced , and may give Honda som e head aches in se lling their much more cost ly, and by any standard less good- looking , but more high-tech , RC45. Honda ' s new s u pe r b ike will be join ed in bringing fuel-injection back to the four -eylinder 750cc class by an other n ew mod el from Bimota (whose YB4 in t rod u ced EFI to the scen e back in 1986), the 5B7. This is closely based on the co mpa nion 5B6, uses the same chassis and styling, but emp loys the watercooled GSXR750W SP Suzuki engine, fitted with Bimota's own TDD-Weber fuel injection, the mapping of which customers will be able to vary with an optional programmer supplied as an accessory, incorporating a d iagnostic fault -finder. When deliveries begin in Feb rua ry next ye a r of the 5B7, which delivers 132 hp at 11,500 rpm in sil enced street-legal form, it w ill be the first time a manufacturer ha s made it possib le for cus to mers to choose their own mapping for the EFI fit ted to their bike, rather than havin g to accept wha t the facto ry decided th ey cou ld h a v e . Ducati - a n d Hon d a! - p lease note. (But will Bimota be running customer electro nics clinics, as w e ll as rid in g schools for their high tech bikes?) The cost for the 5B7 has yet to be announced , bu t the selling price fo r the th ird new Bimota model, the FZR600 Yamaha-powered YB9, shows Martini is serious abou t going for vol ume: under 20 m ill ion lire in Italy, les s than 10,000 po unds in Britain ($6,757), including taxes and deli very. This u ltra-eompetitive price for a single-seater sports bike which is hand-made in limited quantities and carries the Bimota name, whose ad vent now rep laces the old ' biposto' Bellaria, a n d is fitted w ith the latest short-stroke 62 x4 9.6mm version o f Yamaha' s 600 5upersport motor la u nch ed only a month perviously at Pa ris, may not only take some sales away from the Japanese manufacturers (including Yam aha), as well as undercutting Bimota 's own two-valve Ducatiengined DB2 range, it may also give Du cati second thoughts about the muchrumored 5 upe rsport version of the fuelinjected "otto va lvole " V-twin which designer Yos sim o Bord i is known to have on the drawing board . . The YB9 prototype was just finished in time for the show, whe re it was displa yed in a vi vid ye llow (but will also be available in more traditional Bimota red and w hite) , so it won 't enter production until 1994. At 385 pounds - its a .... rl l-4 Q) ~ Q) > o Z (Ab ove) Bim ota also ch ose th e Milan Show to un veil their '94 lineup. The SB6 and the YB9 (b elow) made their deb ut in Ita ly. The YB9 is powered by a Yamaha FZR600 engine. (Lef t) The Ducati 916 uses fully adjustable, 41mm upside-down Showa fork. declared weight is a little more than expected (the same as Yamaha's new FZR600) - a vital facto r in Supersport racing where you can only reduce weight by up to 15% from stock. Fitted with Paioli upside-down forks and rear shock , the YB9 is a smaller-scale replica of the 5B6/7 in terms of styling, but uses a modified version of the Bellaria chassis, w ith a new p ickup on the cylinder head that is cla imed to improve handling . Wheelbase is 55.2 inches. Though re p e a t ed ru mors about the possible sale of the company by th e De Tomaso family continue to circulate, Moto Guzzi made a sp lash with a new bored and stroked 92x80mm, 1064cc version of the ir two-valve V-twin engine, still air. cooled for now while de velopment engineer Dr. John Wittner w orks on new oilcooled 750 and one-liter motors which will allow the company to meet tough new European noise and pollution controls from 1995 onwa rds. Running on tw in 40mm Dell'Orto carbs, rather than the fuel injection of the Quota trail bike, the new Guzzi Sport 1100's pushrod engine delivers 90 bhp at 7800 rpm, fitted in the same Dr. John's Replica chassis as the fuel -injected Daytona 8-valver, but clothed in revised styling and availab le in silver or red. The same engine is available, but this time with a choice of either carbs or EFl, in the California 1100 tourer. Apa rt from a revised version of the Nevada cus tom, the Guzzi stree t range otherwise continues un chan ged. One rem aining novelty provided the biggest surprise of all: Guzzi announced the construction of a limited series of authentic factory-built rep licas of their "dustbin-faired" DOHC single-cylinder GP racer, which won the 350cc World Championship in five successive seasons, beating Gilera and MV Agusta as 15