Bimota DB4
IIl1a
By Alan Cathcart
Photos by Phil Masters
ouldn't you see me behind you, with the blue
light flashing?" asked the Italian traffic cop
with the cheeky grin, whose name tag, furnished in the new Latin spirit of PC, proclaimed his
name to be Ferruccio Ferrari. Okay for him to smile as
he emerged from his Po/izia-emblazoned Alfa Romeo
after flagging me down as I rode the prototype 0B4, a
couple of miles away from Bimota's base on the outskirts of Rimini - but my two days of road-testing the
bike that marks the start of Bimota's latest Lazarus act
looked set to end on a sour note.
Only Officer Ferrari wasn't in ticket-writing mode;
he was more in the mood for a chat.
"You need some decent mirrors on this bike," he volunteered as he leaned in front of me to survey the OB4's
dash. "Tell Bimota from me they better fix that! Anyway, I only stopped you because you have a Prova plate
on the bike, and I thought you were my friend Gianluca
Galasso, Bimota's test rider. Then I saw your helmet
and recognized it from the magazines I read, so I
thought I'd say hello and take a look at the bike. Is this
Bimota's new dlleolone (Big Duke)? E bella - IIna vera
malo ita/ia.nn, cento per cenlo."
Well, actually, Ferruccio, as beautiful as you say
