Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Bimota model has ever had before. This one has to be right - and from day one, at that. Fortunately, my 200-mile day trip from the Rimini factory out into the hills of central Italy carne up with the right answers: This is a very good motorcycle, and I defy anyone to test the SB8R back to back with a TLlOOOR and avoid concluding that this is the V-twin sportbike that Suzuki should have made but couldn't or just plain didn't. Because what's offered here with the SB8R, apart from being the first road bike to feature a carbon-fiber composite chassis, is a $23,595 entry ticket to the same kind of no-compromise race-track technology for the street that Yamaha's even more costly R7 delivers. In doing so, Bimota has produced the kind of motorcycle that the heavy, lazyrevving, bulKy TLlOOOR promised to be on paper but turned out not to be in practice. There are several things about the SB8R that, on paper, appears to allow it to provide the best of both worlds. There's the composite chassis designed by Pierluigi Marconi, his final creation for Bimota (see sidebar), using technology borrowed from Cagiva's 500cc Grand Prix bike. This frame uses vacuumsealed carbon-fiber lower-frame spars keyed into the fabricated-alloy uppers to increase front weight bias as well as a self-supporting carbon subframe for the seat (just like those on Aprilia's World Champion GP racers). Then there's the engine. Bimota has improved performance from the 90-degree V-twin engine via Magneti Marelli EFI, with a single high-pressure injector per cylinder, that's part of a system that replaces the TLlOOOR's stock Japanese enginemanagement system and is equipped with massive 59mm throttle bodies (up from 52mm on the TII000R) made in- house at Bimota. It should be a potent challenger to its Ducati and Aprilia rivals as the checkbook choice of the twin-eylinder tifoso. Mind you, initial impressions are less than promising, however. Stylist Massimo Giovagnoli's multi-section bodywork (to improve access and reduce the cost of accident repair) was, in prototype form, all red with white flashes. Now, in production form, it has the carbon-fiber upper fairing left unpainted. The result is not just an aftermarket kit-part look at odds with the presumed objective of this costly, limited-edition (350 bikes in the first. '99-year batch) motorcycle, but the black muso (nose fairing) combines with the TLlOOOR headlamp and large, matched air ducts to crea te wha t appears to be a ra ther wide bike for a V-twin. At first sight, it makes it seem a pitytha t Bimota wasn't .able to avoid falling into the same trap tha t Suzuki did in making a V-twi n that's as wide as a four. But throw a leg over the Esse Bi Otto, and those first impressions are shown to be false. The Bimota does' push a lot of frontal air, necessitated mainly by the layout of the KTM-made radiators as well as the ram-air ducting to those big throttle bodies, so that the view from the bridge is dominated by the big twin carbon-fiber air ducts leading to the voluminous airbox between the cylinder. Though large, the. air ducts stop seeming intrusive after a few miles, by which time you've also gotten used to operating the switch gear by feel, since the ducts obscure it from your view. Nevertheless, the SB8R feels slim to sit on, with your knees tucked into the flanks of the sculpted fuel tank. It is also agile and responsive to steer, and a~ nimble as any Supertwin when you chuck it through twisting mountain passes or winding cliff-top roads. And tha t's with the adjustable steering geometry dialed in using the most conservative settings, with 24 degrees of head angle rather than 23, and 93mm of trail instead of 87mm. The more-radical settings make the bike race-track-friendly. Yet there's a relatively spacious riding position that will suit- taller cus.tomers, in spite of the short (for a V-twin) 54.7inch wheelbase, and surprisingly low footpegs that somehow don't comprpmise ground dearance. Still, the seat height is a rather high 31.9 inches because of the exhausts exiting beneath it, 916-style, and combined with the low-set but wide-spread clipons, this results in a lot of body weight on your shoulders that, while you don't notice it when riding hard, does become tiring when you're stuck in a line of traffic putting through town. However, the SB8R certainly doesn't feel like nearly as mud1 of a boat as the Suzuki, and in fact it lies somewhere between the Aprilia Mille and the more hard-edged Ducati in terms of riding stance and general layout. Like the Aprilia, you sit in the Bimota rather than perched atop it, like on the Duc. The SBBR is definitely more nimble than the Mille and it rivals the 916 in agility. It also has a more rational 52/48-percent static weight distribution than the 916, doesn't toast your legs with blasts of hot air from the radiator ducts, and also has a proper sidestand of the non-suicide variety (equipped with 'an ignition cutout). Oh, and the minimalist designer-esque seat pad is also more comfortable than it looks. And as my run down the Pesaro autostrada was to show, the Birnota is a practical road bike that's extremely aerodynamic (even if the mirrors are half-useless at any speed!), with such good penetration and rider protection from the pointy-screen fairing that I had to do a double-take at the Suzuki speedo to be certain J really was travelling at 160 mph - in fifth gear! It didn't seem like it, even when I hit the 11,500-rpm rev limiter, whim was a good time to hit another gear and discover this is an effortless speed ca psule with a top speed of what I'd guess is around 175 mph (there were too many Greek truckies racing each other to the Brindisi ferry to find out!), yet which is happy to sit at 150 mph in top gear for as long as traffic will let you, with the tacho needle parked on the nine-grand mark. All this in spite of not having seen the inside of a wind tunnel. Two things impress about the Bimota, as it deliver this A-grade (as in Autobahn-quality) performance: the muscular, meaty lilt of the offbeat . exhaust note issuing through the Arrow silencers, whid1 won't just have tollgate attendants confusing it with a Ducati; and the superb stability at high sp~eds, coupled with fine ride quality and good suspension compliance from the fully adjustable 46mm Paioli upside-down forks and ditto Olilins rear shock. The shock's placement is novel, as it is set up high and far forward, and operated by a long rod directly off the asymmetrical alloy swingarm. The suspension settings are excellent, and when you hit a bump or a series of ripples once committed to your line in a fast tum, the Bimota just shrugs it off and resumes normal service - yet this doesn't have a payoff in slow steering or heavy handling. The steering is really light and precise at all speeds, without ever being twitchy, and attacking switchback mountain roads is a real buzz - not only because the torquey engine spins up so easily and helps you motor from one turn to the next so fast, but also because the new~generation, low-profile 120/65: en en en N 1

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