FIRST RIDE
P56
2013 BIMOTA TESI 3D NAKED BIKE
The 3D Naked still uses hubcenter steering, but it sits more
upright than the Tesi 3D.
quite different to the original 1D,
which resolved its drawbacks,"
says Acquaviva. "The most important of these was the very
restricted steering lock, which
made the bike quite impractical
in everyday use. Next was to reposition the front shock to stop
it interfering with your knee, and
also to make the bike narrower,
so it's more responsive and
easier to steer. I also wanted to
redesign the steering system to
make it more direct, as well as
less bulky."
Five years after the debut of
the born-again Tesi 3D, the customer Tesi 3D Naked version of
Acquaviva's revived design appeared at last November's Milan
Show, powered by the EVO version of Ducati's air-cooled 1100
desmodue V-twin engine, as fitted to the Hypermotard. And now
it has entered production.
So to create the Tesi 3D Naked, Acquaviva has wrapped the
Ducati desmodue motor in a pair
of vestigial Omega-shaped frame
spars milled from solid billets of
Carpental aluminum, which provide the mounting points for the
front and rear swingarms (the
rear one also pivots in the engine
cases). These spars also carry
the front tubular steel subframe
locating the steering head, and
its self-supporting carbon fiber
rear counterpart comprising the
seat, which now for the first-time
ever on a Tesi includes space for
a passenger.
To permit this, the previous
3D Sport's Zard 2-1-2 exhaust
with its twin high-rise underseat
silencers, has been replaced
with a new hand-made Arrow
2-1 stainless steel system with a
single titanium-wrap silencer carried low down on the right. This
has the useful spinoff benefit of
liberating extra power and torque
from the 1078cc Ducati engine,
which now delivers 98 hp at 7750
rpm (three horsepower more
than with the Zard exhaust), and
94Nm of torque at 5250 rpm.
But the dry clutch on the Bimota factory development bike
I was riding was still very stiff in
typical Ducati mode, not yet incorporating the welcome 30
percent reduction in lever effort
delivered by the same engine fitted with an oil-bath clutch as on
the Hypermotard. All customer
Tesi 3D Naked bikes will be fitted
with the wet-clutch motor, says
Acquaviva.
The Tesi 3D's trademark trellistype rear swingarm with bolted on