Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 30 JULY 30, 2013 eliminate most of the play that was a definite drawback of the original 1D. After the first hour or so aboard the 3D Naked, I gradually began to convince myself to start exploring the hub-center design's number-one advantage. That's the ability to brake very hard, very late, into a bumpy corner, and to keep up cornering peed where a conventional bike would collapse the front fork under the compression delivered via extreme weight transfer under heavy braking. In doing so it'll not only radically alter the steering geometry, thus compromising handling and steering, but also sacrifice front tire grip because of insufficient remaining suspension movement to soak up the road shock delivered by the bumps. All that's usually a recipe for disaster. But on the Tesi 3D I ended up frightening myself when discovering the limits of the Michelin Pilot Power tires fitted to the bike's lightweight OZ forged aluminum wheels. Admittedly, though, the Tesi 2D's outstanding braking would put most conventional front tires in strife. But the Michelins also didn't heat up as quickly as I'd have liked on a cool summer morning… but it appears likely that production versions of the bike will be fitted with Continental rubber, which I don't know well enough to comment on. But a major improvement in the 3D's handling over previous Tesi variants is Acquaviva's front suspension format, which employs a gas shock specially made for Bimota by Extreme Tech. It's mounted on the right side of the bike, where it contributes to the 3D's narrow build. With the suspension compressed up to 80 percent of travel, the Tesi can apparently be inclined at a race-worthy 50 percent lean angle without anything grounding out, or the suspension freezing, says Acquaviva. Unlike on the Sport model, whose dual-chamber gas/air shock was operated Buell-style in traction by the front swingarm's rocker arm linkage, the Tesi 3D P59 just a touch of dive to give crossover riders the impression they're actually stopping. The way a hubcenter bike stays so flat under braking is one of the things that takes most getting used to for Tesi tyros – but you can dial in as much dive as you want via the hub-center equivalent of sag. On the 3D Naked this was set just right. I could still feel the front shock soaking up the road rash as I slung the bike on its side into the rippled tarmac of a mountain curve. I bet dialing this in wasn't the work of a moment, especially with the high and low speed first thing noticed was "ThecomfortableI and relativelyhow much more more spacious the Naked version is than the much more cramped Tesi 3D Sport with its under-seat exhaust system. " Naked version has a more conventional pair of identical cantilever Extreme Tech coil-over shocks. "Ducati altered the architecture of their EVO version of the 1100 desmodue engine," says Acquaviva. "So we no longer had the space for the original front suspension system, hence the redesign." You can feel clearly how well this new setup works when braking hard on the lean over a bumpy surface into a sweeping turn, with the front shock displaying super-compliance alongside damping settings on the shocks. But Acquaviva and his guys have got it right on this bike, although ride quality on rougher road surfaces up in the hills wasn't the greatest, thanks to the reduced wheel travel of the cantilever rear end. But suspension compliance was good – it just has a relatively small window of operation. They've also completely resolved the issue of the Tesi tango that was such an issue with the first 1D Tesi. A fast blast home along the autostrada revealed that even with the more upright

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