BIMOTA BB3
FIRST RIDE
P80
system's anti lift-up program.
I wasn't brave enough to find
the limits of this brake package
by forcing the ABS to cut in on
dry roads, but on the Pirelli tires
and with the Brembo brakes fit-
ted, the way the Bimota stops is
absolutely phenomenal. Now do
you want to hear the punchline?
The Alstare team has removed
those Brembos and swapped
them for Nissin brakes on their
race bikes. Okay, no ABS for
racing – but still, they must know
something we don't.
After riding it on road and at
least partly in anger on track,
I'm convinced. The new BB3 is
the best Bimota ever built, bar
none, in the company's 40 years
of existence. It's the 50th differ-
ent Bimota model I've ridden in
the past three decades and it's a
milestone in more ways than one,
not just on a personal level.
This is a benchmark bike in the
same way the Yamaha-engined
coulda-been-a-champion YB4
was all those years ago. And
it seems Bimota's new owners
have both the vision and the re-
sources to build the company
back up again to the level it
needs to be at to take full advan-
tage of the outstanding motor-
cycle that Andrea Acquaviva and
his colleagues have presented
them with - courtesy of BMW.
And with the substantial World
Superbike rule changes coming
for 2015, don't be surprised if Bi-
mota isn't a serious contender for
top honors next season, with this
capable chassis to harness the
undoubted proven performance
of the BMW S1000RR motor. Bi-
mota is back – believe it. CN
The BB3 is the first new model
launched by Bimota's new
ownership, but it's not the first
collaboration between Bimota
and BMW. The BMW powerplant
produces 200 horsepower at 13,000
rpm – seven more horsepower than
the same engine package in the
S1000RR.
