BIMOTA BB3
FIRST RIDE
P78
32.2-inch seat height, it felt as if
I were sitting slightly higher on it.
However, that could be because
of the rear ride height Bimota
had chosen, though I could still
put both feet flat on the ground
at stoplights. Whatever, it's not
sufficiently extreme to make the
BB3 tiring to ride. Your arms and
shoulders don't get stressed
by too much body weight on
them and, in fact, the bike feels
more balanced in terms of riding
stance than the DB7.
Since Bimota has fitted the
same dash as on the BMW,
there's a slight sense of déjà vu,
until you let your eyes stray to the
gorgeous upper triple clamp that
is milled from solid alloy, or the
carbon protection on the upper
face of the 4.2-gallon fuel tank,
or… well, the entire bike is eye
candy. Nuff said.
In spite of the relatively con-
servative steering geometry,
the BB3 was also very definitely
more agile and lighter steering
than the S1000RR – and the one
I rode was fitted with the same
Pirellis. So it's not the tires.
Turn-in to is almost intuitive –
the Bimota doesn't fall into the
apex, but it steers measuredly
into it almost on autopilot, and it's
also easier to lift it up from side
to side through a sequence of
S-bends than you'd expect with
such a powerful one-liter ultra-
bike.
Factory Superbike rider
Christian Iddon had previously
enthused to me about the han-
dling in slow and mid-speed
turns, warning me I had a treat
in store. Turns out he was right.
Mind you, he had a hand in that,
I suppose, since he and team-
mate Badovini are racing identi-
cal bikes to the production BB3
and their chassis setup and
suspension feedback are being
incorporated in the default set-
tings for the streetbike. As Bimo-
ta boss Daniele Longoni, racing
does indeed improve the breed.
Talk of suspension leads to
ride quality, which on the new
Bimota is improbably good for
such a hard-edged sportbike.
I honestly marveled at how well
it shrugged off most of the seri-
ous road rash I came across up
in the hills; it glided over all but
the worst surface imperfections
with uncanny compliance. So
compliments to Bimota's part-
ners Andreani for what must be a
very clever choice of spring and
damping settings.
Yet this wasn't accomplished
at the expense of stability on
faster turns – and yes, I headed
straight to my late, great mate
