Bimota Back To Work, Almost

Late 2019 saw the surprise announcement of the acquisition of Bimota by none other than Kawasaki and the introduction of the breathtaking Bimota Tesi H2. In the meantime, Bimota CEO Pierluigi Marconi has already started working on the construction of a new Bimota factory. Returning to the last location was completely out of question for both legal and functional reasons.

Construction of the new premises has proceeded rapidly, and Pierluigi confirmed he was confident that Tesi H2 production would start no later than June. During the factory construction he was also finalizing the transition from the Italo-Swiss Longoni-Chiancianesi ownership to Kawasaki.

Pierluigi proved very capable during negotiations and was even able to recover all the components that had been taken to Switzerland in the last attempt to keep Bimota producing the ultra-specialty Tesi 3D. Now all those components are back in Rimini and the top Kawasaki management proved to be very respectful of the image and tradition of Bimota, having no objection about the recovery and production of 45 units. These are powered by the air-cooled Ducati SOHC 1,100cc V-twin in a 95-hp version—the very same as the one I tested five years ago.

That Ducati V-twin is Euro 3 homologated, thus these last Tesi 3D units are being offered in markets that still recognize the validity of the original homologation, and the US is included in that lucky list along with the UK and Japan. These 45 units will be personalized in graphics while suspension components will be upgraded to current Öhlins standards.

While the small production line for the 45 Tesi 3D units was being readied, the coronavirus pandemic erupted and hit the Rimini area hard. The brand-new assembly line never got to start. But these last Tesi 3Ds are worth the wait: Light, super-sharp, incredibly quick, and surefooted, they are ultimate Tesi of the previous generation, accurately polished by Pierluigi Marconi to its supreme efficiency when he was chief project engineer of the old Bimota—a troubled but superbly creative manufacturer. As the great Massimo Tamburini wanted it.