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unusual

Please click here for Part 1 (Suzuki RE5), here for Part 2 (Honda CBX1000)here for Part 3 (Yamaha GTS1000)here for Part 4 (Suzuki Katana)here for Part 5 (Böhmerland)here for Part 6 (MTT Y2K and 420RR)here for Part 7 (Honda DN-01)here for Part 8 (BRP Can-Am Spyder), and here for Part 9 (Honda NR).

We’ve reached the final motorcycle in this collection. We’ve decided to leave out the older motorcycles prior to the 80’s and 90’s as they were too far back and most of the successful technologies and methodologies have been transferred to motorcycles in the following decades.

That doesn’t mean manufacturers have stopped researching and developing new ideas. Far from it, in fact. But manufacturers are more in tune to what the majority of potential buyers want these days to design bikes that don’t look totally out of this world, apart from a few.

Without much further ado, let’s check out this last bike.

BIMOTA TESI 3D

Truth is, any Bimota would be considered unusual compared to virtually any stock production bike, but that would mean all ten would be Bimotas in this article. Picking just one out from the Rimini, Italy-based company’s family isn’t easy either, like the 1998 SB8R and SB8 RS, DB3 Mantra.

Bimota Mantra DB3

For example, the YB4EI which come agonizingly close to winning the inaugural World Superbike Championship in 1988, ridden by one Davide Tardozzi. Tadozzi had won eight races that season but because of point scoring technicalities, Fred Merkel won on the Honda RC30 despite having just two victories.

Bimota YB4EI

Bimota only builds frames, chassis and other technologies around engines from other manufacturers. The first letter of a Bimota denotes where the engine was sourced from, for example: YB means Yamaha-Bimota, BB stands for BMW-Bimota, DB for Ducati-Bimota and so forth. As such, production is low volume. Only the Suzuki GSX-R1100 powered SB6 saw 1,144 bikes being produced from 1994 to 1996, while the next highest figure was just 600 bikes.

Bimota SB6 – Courtesy of totalmotorcycle.com

As such, one model, in our opinion which truly reflects upon that philosophy is the Tesi 3D which made its first appearance in 2007.

Remember we covered about the attempt to move away from hydraulic forks for the front suspension on the Yamaha GTS in Part 3? The Tesi was also developed in this vein. The concept of the Tesi differs slightly from the Yamaha GTS’s, however.

The Tesi 3D is the third iteration of this project, powered by the powerful Ducati 1098 engine. The engine is clamped between two machines aluminium plates, with all other components mated to these plates, including both front and rear swingarms.

The front swingarm mates to plate on both sides, with an Ohlins shock attached to the right in a cantilevered position. The handlebar’s shaft is connected to horizontal shafts on each side that steers the front wheel, for a hub centre steering setup.

Bimota is currently building the new Tesi 3D to celebrate their 40th year, called the Tesi 3D 40 Anniversario (pictured here). Only 40 examples will ever be built.

BONUS UNUSUAL PRODUCTION MOTORCYCLE

How could we leave out the Kawasaki Ninja H2 and its variants? Unleashed by Kawasaki in 2015 to be the bike to conquer the world, it’s supercharged.

The track-only H2R produces 300 bhp, while the road-legal version pumps out 200 bhp. Kawasaki had just announced the H2 SX and H2 SX SE sport-tourer. Still supercharged but made practical for daily riding and touring. (Please click here to know more about the H2 SX.)

Please click here for Part 1 (Suzuki RE5), here for Part 2 (Honda CBX1000)here for Part 3 (Yamaha GTS1000)here for Part 4 (Suzuki Katana)here for Part 5 (Böhmerland)here for Part 6 (MTT Y2K and 420RR)here for Part 7 (Honda DN-01)here for Part 8 (BRP Can-Am Spyder), and here for Part 9 (Honda NR).

Honda DN-01

Please click here for Part 1 (Suzuki RE5), here for Part 2 (Honda CBX1000)here for Part 3 (Yamaha GTS1000)here for Part 4 (Suzuki Katana)here for Part 5 (Böhmerland), and here for Part 6 (MTT Y2K and 420RR).

Certain parties weren’t happy about our recent review of the Honda CRF250L and CRF250 Rally. We called it as it was, “soft.” It has also to be said here that “we” here included Oh Kah Beng. So if you’re reading this, go ahead and tell off the legend if you’re not happy.

Honda CRF250L & CRF250 Rally Test & Review

Why did I open with the above “intro?” Because in that same review, I mentioned that sometimes manufacturers aimed for too many segments in one model and ended up with a product that’s diluted at best (read: neither here nor there).

Take this bike, for instance. Honda meant the DN-01 to be a cruiser. Or more accurately, a cruiser/sportbike crossover. And a big scooter.

Courtesy of paratamoto.com

Firstly, the DN-01’s bodywork’s weird in anyone’s book, and wasn’t appealing to either the cruiser folks or sportbike fanatics. The ergonomics also took a bashing as was the lack of wind protection at speed, needing the rider to to hang on using the handlebar.

Customers were also unsatisfied due to the ridiculously low load capacity of only 147 kg. That meant if each the rider and passenger weigh 75 kg, their total weight of 150 kg has already overloaded the bike by 3 kg. That’s without figuring in luggage.

Wait, what luggage? There isn’t any storage space on the DN-01!

The transmission, however, was a different story. The continuously variable transmission (CVT) – marketed by Honda as “Human Friendly Transmission” – uses a hydraulic pump which varied the amount of fluid being pumped, changing the gearing as demanded. (It may sound the similar to the DCT in the current X-ADV, VFR1200X and CRF1000L Africa Twin, but no it isn’t.)

However, that brilliant CVT was mated to a 680cc engine (sourced from the Shadow) which produced an wheezing 43 bhp, which (sort of) propelled the 268kg DN-01 from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.41 seconds, and a quarter mile in 15.41 seconds at 140.7 km/h. Top speed? 182.0 km/h. Yawn.

Adding insult to injury was the US$15,599 asking price in 2009.

The DN-01 was only sold from 2008 to 2010.

Please click here for Part 1 (Suzuki RE5), here for Part 2 (Honda CBX1000)here for Part 3 (Yamaha GTS1000)here for Part 4 (Suzuki Katana)here for Part 5 (Böhmerland), and here for Part 6 (MTT Y2K and 420RR).

MTT Y2K and MTT 420RR

Here’s something outrageous, in terms of power, price and the sheer audacity of it all.

Please click here for Part 1 (Suzuki RE5), here for Part 2 (Honda CBX1000)here for Part 3 (Yamaha GTS1000)here for Part 4 (Suzuki Katana), and here for Part 5 (Böhmerland).

In 2000, MTT, Marine Turbine Technologies’ President Ted McIntyre appointed Christian Travert, a former motorcycle racer and custom motorcycle builder to head the motorcycle venture. Turbocharger? Supercharger? V8?

Nope.

Called the Y2K, MTT chose the Rolls-Royce-Allison Model 250-C18 gas turbine to power the bike. Oh, the gas turbine is just another name for a jet engine. However, it was a turboshaft, the variety used in helicopter. It made 320 bhp at 52000 RPM (not a typo) and over 400 lb. ft. of torque. Good news was, it didn’t require jet fuel to run; it burned kerosene, diesel or Bio-fuel.

MTT showed off the Street Fighter variant at the 2006 SEMA show in Las Vegas. The model marked the switch to the more powerful (as if 350 bhp on a motorcycle isn’t enough) Allison 250-C20 engine.

Last year, MTT announced the new 420RR, which they called, “New (Race Ready) Superbike.” The spec sheet reads like a it was put together by a mad scientist, more significantly, the 420RR is named so because the engine blows out 420 bhp @ 52000 RPM and 680 Nm of torque from just 2000 RPM. The fairing is carbon fiber and so are the wheels.

Each MTT 420RR is handbuilt to specific specifications of the buyer and only five are produced each year.

MTT 420RR Turbine Hyperbike – 420hp & 810Nm of MADNESS!

Jay Leno owns the first production Y2K and remarked that it’s his favourite bike despite being scared half to death. He also said the bike melted the bumper of the car behind.

Please click here for Part 1 (Suzuki RE5), here for Part 2 (Honda CBX1000)here for Part 3 (Yamaha GTS1000)here for Part 4 (Suzuki Katana), and here for Part 5 (Böhmerland).

Please click here for Part 1 (Suzuki RE5) and here for Part 2 (Honda CBX1000) of the Ten Most Unusual Production Bikes series.

YAMAHA GTS1000

Fork dive – compression of the forks when the brakes are applied – has been something that gave chassis and suspension engineers migraine headaches ever since BMW featured the first production hydraulically damped telescopic fork on the R12 in 1934.

Fork dive is counter-productive; as little suspension travel is left to soak up bumps in order to keep the front wheel planted to the road. If the bumps are large enough or if there are multiple successive ones, the front wheel will start to hop as it runs out travel, causing loss of traction, instability and potentially loss of control. (Or a rolling stoppie!)

Besides that, most riders find it disconcerting when the forks bottom all the way down, leading to loss of confidence, leading them to either release the brakes and/or failing to turn into a corner.

Well, many folks decided it was time to eliminate front end dive, and one notable solution was presented by the ELF Racing Team GP racer in the late-70’s through to the late-80’s, ridden by one Ron Haslam. The single-sided swingarm front suspension removed shock absorbing and damping duties from the steering head, in the pursuit of making the front end more stable under extreme braking. Honda saw a potential in the program and started supplying racing engines to the team.

A designer named James Parker also saw the capability of the single-sided swingarm front suspension and went about designing his own, which he then named together with his company, Rationally Advanced Design Development – RADD.

His first prototype was based around a Honda XL600R engine and frame, donated by Honda USA, which he got a young dirt tracker and Superbike rider, one who will one day become a 3-time 500cc World Champion, to test ride it. He was Wayne Rainey.

Rainey was impressed by the handling and feedback of the front suspension. Honda Japan wasn’t interested, however, as they were already involved with ELF.

Parker went on to work on a Yamaha FZ750 next and the finished project named RADD MC2 was revealed at the 1987 Milan Motorcycle Exhibition.

Yamaha Japan got wind of the MC2 and began work on their own project, called the Morpho, without Parker’s approval. When Parker found out, he negotiated with Yamaha to license his designs before the Morpho was unveiled in 1989. But the project hit a roadblock as Yamaha has always outsourced fork production to contractors.

However, there’s light at the end of the tunnel for Parker’s RADD concept as Yamaha Europe demanded that Yamaha Japan build a new sport-tourer. That’s where the RADD chassis found a place.

The result was the GTS1000 in 1993. Besides the RADD front suspension, it also boasted other new technologies such as electronic fuel injection, ABS, and for the first time on a motorcycle, a catalytic convertor. The engine was lifted from the FZR1000, but detuned to 102 bhp.

The GTS1000 looked great and was generally praised by the media, unfortunately the price tag of US$ 12,999 put many potential buyers off as they felt the improvements and added weight did not justify the extra cost.

Plus the fact that Ducati launched the 916 in the same year, which overshadowed every single bike for the next two years, the GTS1000 included.

Please click here for Part 1 (Suzuki RE5) and here for Part 2 (Honda CBX1000) of the Ten Most Unusual Production Bikes series.

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