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Bimota Bids Final Arrivederci (Goodbye)?

  • Bimota has shut the doors at Rimini.

  • The signage has also been removed from the Rimini facitlity.

  • The BMW S 1000 RR-based BB3 project has officially stopped.

Bimota Tesi 3D Naked

Bimota, the small Italian motorcycle maker of revolutionary motorcycles has shut it doors again, probably for good this time.

Bimota YB1

The company started in 1973, its name being the amalgam of the two last letters of the three owners’ last names: Valerio Bianchi, Giusepper Morri, Massimo Tamburini. Wait! Tamburini? The late-Tamburini who designed the Ducati 916 and MV Agusta F4?

Yes.

The late-Tamburini with the MV Agusta F4 and Ducati 916

It was at Bimota that Tamburini sought to perfect the motorcycle, by delivering technical and styling excellence through hard work, often times with his own hands. He had cut, bent and welded chrome-moly steel tubing for the advanced frames. The same designs would later be seen at Ducati.

Tamburini welding a frame section

A fall-out with Giuseppe Morri forced him to quit unceremoniously, leaving Bimota bereft of the technical and design genius the company was famous for. Valerio Bianchi had already left by then. But karma seemed to reign as Morri was himself forced out a few years later.

Bimota DB5-R

The brand is currently owned by Daniele Longoni and Marco Chiancianesi, Italians who are residing and operating from Switzerland. However, rumours surfaced in as early as January this year that Longoni was buying time to sell off all stock and what remains of the stillborn BB3 project. Based on the BMW S 1000 RR, it was to be Bimota’s superbike to reclaim their prestige.

Bimota BB3

While some say Bimota isn’t closing much to anything, since the factory near Rimini has been empty for a while, the signage has also been ominously removed. The only hope left for this unorthodox motorcycle manufacturer is investors. But let’s hope these future fund managers truly understand what the Bimota stands for, otherwise the brand is forever doomed as a failed genius.

 

Wahid's lust for motorcycles was spurred on by his late-Dad's love for his Lambretta on which he courted, married his mother, and took baby Wahid riding on it. He has since worked in the motorcycle and automotive industry for many years, before taking up riding courses and testing many, many motorcycles since becoming a motojournalist. Wahid likes to see things differently. What can you say about a guy who sees a road safety message in AC/DC's "Highway to Hell."

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