Kawasaki out of WSBK? Bimota in?

Technically it should be KB5, or KB6. Using the traditional naming scheme.

 

I can't think of a bigger disappointment in the history of sport bikes. I wasn't in a position to buy one but damn, I wanted to be good. For a "maybe one day."

 

I built, raced, crashed, and eventually owned a Bimota KB2. I wish i had been able to ride and race it with something other than the 16" wheels and tires it came with.
This picture likely wasn't mine, as we never had turn signals on it. I have a picture of me riding it somewhere. Crashed it for its second (of 3 crashes) at the '83 WERA Pocono 6 hour in turn one. Seconds after the wife wrote my time down in the scoring tower...

 

Sometimes wonder if WSB & MotoGP would be replaced by Moto1

 

With some kind of CRT bastardization rules so production based bikes can be used again? Blech!

 

Moto2 & 3 are already production based - the majority, if not all, of the bikes/frames/engines/suspension/ECU/etc.. can be bought.

Whether or not they're based on street bikes or track bikes is another matter. The number of track only bikes is rising - it's the street bikes that are fading away...

 

I wouldn't call a Suter chassis "production based"

 

Suter . . . produces it - and you get the same chassis as everyone else does, or so it seems.

I will certainly agree that it isn't mass produced consumer product.

 

So are you suggesting the premier class should be a spec motor and custom chassis? I mean...anything could happen- but that would be a sad state of affairs

 

Should it be? NO!!!!

Do I trust them? Also, no.

 

You know that's what production means in this conversation.

There's nothing production about moto3. The only thing production about moto2 is the motor.

 

When bikes like the TZ's were around, they were production racers, not to be confused with production racing.

 

The V-Due is a fascinating story. The real shame is that the prototypes were apparently amazing but the production bikes were so bad that Bimota bought a bunch of them (most?) back. Piero Caronni, an engineer at Bimota, bought all the V-Due stuff out of bankruptcy and continued improving them and selling them for a decade+ which is good but also means that there are a zillion flavors. Piero apparently liked his wiring harnesses to be all white too, so troubleshooting them is a fiasco.

The original bikes were a real mess. The fuel injection sucked but they also had a casting flaw that caused air leaks so they were just never going to run right even after you put carbs on them. I think Piero had new cases cast. Oiling sucked too and requires additional drilling in the cases. There's about 450 of them floating around. Occasionally you'll see an original injected bike pop up. Those can be made to start and idle but that's about all you should do with them.

Iconic had one for years that they kept trying to get running right. They finally auctioned it as-is.

 

That's a lot more than I would have imagined.

 

A lot of the questions answered here, even some not asked. :up:
https://www.cyclenews.com/2024/04/a...the-bimota-by-kawasaki-worldsbk-announcement/

 

That article is gayer than cum on a mustache.

To quote Kawasaki's Press Release:

The author then goes to refute this in every way possible.

I literally need wrist splints after reading that.

The bike would sell well if:
-ZX10RR engine
-Bimota chassis
-Beautiful bodywork
-Manual Ohlins
-Brembo Stylema R / Master cyl / with engineering for brake feel on par w/ BMW/Duc
-No Kawasaki Connect, but nice TFT
-Aluminum wheels like on the RR.
-Lower pegs
-Geared not so tall

I think there are a lot of fans of Kawasaki that have moved on because Kawasaki just isn't delivering a competative (or roomy) bike anymore. This would be a chance to get those fans back. They all have a piece of team green in them.

 

Sure Jan.

This is a branding exercise. Bimota's contribution to a WSBK effort will be sticker color and placement. There was a period when they shined because the factories were so bad, but that ended 25 years ago. My friend has a 1995 SB6. It is pretty freaking cool ... for 1995. The R1 came out in '99 and that was that.

Hah! I was just about to write that the "Bimota" engineering department will be a bunch of Japanese guys in Bimota t-shrits when I read the link Steve shared.