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2013 Bimota DBx – An Enduro You Want to Get Dirty With

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We promise, this is our last Bimota posting for the day (unless something juicy breaks regarding the recently announced Bimota BB2) — we did save the best for last though. Simply called the Bimota DBx, what we see here is Bimota floating another non-superbike concept out to the public to gauge its reaction. Bimota, we’ll make this real easy for you: BUILD THIS BIKE.

A Bimota DB10 with a severe affliction for getting its feet dirty, the Bimota DBx is probably the most expensive dual-sport we have ever seen. Öhlins TTX forks and four-way adjustable shock for suspension, Brembo monoblocs for brakes (2 x 300mm discs up front, 200mm in the back), carbon fiber everywhere, and machined pieces of billet aluminum that are ruining our Christmas wish list…every criticism you could level at Bimota this model year might easily be redeemed with this motorcycle.

Though we doubt any DBx machines will see off-road duty, there is a 19″ front wheel, with a 17″ rear wheel or optional 18″ unit for the rear, which are all laced up and ready to ride on their mixed-terrain Pirellis. Weighing 385 lbs dry, and making 95hp, the Bimota DBx isn’t the lightest or most powerful motorcycle in this class, but it definitely is the sexiest. Pardon us, we are late for the pants party.

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Bikes

Bimota DB10R – The Last Air-Cooled Hypermotard Standing

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The big news from Ducati at EICMA has to be the debut of the 2013 Ducati Hypermotard and its more touring focus sibling the 2013 Ducati Hyperstrada. Trading in their two-valve air-cooled lumps for a 110hp 821cc liquid-cooled v-twin engine, we are sure there are some Ducatisti who had there cooling fins ruffled by that move. Never fear, Bimota is here.

Using Ducati 95hp 1,078cc air-cooled engine that was in the original Ducati Hypermotard 1100, the Bimota DB10 debuted last year as a tasteful alternative to the maxi-motard from Bologna. Back again this year, Bimota has up-spec’d the DB10, with the 2013 Bimota DB10R coming with a bevy of more carbon fiber goodness.

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Bikes

2013 Bimota DB9 Brivido Italia – Now with an Italian Flag

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The middle child to the Bimota DB8 and Bimota DB11, we showed you the Bimota DB9 Brivido last year with the superlative that it was the best looking Ducati Diavel we had ever seen. Of course, that statement was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but the Bimota DB9 does share the Testastretta 11° motor with the Ducati, and Bimota hopes the DB9 Brivido will be a sportster variant to this very crowded area of the company’s model line-up.

Honestly, we don’t know why Bimota didn’t stop with the DB8 and move on, instead of building two more motorcycles off the same motor and chassis (god only knows how many variations stem from the DB8, DB9 DB11, and DB12 combined).

It’s not that we don’t like the Bimota DB9 Brivido (though, the headlights do offend us in an elbows-on-the-table sort of way), it is just that we hate to see the boutique Italian brand run this design for everything it is worth..even if they throw a supercharger on it.

Trotting the Bimota DB9 Brivido back out to EICMA for a second year in a row, the Italian brand calls this 2013 Bimota DB9 Brivido Italia. You know, because they put the Tricolore on it. Beautiful and boring at the same time, there is a reason we have buried this article today in the middle of the brand’s other more intriguing offerings from EICMA.

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Bikes

XXX: 2013 Bimota DB8 Italia

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Do you like carbon fiber? Do you like steel trellis frames? Do you like 160hp motorcycles that weigh 390 lbs dry? Well then, we have just the thing for you: 2013 Bimota DB8 Italia.

Pretty much the Bimota DB8 with some “Italian” themed paint, we won’t go into too much detail since the DB8, DB9, & DB11 share pretty much everything except the bodywork…which is probably the only criticism you can lobby at any of those machines.

Bimota sent us these up-close high-resolution photos of the Bimota DB8 Italia from EICMA, and we thought we’d share them with our loyal readers. Enjoy.

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Bikes

2013 Bimota DB11 – The Bitter to Know the Sweet

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If you were as blown away over the supercharged 2013 Bimota DB11 VLX as we were, you might have not realized that we forgot even to introduce the Bimota DB11 to you in the first place. A fully faired sport bike with a 1198cc Ducati Testastretta 11° engine held in its beautiful steel trellis and aluminum-plate frame, the DB11 puts out a reasonable 160hp and less reasonable 97 lbs•ft of torque.

At 385 lbs dry, the 2013 Bimota DB11 makes a good argument for being a robust sport bike, even if most of them will sit in the garages of collectors. Using the same frame design as the Bimota DB9 Brivido, we must admit that the design aesthetic here is also getting some mileage, which sort of detracts from the “my pants are fitting oddly” problem that Bimotas generally generate.

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Bikes

2013 Bimota Tesi 3D Naked – Hub-Center Steering for Two

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In my list of the Top 10 motorcycles ever, I think the Bimota Tesi 3D would make a strong showing. A truly unique machine, the lack of fairings only serves to showcase the hub-center steering mechanism, making the Tesi 3D an intriguing work of both art and science.

Separating the braking forces from the suspension travel, on paper motorcycle’s with hub-center steering have a significant mechanical advantage over their traditional counterparts, in reality though they have failed to live up to the hype on the track.

A product of either riders who are groomed to expect the workings of traditional linear fork suspension systems, or simply a answer to question that wasn’t asked, hub-center steering hasn’t exactly taken off…yet.

The Bimota Tesi 3D perseveres though, and for the new model year, Bimota has made my Tesi 3D obsession more conducive to my social agenda with motorcycles. This is all the excuse I need to share the photos after the jump with you. Enjoy.

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Bikes

2013 Bimota DB12 – The Most Expensive Multistrada Ever?

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While we wait to here the specs on the upcoming Bimota BB2, the boutique Italian firm’s rekindled collaboration with the German motorcycle manufacturer, Bimota continues to work with Ducati lumps, both of the air and liquid-cooled variety. One of the more intriguing concepts put forth at EICMA, the 2013 Bimota DB12 is an expression of an uber-exotic Ducati Multistrada 1200.

Unlike the supercharged Bimota DB11 VLX, the Bimota DB12 will remain naturally aspirated in its 160hp state, but like how the Multistrada 1200 was part of the Bologna Brand’s movement away from being solely a sport bike company, the DB12 represents the same movement for Bimota. Already showing a dirt bike at last year’s EICMA show, the 2013 Bimota DB12 is clearly the Italian brand taking a step back, and testing the waters with this design direction.

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Bikes

2013 Bimota DB11 VLX – Supercharged Italian Hotness

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Bimota is known for making some exquisite machines by taking production motors from other OEMs, and wrapping those engines in frames of Italian company’s own design. Art on two wheels, Bimota rarely strays from this formula, though when it does, something interesting usually happens. One such example is the 2013 Bimota DB11 VLX , which looks strikingly similar to the Bimota DB9 Brivido we saw at EICMA last year.

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News

Bimota BB2: The BMW S1000RR Powered Bimota Cometh

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Holy motorcycle lust Batman! BMW has just announced that it will be supplying Italian boutique brand Bimota with engines from the BMW S1000RR superbike. The Bimota BB2 will break cover at EICMA in a concept bike form at Milan, and likely ruin Christmas for everyone in attendance.

BMW says Bimota chose the S1000RR engine because of its extremely low weight (132 lbs) and high power output (193 hp). No word yet if the the Bimota BB2 will be a fully faired sport bike, or naked wheelie monster of doom (check out these concept sketches by Oberdan Bezzi), but the news is a welcomed turn of events for Bimota fans who wanted a little variety in the Ducati-heavy model line-up. Press release after the jump.

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Bikes

Bimota/BMW Concepts by Oberdan Bezzi

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We follow Oberdan Bezzi’s work pretty closely here at Asphalt & Rubber, if for no other reason than we like the Italian designer’s ability to fantasize about the endless possibilities available in the two-wheel world — and after, who here doesn’t like to daydream about exotic motorcycles? Lately it seems Bezzi’s imagination has gone to a world where Bimota uses more than Ducati’s v-twin lumps in its exclusive street bikes, with his most recent sketches envisioning a BMW/Bimota collaboration.

Inking the Bimota BB-2 superbike, and it’s naked sibling the Bimota BB-3 “Paura”, the usual Bezzi lines and style are present in the designs. Oberdan’s thought-process on the Bimota BB-3 seems to be well-timed though, as the Bavarian company has recently been caught testing a naked version of the well-selling BMW S1000RR at its facility. Set to be a true Germans streetfighter, BMW could very well succeed in a motorcycle segment that the Japanese have historically struggled with here in the US.

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Racing

Bimota to Wild Card in a World Superbike Race?

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Aside from one or two suspiciously similar motorcycles a year, we don’t often hear from the Italian brand of Bimota. Known for building exotic motorcycles that feature custom frames around production motors (now, what does that sound like?), Bimota used to sample the best engines from all the manufacturers, but lately the motorcycle company seems to favor almost exclusively another certain Italian company in Bologna.

There was also a point in time where Bimota raced its designs, helping the small firm earn a reputation not only for its aesthetic graces, but also for its technical prowess. Hoping to return to its roots with that latter element, Bimota was caught on the track in Spain recently. Testing at the Almeria track, Ruben Xaus (yes, that Ruben Xaus) has settled into his new job as Bimota’s Sporting Director quite nicely.

Xaus is helping the small Italian company improve upon its Bimota HB4 Moto2 bike and Bimota DB8 Superbike. With this testing, Bimota is teasing the possibility of the Ducati 1198-powered Bimota DB8 making a World Superbike wild card appearance for the 2012 season.

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