Rumors

Bimota Is Working on a “Tesi” ADV Bike with Hub-Center Steering

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The Bimota workshop in Rimini is hard at work. The Italian brand debuted two new bikes at this year’s EICMA show, the KB4 and KB4 RC, both based off the Ninja 1000 four-cylinder platform.

However, it is the craziness that is the Bimota Tesi H2 that is putting the Italian marque back on the map, help by the machine’s supercharged 228hp wedged into hub-center steering chassis with avant-garde carbon fiber bodywork.

Now, Bimota is set to follow-up that hub-center steering madness with another “Tesi” model, this time one that’s focused on the adventure/touring segment.

Speaking to MCN at the EICMA show, Bimota CEO Pierluigi Marconi let slip that the Italian brand has big plans for a Tesi lineup of motorcycles, which will stretch over time into several categories beyond sport bikes.

Of course, Bimota will continue to build more conventional motorcycle models as well, but it would seem that the boutique brand is trying to use its most iconic machine as a major branch in the company’s family tree.

As such, Marconi says that can expect to see an adventure-sport motorcycle, much like the Ducati Multistrada, debuting in a couple year’s time. The bike will make 197hp thanks to the supercharged 998cc engine that it shares with the Kawasaki H2 SX.

The hub-center steering chassis will be a unique offering for the space, and something that Bimota hopes will help differentiate it from the rest of the market – as if the near-200hp engine wasn’t enough.

The Italian brand could be onto something here, as they aren’t the only European manufacturer with a funny-frontend ADV on the books, and a sporty adventure/touring bike could fit nicely in Bimota’s lineup and mesh well with the current market tastes.

If Marconi and his team can deliver on the luxury experience that comes with the Bimota price tag, while offering something that seems high-tech and superlative on the spec-sheet, it could be a real winner for the team.

If the above teaser shot is close to what we can expect in the next two years, consider our interests piqued.

Source: MCN

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