Bimota Kb1 Kawasaki
Bimota KBI Kawasaki
An Outrageous Price Gets You Not Only Flawless Function, But Also Craftsmanship Worthy of Artistic Mention
John Nutting
Thousands of Kawasaki owners throughout the world have been wondering for several years if somehow, somewhere there was a cure for the handling ills their bikes suffered at racetrack speeds.
The Bimota KB1 comes hot on the tail of the ultra-radical cranked monoshocked, space framed, super-steering Suzuki SB2 special as the possible mass-production panacea for the four-cylinder Kawasakis.
And at its most basic, the KB1 is certainly the answer. But it is also a good deal more than that. It should be. For in obtaining the most effective cure, the Kawasaki has been sacrificed almost completely in the metamorphosis between street-corner ubiquity and eyeball-dazzling specialty.
The idea is'that a KZ1000 or KZ900 rider could come along w ith his bike and slot the engine, w heels, brakes, forks and instrumentation into the Bimota frame. It's not that way at all. There's so much mechanical sculpture in the Bimota that nobody in their right mind will consider anything less than the w hole deal. Marzocchi forks, magnesium alloy wheels and all.
Of course the engine is used, and so are the wiring loom, instruments and headlamp. And if you feel that you want to go on a dollar-pinching spree you can keep the Kawasaki forks, too.
Nobody's going to want to really cut back on the beautiful Bimota. though. The powerless chassis alone costs more than the standard Kawasaki. But if the prfce of the ticket is heavy, the journey it'll take you on is like nothing else.
For the Bimota chassis achieves much more than revamping the stock KZ. It's virtually a completely new machine that allows the rider to explore and use up his safety margins and still be w ithin the generous performance envelope of the Bimota’s capabilities.
Ow ning a Bimota requires financial and personal commitment. The U.S. importer is Moto Sport. Inc. They sell you a nonrolling chassis, that is. frame, rear suspension. seat, tank and controls, for $6.400. Or there's the rolling chassis, with Marzocchi forks and Brembo disc brakes, for $7.400. Either wav vou supplv the engine, w iring loom, wheels, tires and so forth. You bolt evervthing together and you furnish the legal papers for the engine so you can show your state motor vehicle people that what you have parked out front is a modified or custom Kawasaki 1000 and is thus entitled to a license plate.
It's fair to say that a project of this magnitude won't be done by many people. Instead. U.S. Bimota owners will be the few who can a fiord the investment and appreciate works of art.
Yet there are aspects of the bike that w ill appeal to the techno-freak, the artist and customizer alike. And there is no doubt that the machine works. A ride convinces you that motorcycles need not wobble and pitch, need not lurch and tw ist if only they were constructed to the same exacting standards that exemplify the Bimota.
Nevertheless, the Bimota-Kawasaki KB1 is more of a compromise than the Bimota frame made for the Suzuki GS750. Most important change in the design is the addition of a conventional cantilever-style sw ingarm instead of the long and complex unit on the Suzuki that pivoted on the same axis as the countershaft sprocket, preventing variations in chain tension.
The space frame that encloses the engine is one-piece and while still using the engine for support allow s its removal from below with similar ease. The KB1 is a larger motorcycle too. firstly because the wheelbase is longer, at 57.25 inches, than the Suzuki SB2. but still shorter than the stock Kawasaki by 2.5 inches.
Rider comfort is eased for general use by the use of clip-on handlebars, fully adjustable for angle, on the top of the fork legs, though the ones fitted to the bike we sampled were unduly wide for this sort of sporting machine.
The handlebars mean that the fairing has to be a more conventional design. But it is still a strong and lightweight fiberglass com ponent.
Cornering clearance is enhanced by raising the engine to an unladen height of 16 inches at the crank, well above the center line of the wheel axles. However, this doesn't affect the maneuverability of the machine thanks to the shorter wheelbase and integrity of the frame. Also, the height of the engine doesn't affect the rider because there isn't any frame above it. just the broad 4.8-gallon alloy fuel tank that is enclosed in fiberglass. Instead, the tubing for the main frame, in 30mm o.d. chromemoly steel, loops around either side of the engine and forms a massive triangulated structure to support the steering head.
At the rear, the tubing arches low under the bank of four Mikunis and forms an anchor point for the front of the rear suspension unit. The cantilever-style sw ing arm is similar in construction to the units made for Bimota’s racing frames for Yamahas; rectangular tubing supported on needle bearings. Adjustment for chain stretch is by an eccentric alloy block at the wheel spindle but there is a similar adjuster at the swing arm pivot so that the geometry can be maintained; this allows the movement of the pivot up or dow n to clear the top run of the chain; it also means a possible variation of up to two inches in the wheelbase.
The Butibo shock offers even more adjustment. Ride height can be changed bv the use of either of two mounting points on the swing arm. while spring preload can be adjusted by winding up the threaded seating.
Damping, both compression and re bound, can be altered by a large factor with a lever that moves through 90° on the top of the damper body. Leverage of the triangulated arm means that the 2.2 inches of damper movement is magnified into a massive six inches at the rear wheel. On any other machine, such a large movement might affect the control of the machine, particularly as the chassis is prone to squat both under acceleration and braking (the rear disc caliper torque arm connects to ►the cantilever. But on the Bimota, the rigidity of the frame is carried through to the front wheel via taper roller steering bearings and large diameter 38mm fork legs Bimota designers Guiseppe Morri and Massimo Tamburini favor front end geometry with characteristics more often found ►on Italian GP machines. The fork legs are mounted at 29° from vertical while the steering stem is at 26°. as the beautifully cast alloy steering clamps are bored at
different angles front and back. The angle means that when the suspension is compressed. under braking or cornering force, trail increases and makes the steering more stable. The usual parallel alignment of stanchion tubes and steering head allows reduced trail under compression and the steering loses its self-centering force.
The Bimota offers tuning within this, as there is a choice of clamps with the tubes at different distances from the steering head. The buyer has his pick of 3.9. 4.3 or 4.7 in. of static trail.
For minimum unsprung weight, the wheels are east magnesium alloy by Campagnolo to Bimota’s design, rim widths being 2.5 in. (WM-3) at the front and 3.5 in. ( WM-6) rear, fires are Michelin. an S4 1 front and a massive M48 rear in 130/ 80H18 size, meaning that the rubber is over 5 inches wide with an 80 percent aspect ratio (depth to width).
Weighing just 425 lb. dry, the Bimota Kawasaki is lighter than most 500cc bikes, so the monster Brem bo front discs, mounted on light alloy carriers, are more than powerful enough to haul the bike down in concert w ith the Kawasaki rear disc.
Like the rest of the detailing, such as the neat forgings for the footrests and the gearchange linkage, the assembly is enhanced by gold cadmium-plated cap screws.
Performance w ith a stock Kawasaki engine with the standard 33/15 rear gearing should be far better than the 125 mph the KZ1000 can achieve.
Bimota claims 144 mph at 9.000 rpm in top. But it hardly matters. Most of the Bimota’s clout is delivered well below that speed in sheer cornering and roadholding superiority over practically anything on wheels. That, plus almost dream-like looks, may justify the $7400 price tag.
SPECIFICATIONS
$7,400
