Bimota Yb7 Italy Delivers A Baby Bimota
BIMOTA YB7 Italy delivers a baby Bimota
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LET’S FACE IT, BlMOTAS-THOSE costly,exotically framed, Italian masterpiece motorcycles—aren’t meant for commuting. But you could probably get away with it on this one, the Yamaha FZR400-powered YB7. Apart from a serious lack of anywhere to strap a briefcase, this could be the ultimate
yuppie bike, just the thing to roll up to that business meeting on when the weather’s dry enough to leave the BMW 325 en garage.
Light and easy-handling around town, when the road opens up and the traffic thins, the YB7 displays all the legendary poise and sure-footed handling Bimotas are famous for, helped along by its incredible, evocative little engine. The FZR400 powerplant comes fitted to the YB7 in standard form except for the addition of a Bimota silencer and air filter, and some rejetting of the four 32mm downdraft Mikuni carbs. These alterations raise the output on Bimota’s dyno from Yamaha’s claimed 60 horsepower to 68 at 13,000 rpm.
Combined with the machine’s claimed dry weight of 353 pounds, split 50/50 in best Bimota tradition, that 68 bhp is quite enough to give exciting performance. You can wind the engine up to redline (14,000 rpm) in every gear or just upshift at the 10,000-rpm mark and let the engine’s surprising torque pull you through the next gear toward the bike’s claimed top speed of 137 mph.
The chassis is a slightly downsized version of the Bimota YB4/YB6, and its 23-degree head angle and 3.8 inches of trail make the YB7 nimble and quick-steering.
Matched with the Ohlins rear shock, the bike’s Marzocchi forks give really good handling over bumpy roads, never bottoming or juddering. Its excellent chassis makes the little YB7 a truly usable, multipurpose mini-superbike, even at low speeds, where it is docile, tractable and well-balancedjust the thing to putter about in traffic on, especially because its low seat height and relatively high-set bars give a surprisingly comfortable seating position.
All of the first batch of 160 machines currently being built in Bimota’s Rimini factory are destined for Japanese customers who either don’t want, can’t afford, aren’t licensed to ride or can’t get insurance for, the regular Bimota range of 750/ lOOOcc machines. And in case the idea of a baby Bimota appeals to anyone living outside of Japan, think again, at least for the time being. This Bimota was designed and built on commission from Carrozzeria, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha, which has the exclusive rights on it until its market is satisfied. Only at that stage is Bimota free to sell any bikes remaining from the projected 500-unit production run.
So, my day-long excursion into the Italian countryside on the Bimota YB7 prototype was a taste of fruit that’s forbidden to those outside Japan. But then, given the number of zeros on their price tags, just about any Bimota is forbidden, no matter where you live.
Alan Cathcart
