Bimota Sb8r
BIMOTA SB8R
RETURN OF THE SUPER BIKE
BRIAN CATTERSON
NINETEEN NINETY-EIGHT SHOULD HAVE been one big party for Bimota. The Rimini, Italy-based sportbike manufacturer was celebrating its 25th anniversary, hot on the heels of two historic events. First, the SB6 and SB6R had sold in record numbers, with 1744 of the Suzuki GSX-R1100-powered machines streaming out of the tiny factory, a figure that accounts for 15 percent of Bimota's total production to date. And second, the company had given birth to the 500 Vdue, the direct-injected, two-stroke, technological marvel that for the first time used an engine of Bimota's own design.
Alas, the ambitious project backfired, as production Vdues failed to work as well as the testbikes that magazines the world over had trumpeted. This ultimately led to a costly recall to fit updated engines, and an unflattering nickname-the "Re-due." In one misguided moment, Bimota's reputation had been ruined.
The new SB8R aims to rectify that. Fitted with a Suzuki TL1000R V-Twin, the bike marks Bimota's return to its proven role as a world-class chassis constructor. And for the first time in recent memory, Bimota's chassis is arguably no more exotic than the original, as it eschews the TL's clever (albeit controversial) rotary damper in favor of a traditional shock.
Which is in no way meant to imply that the SB8R isn't exotic. Or clever. To the contrary, it is the first production streetbike to be equipped with a composite aluminum/carbon-fiber frame, a concept last seen on Cagiva's 500cc Grand Prix roadracers. Where most aluminum frames are constructed by welding cast swingarm-pivot plates to extruded spars, the SB8R's frame employs carbon-fiber plates that are dovetailed and screwed to the aluminum spars. Made by Verlicchi, the entire assembly weighs just 17 pounds.
But weight alone wasn't the issue; it was weight bias that concerned Bimota. Knowing full well the trouble that Ducati has had getting enough weight onto the front wheel of its VTwin Superbike, Bimota reduced mass at the rear of the bike in order to increase the percentage at the front. Assisting in this endeavor is the loadbearing, carbon-fiber seat/tailsection, which attaches to the pivot plates and the underseat exhausts without need of a subframe. And then there's the shock, which is positioned forward of the rear cylinder head and bolts to a cross brace behind the steering head. An intricate linkage joins it to the asymmetric aluminum swingarm, which is neatly embossed with the Bimota logo on the right side.
The engineers didn't stop there in their efforts to optimize weight distribution. The engine was rotated 6 degrees forward from its position in the TL1000R, while twin radiators (one on each side of the forward cylinder head) and a low-aspect ratio 120/65-17 front tire minimize critical engine/tire clearance.
The end result is a tight and tidy package with remarkable mass centralization. Claimed dry weight is just 392 pounds-outstanding considering that the engine alone weighs 130 pounds-biased 52 percent front, 48 percent rear. Wheelbase measures just 54.7 inches, with no compromise in swingarm length. As is the case with Ducati's 996, the SB8R's rake and trail are adjustable (from 22.9 degrees/3.4 inches to 23.9 degrees/3.7 inches) via eccentric inserts in the steering head.
The SB8R's parts list reads like a Who's Who of European suppliers. The fully adjustable, 46mm inverted fork comes from Paioli; the fully adjustable shock from Ohlins; the triple-disc brakes from Brembo; the 3.5 x 17and 5.5 x 17inch wheels from Antera; the tires from Michelin, the afore mentioned 120/65 TX15 up front and a 180/55 TX25 at the rear. Capping off the creation is attractive red/white/black bodywork, replete with gold pinstriping. Unlike some Bimotas, the SB8R's body is made up of multiple pieces, in order to ease maintenance and reduce replacement costs in case of crash damage. Thus, the upper fairing, seat and radia tor vents are made of carbon-fiber, while the fairing lowers are thermoplastic and the 5.3-gallon fuel tank is nylon.
Not all the attention was lavished on the chassis, however. The 996cc, dohc, 90-degree V-Twin, while internally stock, received an added dose of performance through better breathing and a new fuel-injection system. Twin ram-air snorkels (in carbon-fiber, naturally) route air alongside the windscreen, over the top triple-clamp and then down through the fuel tank into the cavernous airbox beneath. The pressurized air then joins the incoming gasoline inside the dual (as in one per cylinder) 59mm Weber throttle bodies (up from 52mm on the TL). The injection system is controlled by a Magnetti-Marelli brain that Bimota developed
in conjunction with a new company called Microtec, headed by ex-250cc GP racer Loris Reggianni. Spent gasses exit through stainless-steel headpipes, stubbed into twin Arrow carbon-fiber mufflers that end above the turnsignals near the taillight. These changes, says Bimota, enable the SB8R to pump out 130 peak horsepower at the rear wheel (11 more than a stock TL-R), with no loss of power at lower revs.
Cycle World was invited to sample the SB8R and the rest of Bimota's 1999 lineup in conjunction with an international distributor meeting at the Autodromo Santamonica in Misano, Italy. But while the Adriatic Coast is a wonderful place to sunbathe in summer, it was positively frigid in early December. The high for the two-day test was 43 degrees, which meant traction was low and caution was the order of the day. More than a dozen British and Italian Bimota deal ers were embarrassed to find themselves skidding along on their backsides after tucking the front end, usually in the right-hand hairpin that follows Misano's long series of four lefts. Still, by taking a few careful laps to build heat into the tires, I was able to obtain an accurate representation of the SB8R's capabilities.
In a word, the Bimota is impressive. With the peak power of a Yamaha YZF-R1, the midrange grunt of a TL1000S and the approximate weight of an MZ Skorpion Single, the SB8R really gets with the program. Initially, you get the impression that it's a big bike, due to the wide clip-ons and the fat ram-air snorkels filling up the space between your forearms, chin and chest. But bend the bike into the first turn and that impression vanishes for good-the only time you notice the snorkels thereafter is when you try to tuck your head behind the windscreen and find that you can't. This was especially apparent on Misano's long backstraight, where with 160 mph indicated on the TLlOOOR-derived dash, the windchill equated to 3 degrees! Brrr... And this was in fifth gear-there was still one to go. Top speed should be in the mid-170s.
As more than one test rider noted, the faster you go, the smaller the Bimota seems. It tips into corners as easily as the original TL1000S, and doesn't ever stand up or fall in if you modulate the brakes mid-comer. And this was with the steering head set in the more conservative position; the Bimota folks say that with it set in the other position, the steering gets really light. Yet in spite of its quick steering, the SB8R is supremely stable; I only occasionally experienced a hint of headshake while powering out of Misano's right-hand hairpin and chicane.
Slowing the SB8R from triple-digit speeds is a no-fuss affair, as the excellent Brembo four-piston front brakes grab hard on the 320mm rotors and the entire weight of the bike pitches onto the front tire. A couple of ham-fisted late-brakers remarked that the fork bottomed too easily, but I had no such complaints while turning quicker lap times, so fugg'em! One doesn't often notice the rear brake on a roadrace track, but the SB8R's has such exceptional feel that, combined with the engine braking afforded by the big V-Twin, I was consistently able to hack the rear end out entering corners without fear of wheel chatter. And I wasn't the only one: Bimota's World Supersport racer Serfino Forti was circulating Misano aboard an SB8R fitted with on-board diagnostics, and was really getting it sideways!
The SB8R's engine is no less impressive. It revs so quickly that it was common to bang two or three upshifts on Misano's shorter straights, the rorty exhaust note reverberating off the concrete walls for the entire town to hear. And while there's plenty of power on tap, the delivery is extremely tractable, thanks to the exacting injection. The overall feeling is sort of a cross between a Suzuki TL1000R and a Ducati 996 SPS, accent on the latter.
Bimota is sensitive about comparisons to the "donor" model, because to be brutally honest, theirs hasn't always been the better motorcycle. But compared to the TL-R, the SB8R is a big improvement. Gone are the near 500-pound weight and spongy suspension that made the Suzook so cumbersome on the racetrack, and the slow-revving, comparatively peaky engine whose fuel injection was good, but not great. With the U.S.-based Yoshimura Suzuki team having abandoned its TL-R Superbike program to concentrate on the fuel-injected GSX-R750, the SB8R is left as Suzuki's hope for twin-cylinder racetrack success. The current plan calls for testing the waters at the British and German national level in 1999, before launching an all-out assault on the World Superbike Championship in the year 2000. It will be interesting to see if Bimota can successfully do what Suzuki found impossible.
Meanwhile, street riders are left to ponder whether they should purchase an SB8R. Of course, there is the familiar caveat about price: With a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $23,595 (or $26,595 for the Special version with pearl black paint, adjustable billet foot controls, some additional gold anodizing and carbon-fiber), the SB8R is expensive, even if it is priced competitively with the Ducati 996 SPS. But our guess is that those fortunate few who ante up for one of the 50 SB8Rs coming to America beginning this March won't find the price an obstacle. Like all Bimota buyers before them, they'll be paying a premium for exclusivity. This time, though, they'll be buying a bike that's good for more than bragging rights-they'll be getting the best Bimota ever. Œ
