< AllMoto's Motorcycle Investor mag

Motorcycle Investor mag

Bimota tales

We've added a bit of exotica to the shed, in the shape of a 1996 Bimota YB11 Superleggera...

(March 2024, Guy 'Guido' Allen

It was one of those spur of the moment decisions. We've recently sent a couple of motorcycles off to auction and, while we were contemplating a minor reshaping of the fleet, this 1996 Bimota YB11 Superleggera popped up on the market at a reasonable price.

A Bimota of any sort was never on my radar. In fact, early Suzuki GSX-R1100, Moto Guzzi Daytona 1000 and Honda VTR1000 SP-1 were far more likely candidates. However the idea of owning the Italian exotic had some appeal, and I'm a fan of the five-valve FZR1000/Thunderace engines. In fact, we had a couple of FZR1000s in the shed not so long ago. The YB11 is running a mildly-modded Thunderace powerplant.

Bimota at this stage was all about finding performance through physically shrinking the machine, stripping off weight and running high-end suspension: a 51mm Paoli front fork and Ohlins rear monoshock. It claimed 145 horses (107kW) for 183kg dry weight, a 15kg saving over the Yamaha.

In 1996 the YB11 retailed for Au$33,000 plus on-road costs (US$21,500, GB£17,000), about double the price of a Thunderace.

The machine, bought from young Darren in Queensland, via bikesales, duly rolled up in good shape. I just had time to start it, establish it ran fine, and shove it in the shed. You see I was hopping on a plane to Vietnam the next day, to go riding with Spannerman and some of his crew via the services of Offroad Vietnam.

So picture this: while we're mooching around in central Ha Noi, Spannerman decides to stroll down the street for a banh mi (meat and salad roll). While he's waiting in line, he spots someone ahead of him in the queue wearing a shirt from Australian classics importer Brad's Vintage Cycle Sales. Spannerman of course taps him on the shoulder and asks if he's a staffer and what is he doing so far away from home?

Spannerman and a baffled Darren – the former has that effect on people...

Meet Darren. No he's not a staffer, but a customer and got the shirt a couple of years ago when he bought a Bimota YB11. He's recently sold the bike. Spannerman reckons this is too much of a coincidence, and asks who bought it. "You won't know him," suggests Darren, "He's from Melbourne..." That's when Spannerman got to explain muggins was a mere couple of hundred metres away in Ha Noi, contemplating his recent Bimota purchase. As they say, it's a small world...

Getting back to the bike, it's in great shape with around 30,000km on the odo – nothing for those engines.

A former owner in Japan chose to fit it with a dodgy retro tail-lamp, stick-on rear indicators and a Mugen muffler. All that is going.

The back end should look more like what you see above and we're in the throes of sorting that out. We already have a stock muffler, albeit a little battered, which we're tidying up, and a stock tail-lamp. The current challenge is tracking down an original carbon-fibre rear guard.

Once that's done it will be put on classic reg, which will keep the running costs way down.

We'll bring you up to speed once we have the thing on the road and let you know what it's like. In the meantime, you can see specs and a backgrounder here, via Motorcycle Specs.

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