Bimota SB2

With Phil Aynsley

Bimota achieved appreciable success with their competitors designs (the 1972 HB1, Jonny Cecotto’s 1975 World Championship successful 350 Yamaha and the 1976 250 and 350 Aermacchi-Harley Davidsons of Walter Villa), and debuted their first road bike in 1976.

The design was commissioned by the Italian Suzuki importer SAIAD following on from their earlier order for a Bimota chassis to accommodate a TR500 motor (the SB1). The one stipulation was that the GS750 engine had for use.

Massimo Tamburini was decided to advance the cutting-edge for sporting highway bikes so his SB2 design featured such objects as a fringe body, mono shock rear suspension and adjustable steering angle.

The chrome-moly metal body immediately related the steering head to the swingarm pivot level and employed the motor as a burdened member of the chassis.

The body was inbuilt entrance and rear sections that had been mated with conical joints. It weighed simply 10 kg. A serious characteristic of the swingarm was that it pivoted concentrically with the countershaft sprocket, guaranteeing fixed chain pressure.

The unique design had the exhausts exiting from below the seat (as per his a lot later Ducati 916 design) and the gasoline tank situated below the motor.

Each these concepts proved too arduous to execute for a manufacturing bike so the alloy and fibreglass monocoque seat unit’s exhaust exit factors had been used to accommodate the rear indicators.

The SB2 was out there in three choices: a package, a whole bike and with a Yoshimura 850 cc hot-up package fitted. 140 frames/kits/bikes had been constructed between 1977-80.

The bike seen right here is among the first 90 with the subsequent 30 utilizing less complicated bodywork that resembled the KB2’s (these had been designated the SB2 80). The remaining frames had been destroyed after the provision of GS750 motor was stopped.

In ‘normal’ kind the SB2 made about 60 hp and weighed 196 kg dry – some 30 kg lower than the Suzuki GS750.

The Yoshimura kitted SB2s featured over-bored cylinders, Street & Observe camshafts, race valve springs, 69 mm excessive compression pistons and 29 mm Mikuni Supercarbs. It was dyno examined at 78 hp at 9000 rpm.

Bimota SB2 Specs