EICMA 2023’s been flooded with Italian bikes – pertinent, considering the event’s location – but one brand stands out for its novel skeleton.
Meet Bimota, an Italian bike company under daddy brand Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Bimota believes in the bespoke touch, and as such, they’ve just revealed a supercharged tourer that wouldn’t look out of place in an art gallery, thanks to the built-from-the-ground-up frame they invented for the thing.
Meet the 2024 Bimota Tera, a Performance Crossover tourer with a Kawasaki supercharged, 4-cylinder heart; in plain English, that translates to 998cc’s of grunt, or 200hp @11,000rpm, with torque yanking a flat 101lb-ft @ 8.500rpm. The fine bit of engineering holding everything together is a frame christened the “TESI” (see below).
The chassis is named after the unit used in Bimota’s iconic TESI H2 concept; smart perks like a complete billet machined aluminum alloy/carbon fiber composition join a handy “inbuilt anti-dive effect” that was devised from scratch.
The fine bit of engineering holding everything together is a frame christened the “TESI” (see above). It’s named after the chassis used in Bimota’s iconic TESI H2 concept. Smart perks like a complete billet machined aluminum alloy/carbon fiber composition join a handy “inbuilt anti-dive effect” that was devised from scratch.
Further componentry is checked off via the suspension: If you want traditional, stick with the Öhlins fully-adjustable TTX 36 nitrogen gas charged shock set for front and rear that has a piggyback reservoir (as well as compression/rebound damping /spring preload). Further options include a swanky Marzocchi semi-active suspension system.
Brembo Stylema® takes care of the stoppage, with dual radial-mounted, opposed 4-piston calipers and dual semi-floating 330mm discs at the front and 2-piston calipers mated to a single 220 mm disc at the rear.
KIBS ABS ties everything together, adding intelligence to the already long list of electronics:
- Assist & Slipper Clutch
- Comprising Kawasaki Cornering Management Function (KCMF)
- Kawasaki Traction Control KTRC (3-MODE)
- Kawasaki Launch Control Mode (KLCM)
- Kawasaki Intelligent anti-lock Brake System (KIBS)
- Kawasaki Quick Shifter (KQS, bidirectional)
- Electronic Cruise Control
Add a reimagined 35° steering angle, full LED system and a TFT LCD color display, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a Performance Crossover beast… two, actually, considering EICMA’s gander afforded one machine geared toward sporty use and one bagged out for the open road (EICMA)…
What do you think of Bimota’s new 2024 Tera?