WHAT makes someone buy a Bimota? I can think of a few reasons, but although I’ve lusted after a few – the Tesi, DB1 and SB3 for example – I’ve never seriously thought of buying one. An expensive machine like this needs a point of difference, and the DB8 has a number of those.
The closest I ever came to buying something like that was a Macintosh BR2 when I was in my early ’20s. I can’t remember what the price was but when I told my soon-to-be wife she gasped and said, “wake up to yourself”. That’s the crunch right there I reckon; the cost of buying what I would call motorcycle art.
The DB8 SP as tested here is $47,990 + ORC. That’s not a misprint.
Is it worth the hefty price tag or is it even as good as the Ducati 1098/1198 which gives the DB8 SP its heart? I don’t think it matters!
Of course, to the Beige People out there it does matter, but what matters to me is that I got to ride it.
Envy
When the bike turned up it looked bloody amazing – tiny but with more room than you would expect, bits everywhere milled out of billet alloy, and a colour scheme that screamed Bimota.
When I turned up with it to Eastern Creek for a ride day I could feel all eyes on me. I felt like a king, and that’s part of the attraction of owning a bike like this. It’s a shame the bike was strapped down to a bike trailer behind my Commodore ute. If only I was towing it behind a Range Rover Vogue or something as equally flash and expensive.
What about the bike?
Now that you ask, it is a masterpiece of design. I have a sneaking suspicion a lot of it is for form rather than function but that’s cool. Take the frame and swingarm for example.
Does it really need a massive milled alloy bit joining the frame and subframe, or one bolted on to the back of the main swingarm?
Probably not, but then does a buyer of a machine most people only dream of owning expect their bike to look similar to every other sportsbike on the market?
Some aspects of the machine which really stand out for me – besides the just mentioned frame and swingarm – is the design of the rear suspension, the strikingly beautiful exhaust, the styling, and the front suspension.
They stand out to me not because of the way they work but how they are designed and put together.
An expensive machine like this needs a point of difference, and the DB8 has a number of those points.
I am surprised the bike doesn’t have electronic suspension but not disappointed. I am a fan of electronically adjustable suspension but I don’t see it as a necessity.
It does have fully adjustable Marzocchi forks and, exclusive to Bimota, an Extreme Tech shock, or traction and compression unit in Bimota speak. I’ve never even heard of Extreme Tech but the company has done a good job of the shock.
Brembo brakes are fitted – it would be odd if they weren’t – and it weighs a scant 164 kilos. I can’t tell you off the top of my head how this compares to an 1198 Ducati, or an Aprilia RSV4 for example, but I can tell you it’s very bloody light.
Now to the engine. It’s an 1198cc V-twin engine from the Ducati 1198. It has four valves which are operated by Desmodromic principles. It’s got 170 horsepower and it goes very fast.
The engine needs no explanation in my opinion, and if you need any more info then Google it. On track Two of us rode the bike at Eastern Creek, and between us there’s 20 odd kilos variance.
‘Biggles’ Newton softened the fork compression but didn’t toughen the shock for his two sessions.
He was happy with those settings but when I rode the bike I found the forks ‘wallowed’ slightly during the transition from braking to entering the corner. Not enough for me to bother about changing them though. The rear shock was fine.
Gearing as tested was for the road so it wasn’t pulling wheelstands and such out of corners like it would if set up for track days or racing.
I would have liked one tooth off the front sprocket but then again it depends how you like your bike to be – wild and woolly or more predictable.
It starts and sounds just like an 1198 but does feel different to ride. It’s very hard to explain, just a feeling I had on the day. I think this is due somewhat to the chassis set up.
For example, I found the front end wiggled at full noise down the main straight but ‘Biggles’ never expe rienced it. I guess it was down to my extra weight compressing the rear end which took weight off the front. It never felt like getting out of control.
One thing we both agreed on was the bike would lean over so far and then want to suddenly tip in again. As the bike was fitted with road tyres rather than race tyres we didn’t want to explore this part of the bike’s personality so only rode it so hard.
The last thing I wanted was to crash this bike, no insurance on the track and all that.
I gave the bike a fair workout but I wasn’t out to do a Personal Best time if you know what I mean.
Although I like slipper clutches I’m not reliant on them when riding at the track. By that I mean I don’t really care if the bike has one or not.
I still reckon the best slipper clutch I’ve ever used was on the Ducati Desmosedici.
While I can’t confirm if the DB8 slipper clutch was 100 per cent as good, it was still impressive.
Hard under brakes into Turn Two at EC you could go down three gears and let the clutch out with no wheel hopping or any other shenanigans.
The only time I didn’t like the way it worked was going down a gear for Turn One. It almost feels as if you’ve hit neutral for an instant and it’s a bit disconcerting when you first experience it.
Now, having said that, I think every other slipper I’ve sampled at EC feels the same going into Turn One. Anyway, overall I like the DB8’s slipper clutch.
And don’t those Brembo four piston calipers stop you in a hurry. There is some serious initial bite, and the power is amazing. Some of the best brakes I’ve ever used.
But to be honest I can’t remember the last sportsbike I rode with lacklustre front brakes.
On road It’s uncomfortable and uncompromising but you already guessed that didn’t you? The same ‘wallow’ I felt from the front forks on the track was evident on the road but less pronounced.
Still, if I had the bike for more time I would have played around with the forks to make it better.
The rear shock was faultless on the road ride.
Wrap up
I’d love to own a DB8 SP but not for regular road riding, and I suspect this would be the case for most people contemplating the purchase of such a special machine.
On the right roads the bike is glorious to ride, and when used in this context the comfort level is almost irrelevant. I should clarify that. It is reasonably comfortable to ride on good roads but it’s when you venture on to our crap regional roads that comfort with this type of machine becomes an issue.
I wish I could have got into the minds of all those track day punters who were drooling over the bike. I probably would have heard everything from wanker to lucky bastard. I’d like to think I was a lucky bastard.