Tesi 2D Upgrade

[dnovo]

The first of the 'new' (post bankruptcy) Bimota was actually not a Bimota at all. When the new Bimota was born, and the first bike was on the drawing board (later the DB5) the folks who had been working on the Tesi at the original Bimota formed their own company, Vyrus. The two new companies worked together, they have since 'split the blanket' and next generation of the Tesi emerged, 25 badged as Vyrus and 25 as the Bimota Tesi 2D.

In any event, only a handful 2Ds made it into the states, and I believe are now long gone in the hands of those of fortunate here in the US to own one. Unfortunately, when they were imported, some US government killjoy refused to allow them in with the headlight fairing and mirrors as designed and as sold everywhere but here. In its place was a naked headlight and mirrors stuck on the handlebars. Very unfinished and just a bit 'wrong' in my opinion.

Speaking to Bob at Bimota Spirit, he had the solution that he had done for his bike, have Vyrus build a new headlight/fairing/mirrors assembly to match the 2Ds sold in the rest of the world. Only took about 7 months but it finally showed up and we mounted it Friday.

The kit includes new turn signals on the lower part of the front fairing assembly to replace the ones in the handlebar mounted mirrors. (Matching and more svelte and better looking rears to replace the Japanese touring bike specials the DOT demanded.)

Now the only downside, the mirrors on the fairing look much better, but they are typical Italian, totally worthless for showing anything but your elbows. Oh well, such is the price of Art, eh Arthur?


Here are 'before' shots:





And after:





Here are a couple of the new fairing from the right side, not as crisp as the shot from the left, but shows the shape a bit better:





By the way, hadn't had the bike out recently. Although less power than the 3D (1000 vs 1100DS) the 2D is a bit lighter and for old farts like me, the more upright riding position is less of a hassle on my wrists and especially my neck (the DB5R is a real neck tormentor for those who are a bit less limber than we were in our callow yute.) I had a very nice couple hours out on it today , and no the seat is not anywhere as bad as it looks, rather supportive in fact. Very, very flickable, tough choice between the two newest Tesi, although no question of which one is the more comfortable to the 60+ riding fraternity.

Don't pick on me folks, haven't got to the Can Am Spyder/Aspencade Trike stage yet, and can still get a knee down from time to time. Just need a lot of Aleve later. Dave

[dnovo]

Yes, I am sure Bimota did not design the 2D, see this comment from a Motorcyclist article on it written by Sir Alan Crashcart, who has a lot of knowledge of the marque having ridden and tested, and reported on, more Bimota than any other writer, going back to the very beginning (and crashing a whole lot of them in the process, he does that a bunch, you know )

"Previously, Bimota technician Ascanio Rodorigo made a deal with the company to take the Tesi concept and re-engineer it around Ducati's much less costly (and more modern) desmodue engine, the 1000DS. Rodorigo named the resulting motorcycle the Vyrus. Comini's revived Bimota motorcycle company, however, will market the Vyrus as the more appropriately named Tesi 2D."

That marriage did not last, and the Tesi 2D was the sole progeny. The basic 2D chassis, updated of course, can be had today from Vyrus in 2V or 4V form, and if you have more money than brains and a friend who will sneak it in, you can get a Vyrus with a supercharged 1198R. Fun, fun, fun and about a buck fity.

Oh, and no, the Santa Monica was not a new design. It was simply an updated, post- bankruptcy version of the SB8R. Bimota had the parts, chassis, bodywork on hand bought from the receiver and once they were used up, no more were built. The first 'pure' design from Bimota was the DB5, designed 'out house' too, to coin a phrase. Don't know if Bimota has an internal design staff anymore. Think they use someone outside the company, but I could be wrong there. Dave

[TUNA]

I thought the plastic turn signals looked cheap so I put the Ducati Performance billet turn signals on mine.
The power or lack of power of the DS1000 was a concern of mine too. I had Ascanio put the 1200cc NCR engine in mine. It is the same engine NCR put in their latest Mike Hailwood edition. It had roughly 130hp when new but I wanted more. After this photo, I got rid of the heavy Leo Vince muffler and put the titanium race muffler for the Hypermotard on mine. I was even able to relocate the NCR oil cooler down to it's original position because the new muffler is one inch shorter. The new muffler made a noticeable boost in power plus it weighed half as much. It even sounds better. Now it is a 290lb bike with 130 to 140 hp. It works for me!

[djt77]

wow thats a fantastic looking tesi you have there, personally I think the tesi variation's are the most visually pleasing with all working on show, very much like the ariel atom. A true piece of art you could have in the house (as long as it gets ridden every so often as well)

[JS sport classic]

Tuna, I think the blue& white is a nice refreshing change, nice looking bike.