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Bimota V-Due with THREE miles for sale at Iconic Motors.

8K views 28 replies 17 participants last post by  mfennell 
#1 ·
$36,000 and it's not had the carburetor update, so it sure as heck isn't a rider. Still, if I were a wealthy guy I'd buy it to look at it and hear it run in-place once in a while. I know nothing of this bike apart from the listing.

 
#6 ·
It IS the bike that bankrupted Bimota. They put a lot of eggs into that basket and dropped it. I thought it was a great idea, and it was, but the execution failed. I think several of the Japanese manufacturers have perfected direct injection for two-strokes with their outboard engines. Too bad one of them doesn't build their own street-going version.
 
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#7 ·
I wanted one of these for the wife back when they were new but Bob couldn't get one yet so it went to the back burner, not too much later he offered so heavily discounted due to the running issues that it scared me away. He also had a couple of db4's and mantas that he was willing to deal on. it was a really cool bike "on paper" but anymore they are static pieces unfortunately since they never really ran right even after the carb "fix"from my understanding, that and the fact that even a garage tip over would probably total it due to parts availability. @hypermo, that was the rumor but I think that the truth is more that every bike was the bike that killed BIMOTA, it wasn't long after this that they had the shady bankruptcy sale/change of ownership. cool post though, thanks for the share
 
#9 ·
I wanted one of these for the wife back when they were new but Bob couldn't get one yet so it went to the back burner, not too much later he offered so heavily discounted due to the running issues that it scared me away. He also had a couple of db4's and mantas that he was willing to deal on.
Bob is a Great guy. I purchased a DB4ie off of him years ago at a fair price. The injected model. Ended up installing the Ducati Performance ECU, Giannelli exhaust, air box lid and ported heads. Fueling is perfect per the dyno. That bike is incredibly light and comfortable compared to my 1100 Hypermotard. It was truly created for mountain roads.
 
#10 ·
I have heard one of these run. It would/could have been one hell of a bike, had it been developed properly, with enough investment (which Bimota did not have the ability to do). Motorcycle history is littered with the corpses of bikes that would have been awesome, if only just ...

From the Morbidelli 850 V8, to the recent Motus (I got to testride that, and it was a hell of a bike), to the Tularis, to this, and many others.
 
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#13 ·

Good article, linked from the for sale ad....

Seems the "Evoluzione" CArburetor update was the fix. Too late for Bimota but it would be a nice back road scratcher with a set installed and tuned properly.
cue @davy.j
 
#14 · (Edited)
The article misses the other siginificant problem which compounded the FI problem and deepened the hole the V Due put Bimota in. A problem with the machining of the crankcases and the crankcase seals caused the seals to leak air which made proper fuel delivery impossible. Bimota chased FI problems when they had crank seal and FI problems. So the fix was not only carbs, but also disassembly, remachining the cases and new crank seals to make bike work properly.

The stock wheels are heavy as anchors and the stock exhaust is pretty heavy too. The Evoluzione Finale versions got lighter higher perfomance Jolly Moto chambers. In this trim, with a set of BST CF wheels you get 130 hp, ~370lb wet weight and a pretty nice bike.

Tire Wheel Fuel tank Vehicle Automotive lighting


 
#15 ·
I soooooo wanted that bike to be everything it could have been. Sadly, not even close. :(
 
#16 ·
Rather spend that cash on a nice db5 or maybe a Tesi I if I could swing it.
Had the opportunity to ride a v-due on the track about 15 years ago and it didn't impress.. the chassis was great, but engine/gearbox was nothing special and my 916SPS at the time had better brakes..
 
#19 ·
The answer to the question nobody asked. A prime example of bad management and equally bad planning.
 
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#27 ·
Hello, I am Mike and I have a V-Due problem.

I bid on the Iconic V-Due but I was out at $23k total (bid+fees). My main concern was that I had no way to determine the provenance of the bike. It presented as an original direct injected bike that had been incompletely updated to a carb'd Evoluzione. I reached out to Piero Carroni (who bought all the V-Dues from Bimota) with the VIN but didn't hear back. Paolo Girotti (Bimota Classic Parts, who arranged to get the ECU fixed for the Iconic bike), if I understood him correctly, thought it was originally a carb'd Trofeo race bike. In either case, it would not have had the updated crankcases that are apparently required to make them run right. If it needs engine work, it's a display piece for now.

Every so often, I try learning a bit more about the V-Due. It seems like they are all different. People update the oiling, replace the waterpump with a Bosch electrical one, change the powervalve controller, etc. Most run Dellorto carbs, some run Mikunis. I've seen people swear up and down that they're running happily on the STOCK fuel injection - I suspect those people idle up and down the street now and again but who knows.

It's a small, diverse group of people working independently, so it's tough to get ground truth on what works and what doesn't. I doubt many are ridden regularly, even fewer in anger. They made fewer db4s but they're all largely the same and - obviously - built on a well-known engine. There's very little mystery there besides 'what Ducati/Aprilia/MotoGuzzi part is this?'
 
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