Bimota BB3 1000 2016 — Specifications

Imagine spending €43,920 on a motorcycle that you partially assemble yourself. With any other manufacturer, this proposition would sound like a rip-off. At Bimota, it resembles more of a privilege. The BB3 inaugurated, at the end of 2015, a unique formula: acquiring the complete chassis kit, then grafting the BMW S 1000 RR engine with its electronics yourself. A rite of passage for the happy few of Rimini, a way to physically appropriate an object that is already rare by nature.

This third collaboration between Bimota and BMW certainly bears its number. The BB1 of 1995 now seems anecdotal with its 48 horsepower single-cylinder borrowed from the F 650 GS, charming at the time but light compared to what the Italian firm would build twenty years later. The BB2 was only a prototype, a sketch. The BB3, on the other hand, is the culmination: Bimota turned its back on its usual liaisons with Ducati engines to go and find what Munich produces of its most brutal. The inline four-cylinder engine of 999 cc, with a bore of 80 mm and a stroke of 49.7 mm, compressed to 13:1, delivers 200 horsepower at 13,000 rpm and a torque of 111.8 Nm at 9,750 rpm. These figures, on a chassis weighing 179 kg dry, give an idea of what awaits the rider on exit from a corner. The announced top speed exceeds 300 km/h, which places this machine in a category where few adversaries dare to venture.

What distinguishes the BB3 from any modified S 1000 RR by a tuner is precisely everything that surrounds this engine. The tubular carbon trellis frame associated with machined aluminum side plates constitutes a structural solution that large series do not offer, neither Ducati with its Panigale R, nor Aprilia with its RSV4. The monoblock swingarm machined from solid aluminum, the numerous body parts in carbon fiber, the Öhlins suspensions front and rear with a TTX damper to superbike standard, the Brembo calipers on OZ Racing forged aluminum rims: each component has been selected at the top of its range. ABS and traction control complement an electronics package largely inherited from the S 1000 RR, including the dashboard. On this point, one can discuss the lack of originality, but it is difficult to reproach Bimota for having chosen one of the most advanced systems on the market.

The target audience is not the Sunday rider looking for a versatile sportbike. The BB3 is aimed at an astute collector who wants to ride, not simply exhibit. It has indeed proven its competitive value by entering the World Superbike Championship with the Alstare team, achieving honorable rankings in the Evolution category. For Bimota, this foray into international competition represented as much a technical challenge as a legitimacy operation. The result is nuanced: the brand still lacks resources to compete regularly with factories, but it demonstrates that its engineering choices hold up beyond the catalogs.

The question of price remains. At nearly €44,000, the BB3 positions itself well beyond a Ducati 1299 Panigale S or a BMW S 1000 RR Factory. One pays for the exclusivity, the handmade construction, the high-end components and the Rimini badge. It is an argument that will never convince a rational buyer, and it is precisely what has charmed Bimota for forty years.