No Gps For Bimota This Year

NO GPs FOR BIMOTA THIS YEAR

BIMOTA FACTORY OFFI-

cials have decided not

to run the firm's all-

new Tesi-style 500GP VTwin racebike in grand prix races this year. But, they added, that setback will not alter their plans to offer a streetbike version of the innovative hub-center racer in the United States during 1993 or 1994.

“The new grand prix rules are not so good for us,” Pier Paolo Catani, of Bimota’s press department, told CW. Under the terms of the contract sent Bimota by International Racing Teams (IRTA), which as of 1992 controls all GP events, signing the contract binds a team to compete in all GP events, Catani said.

“If you miss an event,” said Catani, “you’re in violation and IRTA can claim damages that remain unspecified. This would be a development year for us.

We are unable to commit to competing in all grands prix,” he continued.

Still, the project, into which Bimota so far has invested about $1.6 million, goes forward. According to Aurelio Lolli, the company’s marketing and sales manager, the engine now produces 125 horsepower, with 130 horsepower in sight. And chassis weight is down to 220 pounds dry, a weight reduction accomplished in part by a redesign that eliminated the Tesi GP’s alloy chassis sideplates. Front and rear swingarms, and all subframes, now bolt directly to the engine, in effect making the engine the chassis, a là the Britten V-l 100.

Lolli said the bike’s twostroke engine uses a fourstroke-style pressure-oiled * bottom end, instead of gasoil premix, for lubrication; is fuel-injected; and may use a catalytic converter in some countries. “It could pass emissions in 90 percent of European markets right now,” said Lolli.

Jon F. Thompson