Hot on the heels of the KB4 retro-styled sports bike, Bimota CEO announces that the Tesi platform will be the base for more new models, powered by the Kawasaki H2 supercharged motor.

Bimota Tesi Range Set to Grow

The purchase of 49.9% of Bimota by Kawasaki has revitalised the maverick Italian manufacturer. Hot on the heels of the EICMA-launched KB4 and KB4 RC, company CEO Pierluigi Marconi admitted to British motorcycle magazine MCN that a new hub-centre steered Tesi model was in the pipeline, to be powered by the supercharged Kawasaki H2 motor from the H2 SX sports tourer model.

Marconi told MCN, "We are developing something new with a Tesi chassis and we will see it either next year, or the year after.

"Until now, Tesis were only made for the sports segment. We’d like to put the Tesi name to… adventurers, tourers and bikes like that."

This is amazing news from a manufacturer that has traditionally been on the verge of financial collapse. The partnership with Kawasaki is certainly paying dividends and the future looks bright, something Marconi was keen to point out:

"Our philosophy is to have two lines of bikes," said Marconi. "One is the Tesi line and one is for more traditional models. We like to follow the two concepts, because although a Tesi chassis has a lot of advantages, for some riders it is still too much of a novelty.

"We are also working on the KB4 line. We would like to have some more bikes, but are the two for now, but we are thinking about more."

It has been two years since Kawasaki bought into the company and the first bike to emerge from the partnership was the 227bhp H2-powered Tesi sports bike. The KB4 models use the inline four-cylinder engine from the Ninja 1000SX model and the sports-touring Tesi will use the softer tune version of the supercharged motor.

Marconi had this to say about the partnership: "We can have all the data from Kawasaki, and they support us a lot. Not only from a money point of view, but from a technology point of view. You can have millions of Euros, but if you don’t have tech you can use, then it’s impossible to do things."

President of Kawasaki Motors Ltd, Hiroshi Ito also addressed the Bimota show crowd: "I had the pleasure of being involved in the Bimota project since the beginning. I have been extremely happy with what has been achieved so far.

"Kawasaki Motors will continue to supply engines and other key components and sales support through our global network," Ito added. "We plan to support in whatever way we can to expand this glorious Italian premium motorcycle brand," he concluded.

2021 might have been a difficult year in many ways but it seems as if the motorcycle industry is forging ahead as strongly as ever, with not only new models but new manufacturers coming to the fray.

On this evidence, 2022 could be a vintage year for motorcycling.