Kawasaki would it be in his interest to buy Bimota ?
While according to an insistent rumor Kawasaki could buy the small Italian manufacturer of prestigious sports motorcycles Bimota, MNC questioned Kawasaki France and is exploring different avenues. What are the possible interests of Akashi’s firm with this hypothetical transaction ? Prospective.
Our colleagues are categorical: Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) is in advanced negotiations with Bimota, or even has already bought the famous Italian brand founded in 1966 in Rimini by Valerio "Bi" anchi, Giuseppe "Mo" rri and Massimo "Ta" mburini (the first two letters of each make up Bimota) !
- MNC special file : All the Bimota news
- MNC special file : All Kawasaki news
According to the Italian site, Kawasaki has already announced this acquisition to Bimota’s historic suppliers and is preparing a press conference to formalize it. Remember that Bimota was liquidated in 2000 and then relaunched in 2003, before passing into the hands of Swiss investors Marco Chiancianesi and Daniele Longoni..
To be bought by a group as solid and diversified as KHI (manufacturer of motorcycles but also of boats, trains, turbines, helicopters and industrial robots) would be a godsend for this craftsman of "haute couture motorcycle", victim of ” countless bankruptcies during its half-century of existence and at the origin of a World Superbike in 2014.
- MNC of September 16, 2013 : Bimota could change owners
- MNC of August 28, 2014 : World Superbike, Bimota lowers the curtain on 2014
"I have no precise information, but these are rumors that have been circulating with insistence for a few days", recognizes Giuseppe Morri, one of the three founding fathers now aged 78. "If the acquisition of Kawasaki is confirmed, (…) I would be happy and proud, because that would mean that the brand is stronger than those who have damaged it over the past 20 years".
Kawasaki France has "no comments to make on this subject"
Le Journal moto du Net naturally contacted the French subsidiary of Kawasaki to find out more about this possible takeover and to find out about the Japanese manufacturer’s plans with this hypothetical acquisition of Bimota..
"I unfortunately have no comment on this subject", replied the spokesperson for Kawasaki France … What is hiding this vague formula and a little enigmatic, which is equivalent to "no comment" dear to lawyers and political? That there is nothing to comment on? On the contrary, Kawasaki voluntarily keeps silent to control its communication until the formalization of its takeover of Bimota? For the drafting of MNC, the two options stand !
Bimota bought by Kawasaki: why ?
Why would Kawasaki acquire Bimota, a manufacturer not only in deficit but above all present in a tiny niche: that of the sports motorcycle designed by craftsmanship, with innovations and extremely expensive parts? ?
Enter the ultra high-end
First mortgage: this buyout is used to relaunch a brand whose aura remains strong and which conveys a luxurious and noble image. Remember that the manufacturer Bimota has always stood out for its obsessive quest for the best power-to-weight ratio and its high level of refinement..
- MNC special file :
Kawasaki could use it to penetrate the ultra high-end alongside motorcycle "jewelers" such as the French Avinton, the American Scotland, the Italian NCR or the Anglo-French brand Brough Superior. In this niche market, the European roots and the exclusivity of Bimota would be more "selling" than the generalist position of Kawasaki.
Get hold of certain technologies
Second hypothesis: Kawasaki buys Bimota to get its hands on some of its technologies, such as its unconventional "Dive Controlled System" front axle launched in 1983 and used on its various versions of Tesi sports cars. This system is based on a double swing arm and a complex linkage connecting the handlebars to the hub.
Bimota, on the strength of its long and fruitful experience in Grand Prix, also explored other unusual alternatives such as its Omega frame, similar to that of the late Yamaha GTS. One of the last Bimota motorcycles crossed by MNC – the 2016 one above – precisely took its two technologies…
Kawasaki puts the turbo on Bimota ?!
Another avenue explored by Bimota could interest Kawasaki: overfeeding! Bimota took the issue seriously in 2013 with its DB11 VLX prototype, boosted by a compressor. The objective was to integrate the turbine between the cylinders open at 90 ° of its Ducati twin, in order to contain the bulk..
- MNC of 19 November 2015 : Bimota Tesi 3D RaceCafe and Impeto
Two years later, in 2015, Bimota presented the Ducati Diavel engine, which optionally received a positive displacement compressor capable of increasing the original power of the 162 hp twin by "15 to 20%". The result should not be sad !
The allure of overeating
But Kawasaki is precisely the only major manufacturer to use supercharging on its spectacular, and the future ""! The Greens are therefore in the best position to derive potential benefit from any Bimota advances..
Finally, last hypothesis: the takeover of Bimota by Kawasaki is only the fruit of the a little too inflamed imagination of our Italian colleagues … A "K" of figure not to be overlooked because, after all, rumors such as political promises bind only those who believe in them !
Rumors only engage those who believe in them…
Finally, let us remember that Bimota has already collaborated with the four Japanese manufacturers: its first motorcycle produced in 1973, the HB1 for "Honda-Bimota 1", uses the 4-cylinder of the Honda CB750. The KB (Kawasaki-Bimota) and the SB (Suzuki-Bimota) will follow..
Bimota also distinguished himself in Grands Prix with Yamaha motorbikes – YBs, logical! -, with the key to the 350 cc title won by Jonnie Ekerold in 1980. But the Italian craftsman is best known for his long association with Ducati, which gave birth to truly extraordinary motorcycles…
To follow naturally on MNC: stay connected !
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