Design/ Engineering - Pier Luigi Marconi.
Presentation - Milan Motor Show 1993.
Price then - 33,210,000 Lira.
Engine - The power plant was taken from the Suzuki GSXR 1100 four. Maximum output of 156 hp at 10,000 rpm and maximum torque of 12 kg at 9000 rpm. Effective engine displacement of 1074 cc. Compression ration of 11.2:1 40-mm Mikuki carburettors, liquid cooled, double overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder, wet clutch and five-speed gearbox.
Frame - Frame with a double perimeter beam "Straight Line Connection" (SLC).
Extruded in aluminium, the beams join at the steering shaft and the swing arm without joins only cast parts. The body shell itself replaced the small rear sub frame. Front suspension is 46-mm Paioli forks; rear is via an Ohlins single shock. Front brakes are double Brembo 320 mm, the rear a single 230-mm. Alloy wheels made by Antera. There a front fork kit which has titanium tubes and racing callipers .A second batch of SB6's made in 1995 made some minor modifications. Rear Body shell re enforced by 3 layers of carbon fibre, re enforced muffler supports, Marchesini wheels, and carbon dashboard & easier to read dials.
Colourings - Three sets of colouring.
Series 1 - White, Red & Carbon with the legend "SB6" was red & carbon.
Series 2 - Dark Grey & Red, with the "SB6" logo in white.
Series 3 - Dark Grey only, with the "SB6" logo in white.
Performance - Top speed of 275.5 Kph and a quarter mile at 10.64 seconds.
Production - A total of 1144 SB6's were built.
Series 1 - 790.
Series 2 - 332.
Series 3 - 22.

Review 1

Quick Fang - Bimota SB6, Japanese Heart - Italian Soul

The Bimota SB6 is one expensive motorcycle, around $35,000 thank you very much. That is a lot of money when the current crop of Japanese hotshots are so good these days, at half the price. But if you are thinking Bimota, you will probably be disregarding price as too much of a factor. You will be after an exotic Italian with a bit of flair.The GSX-R 11 based engine is a gem with useable power from around 2500-rpm and upwards. I dipped the clutch at around 2500-rpm in first gear and the front wheel started rising, it can be kept on the rise by rolling the throttle on as it lifts. A word of warning though - make sure you also know when to roll the throttle back off, or you will be sat on your arse well before the tacho' reaches it's 11,600-rpm redline. The Suzuki engine is slightly modified by Bimota with their own cams and exhaust system.While the GSX-R 11 has low spec suspension and an enormous amount of flab (a bit like me really), the SB6 has a light, straight-connection frame, fully adjustable Ohlins shock and huge Paioli forks. This gives you a hot-rod hybrid with a Latin touch, which adds to it's exotic flavour.The gearbox also comes from the GSX-R 11, which has always been one of the best in the business and performed faultlessly on test. The clutch didn't seem to be up to the same high standards as the big Suzook's great set-up though.Brembo stoppers are up to the task but are surpassed by both the R1 and ZX9R in the braking department these days. The SB6 is showing it's age, where once it could boast unrivaled power and light weight, it is now left behind by the big bore blasters from the land of the rising sun in nearly every area bar street cred'.The Bim's 190 kilograms (dry) puts it a bit on the porky side when compared to what we see from the current crop of Japanese sportsbikes in 1999.The SB6 is Bimota's most successful model ever, with over 1300 units sold worldwide. I suppose this would be the kind of bike for you if you crave something exotic - but love the screaming rush of a 4-cylinder more than the softer delivery of a twin.
There is also another important edge over the Desmo' opposition, servicing costs. The SB6 utilizes one of the most common engines seen in motorcycling over the past ten years; this is reflected in the servicing coming out at around a third of the price than that of a 916. The Suzuki engine and gearbox have a record of indestructability that is the envy of all manufacturers. Another thing it has over the Ducati, by a B-I-G margin. The SB6 does look better in the flesh than this photo represents, but is no outright stunner. The YB11, which will be featured here shortly, is a much better looking proposition to my dodgy eye.The twin exhausts exit from under the seat, ALA 916, which makes for a great looking rear end on the bike, while giving you a very hot rear end, and that doesn't mean a good looking bum either. It is fortunate that the SB6 does not have a pillion seat, I fear a passenger would fry their buns very quickly if it did.For my money I would take a ZX9, Blade or R1 - and accompany one of them with the upcoming electric start DR400. This would leave enough money remaining to keep the two bikes in tyres and insurance for a year or so.It has lots of very trick bits which are no doubt very expensive to buy, but I still can't quite get my head around the purchase price.

Review 2

SB6 - Riding Impressions by Roland Brown, for Motorcyclist April 1994, with thanks.

It is not until the tacho needle hits ten grand and the Speedo nudges the 170 mph mark that my nerves finally scream "enough" I hit the brakes and with just a light touch on the clip ons and a couple of downshifts, bank into the rapidly approaching right hander. I roll the power back on at the corners apex, the red, white and gray projectile rocketing forward as if shot out of a cannon.
My recollection of the bikes remarkable speed and stability on that stretch of tarmac remains vivid several days late, and no wonder. Such adrenalin charged action is no doubt familiar to most GSXR1100 owners, but this machine………….

Bimotas exotic and all new SB6 is an altogether different animal. Though the SB6 and GSXR use the same basic engine, a spirited ride on bimota's latest confirms what the price tag and spec. Sheet cannot. That is this is one of the most potent street legal open classers ever built.
In many ways, the SB6 is long over due. After years of building exotic sports bikes powered by Yamaha engines (among others), the Rimini firm have finally produced a chassis for the 16 valve GSXR1100 and 750 engines. That is surprising too, because the GSXR line has been in need of chassis help for years.
There is no sign of the Tesi type innovation here, but describing the SB6 chassis as "conventional" hardly does it justice. The frame is a twin beam design of aluminum alloy construction, true. But the broad extruded spars that run diagonally from the steering head and curve around the engine also incorporates the swing arm pivots. Bimota claims this design, which it calls "Straight Line Connection" technology, is more rigid than the more conventional combination of extruded rails and cast alloy end sections.
The bikes rear sub frame design is even simpler it does not have one. In GP race bike fashion, the SB6 uses a self-supporting carbon fibre seat unit. This piece blends smoothly into the fuel tank cover, which is made from an equally curvaceous composite of carbon and fibreglass. The combo forms a seat / tank unit of unprecedented style and lightness.
Well, perhaps not unprecedented, Bimota mavens will recall that the firms first street bike, the Suzuki GS 750 powered SB2 of 1977, also featured a gorgeously sculptured full fairing and seat / tank assembly. Like the 6 the SB2 supported its rider without a rear sub frame - though 17 years ago that feat required an aluminum lined fibreglass tail section far heavier that the new bikes carbon construction.
The SB6 tailpiece is notable for more than its strength and lightweight. After leaving the engine, the 6's four exhausts down pipes converge into two beneath the engine. These join to form a single pipe that rises vertically though a gap in the swing arm, then runs back to two horizontal silencers in the seat hump. With the bodywork on the only visible parts of the entire exhaust system are the silencers tips, which emerge above the rear taillight and carbon fibre mudguard.
The swing arm is a typically stout rectangular alloy unit, unusual in that its rising rate rocker arm is located on the right hand side, rather than the centre and is connected to an Ohlin's shock that is mounted horizontally along that side of the bike. Positioning the shock there allows Pierluigi Marconi, Bimota's chief engineer, to keep the bikes length to a minimum. Wheelbase is 54.7 inches, 3.7 inches shorter that that of a standard GSXR, and more than an inch less than on Bimota's FZR 1000 engined Furano.
Predictably the rest of the Bimota's chassis dimensions are on the small side. The SB6 weighs in at 418 lbs dry, unremarkable for a Bimota four (and slightly more than a Fireblade), but a significant 90 pounds less than a stock GSXR1100. Rake and trail are defined as 23.5 degrees and 3.7 inches (the GSXR's fork legs are slightly less steep), though the fork angle can be varied by a half a degree either way using steering head eccentrics.
The fork itself is decidedly unusual; the tubes are ultra thick, 46mm diameter cartridges, built by Paioli, with sliders made from a composite of aluminium and carbon fibre for extra rigidity. Quick release fittings hold the familiar combination of 17-inch magnesium wheel, Michelin Hi Sport radial and a fully floating 320mm Brembo discs gripped by four piston Gold Line calipers.
If the chassis is almost entirely new and trick, then the power plant is much less so, as Suzuki's water-cooled 1074cc mill is employed in totally untouched form. Even the quartet of 40mm Mikuni carbs remains, though they are re jetted to suit the new exhaust system. Bimota claim its pipes boost midrange power by up to 12 bhp, while peak output rises by a solitary pony to 156 bhp at 10,000 rpm.
Any added performance cannot come through extra noise, for when the SB6 fires up, it is most noticeable sound is a typical GSXR-type whirring and rustling from the engine. Riding position is typical Bimota, low clip ons, high rear sets, and low thin seat. Cockpit view is a mix of neat carbon mounted clocks, a massive milled from billet top triple clamp, standard switchgear, too narrow mirrors and an incongruously scruffy pair of batteries visible between the headlamps.
The SB6 feels compact and firm even by Bimota's standards, pulling away with a raw, almost menacing presence that seems to emphasize its status as one of the most single minded street legal missiles ever built. Brush the throttle in the lower gears and it explodes forward, lifting its front wheel in first gear in a way the peaky, chunky standard GSXR cannot manage.
Even on my first slow speed trip through Rimini, the bike seemed aggressive and eager to get going. This is no bike for around town riding, and the SB6 feels predictably firm and uncomfortable burbling along the narrow streets.
Once out of town, however, the story is totally different. On normal country roads, the SB6's previous imprecision is instantly forgotten, replaced by a feeling of almost total control and security. At faster speeds, the suspension begins to work properly, the fat Hi Sports get hot and sticky, the rigid frame begins to earn its keep as the SB6 encourages me to throw it through corners at a pace that would have many bikes sliding into the surrounding vineyards.
Steering is neutral and light without ever feeling nervous. Despite its lightness, the SB6 feels though there is plenty of weight over its front wheel. And although the compact Bimota changes direction quickly when required, it shows no hint of high-speed instability even with the steering damper (mounted on the right side) backed off to its lightest setting.
Far from needing radical attention to its multi adjustable suspension, The SB6 takes all the cornering abuse I can put through its chassis with ease, although Bimota's test rider Gianluca Galasso (who had set up the bike) is a bit lighter than me. Even when I go into a decreasing radius curve too hot and have to take a precautionary extra squeeze of the front brake well into the bend, the Bimota barely twitches before regaining its composure and carving its way through.
You would need a race track to make this bikes Öhlins shock and 180 section rear Hi Sport get close to losing their composure on the way out of corners, even though the SB6 pulls plenty of torque. The latest water cooled version of Suzuki's big GSXR engine is strangely weak at low and medium engine speeds, though Bimota's revised exhaust system does seem to have provided some of the missing midrange. The Sb6 picks up strongly at 4000 rpm and accelerates from then on with satisfying enthusiasm.
At higher revs, there's even more of the mind-blowing force that the big GSXR has always been happy to provide. As you flick through the slick five-speed box, the SB6 storms towards its 11500-rpm redline with an urgency that makes you glad of the Brembo front brake systems ever-reliable power and feel. This bike is not really about top speed, of course, though the GSXR engine provides plenty of steam on top.
The SB6's only engine related disappointment is that it retains a slight buzziness typical of the big GSXR power plant. The engine is fixed to the frame using two main bolts at the rear, plus two mounts either side of the cylinder block. Some high frequency vibration comes through the handlebars and seat at most engine speeds, and although it is not a really serious problem, my feelings is that the FZR 1000 based Bimota's are a bit smoother.
As to whether the SB6 is a better bike than the fearsome Furano, in most respects the verdict is to close to call. According to Bimota's own figures the Furano is slightly lighter and more powerful, and it probably has a little more midrange response, too. The SB6 is surely more handsome and every bit as rapid in the real world, and its considerably less expensive than the fuel injected Bimota.
The bikes competitive price of $19996 (at least relative to Bimota's traditionally elevated standards) has been made possible in part by the firm's intentions to increase 1994 production to around 900 bikes - a record amount. And although a third of those will be SB6's, it remains a rare and exotic machine, one bursting with gorgeous styling, immaculate detailing, leading edge technology and stunning performance that makes these hand built bikes so special.