Bimota Junior 400
The original Bimota DB2 is a fairly rare machine with just over 400 constructed in the early ‘nineties, but the DB2 Junior is even rarer. It is believed that just 105 were built in an attempt to capture some of the market that had been the domain of the mid-sized Japanese sport bikes. Whether the Rimini-based company achieved their aim is questionable, but it was a typically neat job nonetheless.
At this point in history, Bimota was experiencing one of its cash-strapped periods, and a move away from ultra high-tech to more prosaic (and affordable) products was pure common sense. That had its origins in the DB1, the first Ducati-powered model to wear the Bimota badge, powered by the two-valve 750 Pantah engine. And while the engine was nothing to get particularly excited about, the chassis was a marked improvement on the Ducati offering. That frame was the first to come off the drawing board of Bimota’s newly-appointed chief engineer Federico Martini, and once clothed in a fresh new direction in styling, resulted in a stunning looking motorcycle – a point not lost on the Japanese, which were, after all, Bimota’s biggest customer base. Martini’s tubular steel frame incorporated the dimensions and geometry that had been well proven on race tracks. It has been said that the DB1 was the machine that saved Bimota from bankruptcy, and the exchange of currency between Bimota boss Giuseppe Morri and Ducati’s owner Gianfranco Castiglioni was cordial and profitable for both. Moving right along, the ‘nineties brought a whole new set of financial considerations, and Martini’s replacement, Pierluigi Marconi, was the man charged with designing the DB1’s successor, called, naturally enough, the DB2. The brief was similar; to create an affordable motorcycle that would garner new Bimota customers, especially those who baulked at the complexity and price of the four-valve Tesi. ‚
Martini’s frame was, like the DB1, made from tubular chrome moly steel, with a steel (rather than alloy) swinging arm. Front dimensions were 23 degrees steering head angle with 97mm of trail; a sharp-handling package. Two models were offered; fully-faired or half-faired. Power came from the twovalve engine that propelled the 900SS Ducati, which produced an adequate 73 horsepower. Judging by the sales success of the 900SS, which was Ducati’s top-selling model, buyers felt entirely comfortable with this output, although many were less than thrilled with the riding position.
The DB2 addressed these concerns very well, the new model having a more comfortable cockpit by all accounts, as well as much improved suspension. This package included an Ohlin’s rear shock, which was not central in the frame but offset to the right to clear the exhaust pipes, and mounted directly to the swinging arm without a rising-rate linkage – a cantilever arrangement. Up front sat a conventional Paioli front fork with 43mm tubes, with compression and rebound damping in each leg. Brakes were the proven Gold P4 30/34 Brembo calipers, gripping 320mm cast iron floating rotors at the front. At the rear, a Brembo 05 caliper straddled a 230mm single disc. Both master cylinders came from Ducati.
The DB2 did not have to cope with the weightcarrying compromises demanded by a pillion – it was a rider only machine with the Bimota-designed exhaust system tucked neatly under the tail section and totally precluding a passenger seat or footrests. The dry weight was right on target at 168kg –
16kg less than the 900SS.
So that was the DB2, and by the time its production run was completed in 1998 (the final versions featuring Bimota’s own TTD Fuel Injection system), a further 257 units had been built. There was however, one further chapter in the DB2 story – that of its little-known sibling, the DB2 Junior. Powering this little machine was Ducati’s 400cc air-cooled v-twin engine, which had been created from the 750 unit with a revised bore and stroke of 70.5mm x 51mm and developed around 49 BHP, with a six-speed gear cluster. The Junior was physically identical to the DB2 except for a narrower 4.5-inch rear rim, and the use of a single front disc – with dual discs listed as an option.
Ducati had developed the smaller engine with the export market firmly in mind, and the ready availability of the engine was no doubt a major factory in Bimota’s decision to schedule the little brother of the DB2 with which to exclusively tackle the lucrative Japanese market, with its sales tax incentive for bikes under 400cc. Like the DB2, the Junior was available with either a full or half fairing. Not surprisingly, the Junior was anything but a powerhouse, with little available at the twistgrip below 5,000 rpm.
The machine featured here found its way to New Zealand around three years ago, and was imported to
Australia by Craig Longhurst in early 2020, and is now owned by Andrew Lewis. Craig is these days the sole remaining member of a business known as Mischielf Makers, located in the northern Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. Craig says that there were actually three Bimata versions using the Ducati 400cc powerplant – all bound for Japan. The lineage began with a Junior version of the DB1 and as well as the DB2 Junior, included a 400cc version of the Tesi. The DB2 weighed in at 169kg while the Junior version tipped the scales at around 155kg – the weight lost due to one missing front brake disc and calliper, and lighter engine components, particularly the crankshaft, in the engine. Craig says there was never a dedicated production run for the Junior – frames were simply plucked at random from the main DB2 run and fitted with the smaller motor and the narrower rear wheel and tyre. He describes the DB2 Junior as a “lovely little bike with a fairly disappointing motor”.
There was one more chapter in the Bimota
400cc story – that of the Yamaha-engined YB7. Some of these bikes were fitted with the buzzy FZR400 engine and would be an altogether different animal to the lazy DB2 Junior donk. Perhaps more on this one at a later date!