The New Bimota KB4 Spotted Out In The Wild

When it announced its partnership with Kawasaki in 2019, Bimota made sure that its return to the market wouldn’t go unnoticed. After unveiling the Kawasaki H2-based Tesi at EICMA, the Italian firm quickly followed up by announcing a second motorcycle project—the KB4.

Earlier in 2020, a Bimota spokesperson confirmed the new bike would likely be unveiled in the Summer. Considering the world is dealing with a pandemic, however, we expected the firm to rethink its timeline. We were apparently wrong and it seems like there’s no mountain high enough to keep Bimota from moving forward with the KB4. From renders to teaser pictures to spy shots, we might see the neo-retro racer show up this summer after all!

One, Two, Three Mota:

Bimota Shares First Teaser Pictures Of KB4 Retro Racer

Bimota Tesi H2 Closer To Becoming Reality

Earlier in May 2020, Bimota shared two (hilariously) blurry teaser pictures of the KB4, which seem to indicate that the bike’s development was nearing completion. To be fair, the company has access to a shortcut when it comes to developing new motorcycles—it doesn’t have to design engines from scratch since its agreement with Kawasaki grants the firm access to existing and proven powertrains.

It didn’t take long for the bike in the teaser to hit the road: a rider unsuspectingly spotted the KB4 test mule roaming the streets of Rimini, Italy. Pictures of the inconspicuous bike were shared by Young Machine on May 24, 2020.

 

We get a clear look at what the final design should look like with the now-famous bubble fairing, modern sportbike silhouette, what looks like a massive air duct running the bike's entire length with intakes underlining the front cowl, and a standard fork suspension at the front (as opposed to a swingarm like on the Tesi.) The bike is expected to use the Ninja 1000 inline-four engine and produce similar power figures.

---

---

The development is seemingly making strides but when exactly will the KB4 be unveiled? That’s something Bimota has yet to confirm but the whole “summer 2020 launch” doesn’t seem entirely impossible.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Rideapart.com?

Take our 3 minute survey.

- The RideApart Team