Bimota Tesi 1D

Bimota is a wild card in the motorcycling world. Since 1973, the Rimini-based company has been delivering the weirdest and wildest machines, wilfully taking the path less travelled. Not surprisingly, it’s never been the most financially stable of manufacturers, and hit the rocks in 2000. But it was resurrected in 2003 and is still going—and for that, we should be grateful. One of our favorite Bimotas is the Tesi 1D, which appeared in 1991 and attracted attention for its hub-steering system. The ‘D’ signifies Ducati: power came from the engine designed for the Ducati 851, a 93 hp fuel-injected desmodromic L-twin. Only 127 Tesi 1Ds were made, and they are now collectors’ items. The hub-steering lineage continues in the Tranformer-like Tesi 3D that you can buy today, but to our eyes, the chunky early 90s styling of the 1D still reigns supreme. [Thanks to Ivar Kvadsheim of MC24.]