Posted on Monday, February 03, 2003 - 09:33 am:

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Unfortunately, the actualization of this hub-center steering system was not optimized. Although the hydraulic steering linkages were dropped for mechanical linkages, the sheer number of moving parts resulted in a certain amount of slop. Four spherical joints and six rolling bearings must be moved to steer this bike. The inclusion of 10 bearing surfaces made for significant flexibility which is undesirable. Much of the design problems with steering probably had to do with the fact that Bimota had to design the steering system to work with an engine not optimized for the situation.

While the hub-level front swingarms had the shortest force path to the frame, they had to be bowed to allow the wheel to turn. This bowing coupled with the diameter of the swingarms meant that the front end of this motorcycle was much wider than a forked unit. While riders do not complain of dragging the swingarm in turns while leaned over, one liability of this design is the width of the system. Steering is also further complicated by the trunnion tube hitting the swingarm at either extreme. Thus, compromises must be made to allow steering as well as rigidity.

The limited number (300) and exotic price ($40,000) of this motorcycle relegated it to only a few. Yet it served to prove the viability of a hub-center steered system and the benefits of truly separating braking and suspension forces. It was and continues to be an influential design, heralding the emergence of hub-center steered designs.

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