Italian firm Bimota is set to make a return to racing in 2025 – and the various rules and regulations mean that we’re also going to see a limited-edition production version of its new sportbike that’s built for the road.
The world’s an increasingly surprising place. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. The bad was Kawasaki announcing that its factory KRT team would be bailing out of World Superbikes at the end of the season. The good was that it’d still be involved in some capacity, because Bimota’s on with creating a race bike that’s built around one of Kawasaki’s motors.
It might sound like a strange turns of events, but the two firms go way back. In fact, it’s a little bit more than that. Kawasaki actually own a substantial 49.9% stake in the Italian factory. That’s why Bimota uses Kawasaki engines in all of itsr current road and off-road bikes.
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Speaking about the news, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kawasaki Motors Ltd, Hiroshi Ito, said: “Bimota has an enviable reputation for excellence in motorcycle design and manufacture. As part of our vision for the evolution of this world-famous brand we see racing as a logical next step in terms of both product development as well as brand exposure on the global stage.”
He added: “Our commitment to WorldSBK is as strong as ever and we hope that this new racing project will energise fans of both Bimota and Kawasaki. The passion for race success remains and we look forward to the presence of the Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team on the 2025 WorldSBK grid.”
While details are pretty much non-existent about the bike at this stage, we do know that we’re going to get a matching road bike to go alongside it. Not necessarily because Bimota want to build it, but because the FIM demand that bikes built for superbike racing must have valid homologation status in the USA, EU, or Asia. There’s more. It’s going to have to build 125 of them by the time the company gets it homologated, 250 by the end of the first race season, and then 500 by the end of the second year of racing. No pressure, eh?
Whatever the score, it’s not going to be cheap. Kawasaki’s current ZX-10RR homologation special currently costs a healthy £25,799. It’s a lot of cash – but we reckon the Bimota’s going to be even more expensive. There’s a bit of wiggle room, with a price cap of €44,000 set by the FIM.
Whatever it costs, it’s great to see some fresh blood coming to the WSB championship. Good luck to them.
