Cycle News

Cycle News 2013 Issue 30 July 30

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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FIRST RIDE P56 2013 BIMOTA TESI 3D NAKED BIKE The 3D Naked still uses hubcenter steering, but it sits more upright than the Tesi 3D. quite different to the original 1D, which resolved its drawbacks," says Acquaviva. "The most important of these was the very restricted steering lock, which made the bike quite impractical in everyday use. Next was to reposition the front shock to stop it interfering with your knee, and also to make the bike narrower, so it's more responsive and easier to steer. I also wanted to redesign the steering system to make it more direct, as well as less bulky." Five years after the debut of the born-again Tesi 3D, the customer Tesi 3D Naked version of Acquaviva's revived design appeared at last November's Milan Show, powered by the EVO version of Ducati's air-cooled 1100 desmodue V-twin engine, as fitted to the Hypermotard. And now it has entered production. So to create the Tesi 3D Naked, Acquaviva has wrapped the Ducati desmodue motor in a pair of vestigial Omega-shaped frame spars milled from solid billets of Carpental aluminum, which provide the mounting points for the front and rear swingarms (the rear one also pivots in the engine cases). These spars also carry the front tubular steel subframe locating the steering head, and its self-supporting carbon fiber rear counterpart comprising the seat, which now for the first-time ever on a Tesi includes space for a passenger. To permit this, the previous 3D Sport's Zard 2-1-2 exhaust with its twin high-rise underseat silencers, has been replaced with a new hand-made Arrow 2-1 stainless steel system with a single titanium-wrap silencer carried low down on the right. This has the useful spinoff benefit of liberating extra power and torque from the 1078cc Ducati engine, which now delivers 98 hp at 7750 rpm (three horsepower more than with the Zard exhaust), and 94Nm of torque at 5250 rpm. But the dry clutch on the Bimota factory development bike I was riding was still very stiff in typical Ducati mode, not yet incorporating the welcome 30 percent reduction in lever effort delivered by the same engine fitted with an oil-bath clutch as on the Hypermotard. All customer Tesi 3D Naked bikes will be fitted with the wet-clutch motor, says Acquaviva. The Tesi 3D's trademark trellistype rear swingarm with bolted on

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