Now that we’ve discussed the quirks, let’s get back to the good stuff!
The electrical issue (which ended up being an internal short in the rear cylinder oxygen sensor) was fixed in early April, so that’s when I got to start re-enjoying the Tesi. After being off the bike for a while and riding a few other machines, it was interesting to get a fresh perspective on the Bimota again. It’s so good in the tight stuff thanks to the low weight, upright bars, and the torque of the Ducati 1100 Evo 2V motor. I love this thing – and the silhouette is pretty interesting with the lack of forks!
I got about 2,500 miles out of the original set of Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP V3 tires, but the current set had a track day on them so I ditched them at around 2,200 miles. I feel bad for Daniel when he has to change the front tire on this, it’s definitely tedious. He felt like there might be a bit of wear in the wheel bearings, so that’s something we’re going to pay attention to during the next tire swap.
In the first month of getting the Tesi back on the road, I covered almost 1,000 miles and that got me up to the 5k mark.
I hit this number during a weekend ride by myself, so I “celebrated” by posting up at Duke’s Malibu and sipping on a Mai Tai while working on some auctions for Iconic. That VF1000R would end up selling for $9,095 (including the 7% buyer’s fee).
We had seen some recent rains, but I figured it wouldn’t be a problem as long as I took it easy. I used the opportunity to check out Tuna Canyon Road, a one-way affair that I had never ridden before.
I was wrong – it was quite a bit dirtier than I expected! By the way – if you think that the front end of this bike would be difficult to clean, you would be…correct.
I haven’t ridden the Tesi in the rain, but I have ridden it in some fog:
The aftermath of the fog escapades:
The Tesi gets more than its fair share of attention, and I’m occasionally asked to have it on display. Alpinestars did something they called “Motor Morning” and they asked Iconic to bring a few bikes – I rode the Tesi down.
It was cool to see people take an interest in the Bimota – there were lots of questions about the front end.
A couple of weeks later, the folks over at Race Service asked Iconic to supply some bikes for an event that they call Rise and Shine. I rode my Tesi over to check in on the event and the people putting on the show as me to park the Tesi inside, which was pretty flattering.
So for now, I’m still commuting on it 3-4 days a week (I have to keep the other bikes going, of course) and taking it for weekend blasts out to ACH, the Rock Store, or Ojai. Hope to see you out there!
Photo by Gray Van Dyke.
On to Part 6 – the Tesi hits 7,500 miles.