Featured Listing: NOS 1992 Bimota Tesi 1D

From the RSBFS International Desk comes this amazing New Old Stock (NOS) 1992 Bimota Tesi 1D. Created as a thesis for his Mechanical Engineering degree, Bimota Designer Pierluigi Marconi’s hub-steering Bimota TESI 1D was first launched in 1990. The bike was an instant sensation with a swing arm arrangement both front and rear, and an evolution of the DB1's all-enveloping bodywork. The Tesi also utilized Ducati motive power. Today's bike is the rare 904 SR version of the 1D, utilizing a factory-stroked Ducati 888 Superbike mill.

1992 Bimota Tesi 1D 904 SR for sale on eBay

The Tesi - like all Bimota designs - was based around a "function first" ideology. The goal of the strange front end was to isolate the braking forces from other suspension work (such as bumps). The end result is a bike that resists nosediving under hard braking, yet can still be compliant over bumps and road irregularities. The target was no different than what Honda attempted with their TRAC anti-dive front fork; the Tesi front swing arm was simply a different way to achieve it. Ultimately, Honda discovered that a conventional fork that was properly calibrated was more ideal than their TRAC trickery - and Bimota eventually came to the same conclusion. But today, the Tesi continues to conjure evocative imagery and remains a super-exclusive rarity by collector standards.

To find this NEW example (the term "museum quality" loses all luster when compared to this specimen) in this rare configuration available is unheard of - and unlikely to happen again. Coming out of a museum located in Germany, I'll let the seller pick up the tale on this rare find:

From the seller:
This 1992 Bimota Tesi is one of a handfull of bikes left from our collection which we have been dissolving this past year due to continued health related reasons which in turn require us to consolidate all our personal items and to scale back from multiple locations to just one.

Being able to own an original, genuine, brand new, never used Bimota Tesi 1D has got to be special for most serious collectors ; it being a 904SR, the rarest of all 412 Tesi versions ever build should make it an even more desirable and unique affair.

More from the seller:
New motorcycle, never ridden, never run, properly prepared for longterm display. Specifically ordered from the distributor without any fluids when new in 1992. Neither the hydraulic brake system front and rear, nor the cooling system nor the original battery have ever been filled with fluids. All mechanical components inside the engine are most likely still coated with assembly lube from the Ducati factory. The engine is filled with a light-weight oil to preserve internals, it has never been started or run. The 904SR was Bimotas first special version, build in only 20 units and based on the Ducati 888 engine, but with a longer stroke to come up to 904cc. It was the most powerful of all Tesi's in unrestricted tune and several of these 904's were used by very wealthy enthusiasts in racing series in Europe during the 90-ies

More from the seller:
This Bimota Tesi was kept in a climate controlled environment without UV light present, so there has been no deterioration of any rubber pieces and no discoloration of any painted or coated surfaces. Of course there is no oxidation present on any metal surfaces or fasteners. The protective yellow zinc plating on all
3 cast iron Brembo rotor surfaces is still present, the seat foam on the molded solo seat pad and backrest is still uncompressed. The tires mounted were specified to be racing tires when ordered new. Levers, grips, pegs, chain, sprockets as most everything else on this motorcycle are as new as they were in 1992.

More from the seller:
This Bimota comes with all the original ownership documents, the owners manual, the warranty booklet, copies of the parts manual and workshop manual and the original Tesi toolkit in duplicate. The original early Tesi rear stand, the one off custom front stand (for displaying the bike with both tires off the ground) both mph and km/h dash boards (km dash & computer packed up, mph dash with protective white film still underneath mounted in fairing) and two original Weber Marelli P7 ECU computers, one chip'd for regular street use and the other fully open P7 ECU chip'd for race use performance, are also included. Multiple other original spares come with the bike. Of course the red Bimota cover is present and in its correct Bimota bag, but has never been used.

More from the seller:
There are absolutely no guidelines as to what the value of this motorcycle might be in the current international market place. The Bimota Tesi was unique and different when it came onto the market in the early 1990-ies. With only 412 Tesi 1D (all street versions, across all production years, all displacements sans racing bikes and prototypes) build during the 1990-ies it is today probably one of the rarest collectible bikes anyone could own from that or any other period. It was the epitome of italian engineering at the time

Riding a Tesi is said to be far more conventional that it would appear; other than a relatively horrid turning radius, one cannot tell that there is anything different once underway. But I doubt this would be the bike to use to learn of that experience. A motorcycle can only be new once. It can only have zero miles once. If you are in the business of collecting, you look for the very best example you can find. When it comes to a 1D model Tesi, this absolutely has to be the most stunning, original bike we have ever seen. Values are so difficult to ascertain because we very rarely have real sales data for bikes in this condition. The seller has thrown out a rather large number as a starting point, but is open to considered counter offers. There are also a ton of pictures and even more detail on the auction page. Check out this perfect Tesi 1D here; you will not see another like it again. Good Luck!!