Red Whale

[OTB]

One of the advantages of selling a lot of bikes is that I get to RIDE a lot of bikes. One of the disadvantages of selling a lot of bikes is that they aren't with me for very long.

Normally, I may only ride a bike for a few days or weeks. Often, I may only ride a bike one or twice, and once in a while I may take possession of a bike only to transport it and deliver it the same day.

And even rarer, I get a truly exceptional bike and get to ride the wheels off of it until a knowledgeable buyer comes along.

Most of you know that when it comes to bikes, I like to travel off the beaten path once in a while with rare, weird or just downright strange machinery. The Bimota SB6R I bought and shipped sight unseen from California is no exception.

The 1997 SB6R was the more evolved brother of the SB6, a raw, elemental motorcycle powered by a breathed-on 1995 1100 gsxr motor in a beam frame with Paioli carbon fiber forks and a lay-down Ohlins shock connected to the frame by a weird rising rate linkage. Both bikes are wide, compact and relatively low. They share the same beam frame and solid motor mount system which makes the motor a stressed member but allows vibration at certain RPMs.



Everything about the SB6R is top-notch; from the at-the-time-leading-edge jangly-button Brembo disk brakes to the wall-to-wall CF bodywork; Yep, every piece of bodywork, painted or not, is real hand-laid CF. From the front fender to the swoopy tank/seat monocoque unit which bolts directly to the frame, no metal subframe supporting it!

The bike fires right off and even though has EPA legal 85db factory silencers; they are MUCH louder than today's stock units sounding much more like LEO Vince aftermarket units. I can't imagine how loud the optional Ti straight-through Corse units were on this bike.

The SB6R is much more civilized than the original SB6..we dynoed both as we had a European SB6 at the shop being converted to EPA legal...the SB6 put out 138RWHP on our dyno which reads about 5% lower than others, and an honest-to-god 158RWHP for the SB6R. The SB6R has the same carbs, stock cams but a revised ignition curve and better sorted jetting than the fussy and prone-to-loading-up older SB6.

I don't normally ride the rare stuff much, not because of the value, but because if I drop it, parts are gonna be a booger to find. But I couldn't help myself; this thing had had a few nibbles but no bites all summer, I had the Columbus Day weekend off, the weather was going to be Perfect Fall and my wife wanted to spend it at the Autumn Glory Festival in Western MD. An alignment of the stars if you ask me.

I shed the 13 year-old Dunlops for some 2CT's, checked the fluids and loaded it into the Sprinter for the long ride up (had to take 2 dogs and a cat, otherwise I'd a ridden it.)

Sunday morning I got up early (5)at the cabin, snuck out with my gear and pushed the bike to the end of the driveway so I wouldn't wake my wife and the neighbors.


Ride report and more pics later...gotta go to work.......