ITALIAN MASTERPIECE
IT’S MANY YEARS SINCE I FIRST RODE A DB1, BUT THE memories are so clear that it seems like yesterday. I can vividly recall the excitement of accelerating away from the dealer’s workshop aboard the exotic Italian superbike. The thrill of its sublime handling and lively, characterful V-twin engine. And most of all, the terror when the throttle stuck wide open as I braked on a wet road, almost turning that first ride into my last…
Life with an exotic Italian superbike was always likely to be a series of extreme highs and lows and that was especially true of the first all-Italian Bimota. The same could be said of the Rimini firm’s financial affairs, which followed a wildly turbulent path until the latest comeback fizzled out a couple of years ago. The DB1 played a vital part in the Bimota story, because it was the unlikely sales success of this 750-cc, Ducati-powered
