Bimota KB4 spotted out in the wild for first time

The coronavirus may have pulled the brakes on development for a couple of months but Bimota is wasting no time in getting back on schedule if these spy shots of its new KB4 neo-retro racer are anything to go by.

The Italian marque has been busily putting the finishing touches to its new Kawasaki-based sportsbike and even went as far as revealing one of its first models earlier this month with some teasingly blurry images of the finished product.

However, we now get a good glimpse of how the Bimota KB4 will indeed look like courtesy of these spy shots which have found their way onto the Japanese Young Machine website, revealing all angles of the machine in the light of day.

As we can see the production Bimota KB4 is staying true to the various CGI renders we have seen to this point with the bubble front cowling, completed by that distinctive circular front headlamp, with a dynamic sportsbike frame giving it a compact, modern profile from the rear.

One interesting point not seen previously however is the long air duct running the length of the bike from the front cowl to the rear, suggesting it could be equipped with underseat radiator coolers.

If the exterior is striking then the underpinnings are somewhat more familiar with the Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX donating its naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine – likely pumping out somewhere in the region of 140bhp – while the KB4 swerves the temptation to use the Tesi H2’s hub-centre steering in favour of a more traditional front-fork set up.

Bimota has previously teased the KB4 will be officially revealed this summer, though it remains to be seen whether the coronavirus has pushed these deadlines back. One can expect the KB4 to make its official physical debut at the EICMA show in November (provided it goes ahead), where we could well see the final production version of the Tesi H2 hypersport make its bow.

Toad's take on the new Bimota KB4...

The most interesting element of the bike has to be the design of the frame, with the new KB4 sporting a kind of hybrid frame that blends a traditional trellis with aluminium elements. From there the new Bimota looks fairly stock and standard, USD forks (no ID for them although most likely Öhlins) paired with what looks like Brembo M4 monoblock calipers.

Another interesting feature of the bike is the size of the thing, judging by the riders' height - easy to estimate if you’ve visited this type of self-service petrol station – he doesn’t look very tall. But climbing onto the Bimota makes him look like a giant. The bike has quite a short and stock side profile with a tall fuel tank that is doubt trying it’s best to contain the tall engine of the Ninja 1000 SX beneath it.

With no official line from Bimota regarding a release date for the machine, the pictures give another clue regarding the launch of the bike. With no data-logging software strapped to the machine, it’s safe to say it’s in fairly advanced stages of road trails – the fact the test rider looks to be riding with no other bikes is also a clue to this.