Moto-art: Bimota Delirio

The Bimota Delirio - what you ride if you're rich and style-conscious, in the year 2006

Makers of some of the most beautiful, best handling (and most expensive!) motorcycles anywhere in the world, Bimota don’t do things by halves. One look at the Sergio Robbiano-designed Delirio and you’ll agree that it looks superb. From its avant-garde chassis parts to its carefully sculpted bodywork and beefy running gear, it’s an achingly beautiful package. Okay, so its 1000cc V-twin only makes 85 horsepower (a Yamaha R1 packs twice as much!), but with its stiff chrome-molybdenum steel trellis frame, 50mm Marzocchi USD forks, and fully adjustable monoshock, the Delirio handles extremely well. And it looks just about the coolest thing on the planet.

Engine: SOHC, 992cc, air-cooled
Power: 85bhp@8000rpm
Top speed: 200km/h
In a line: Mine’s more expensive than yours…

The Bimota DB1 - what you rode if you were rich and style-conscious, in the mid-1980s

Update (23rd Jan, 2007): Bimota are reportedly in talks with Ducati, to buy an unspecified number of the new Ducati 1098 engines. Bimota may use these engines in an all-new superbike, which may even get hub-centre steering like the Tesi 3D.

Update (29th April, 2007): Bimota are now updating the DB5 and DB6 Delario models, replacing their older 992cc engines with the newer, air-cooled Ducati 1100DS v-twin. Expect a slight increase in prices...