KB998 Rimini

Exterior Designed for Ultimate Racetrack Performance

For bimota, form and function go hand-in-hand. Being fast on track is synonymous with beauty. Delicately crafted in the Rimini area by the bimota team, the sculpted dry carbon exterior parts are lightweight yet strong. Structural parts, like the front and rear subframes, were designed with aesthetics in mind while acting as the Ram Air intake and seat base. More than style, attention was paid to each part’s contribution to aerodynamics on the racetrack, and the form that results is speed manifest on two wheels. Wind tunnel analysis and on-track testing by top-level WorldSBK riders confirm that the KB998 Rimini’s beauty is not skin-deep; it excels in going just as fast as it looks.

Fusion of Materials Creates One-of-a-Kind bimota Chassis

The KB998 Rimini’s unique chassis design combines a chromium-molybdenum main frame with billet aluminium alloy plates, bringing together two distinct frame materials in keeping with bimota’s time-tested chassis design philosophy. Then, to elevate the KB998 Rimini further above the competition, the frame features adjustable rigidity through a concept based on bimota’s years of experience designing specially-tailored frames for racing. Adding to the exclusivity of the frame is a headstock produced through micro casting, a technique only possible to apply to small batches and not suited to mass-production. Not only does the chassis offer exclusive features to perform at an extremely high level, but its gorgeous finish is typical of bimota’s eye-catching machines.

WorldSBK-Proven Front Suspension

This Showa suspension was mounted on Kawasaki superbikes that were part of winning seven WorldSBK titles (six consecutive between 2015 and 2020), and the consistently world-beating performance Showa offers is exactly what the bimota team selected to give the KB998 Rimini the edge it needs on the racetrack. The Showa Balance Free Front Fork (BFF) making up the front suspension reflects years of development, innovation and racing experience. Billet aluminium axle clamps and distinctive colouring add to the front end’s functional beauty.

Original bimota Vertical-Layout Rear Suspension

At the rear is Showa's Balance Free Rear Cushion (BFRC) lite rear shock, which was featured on Kawasaki’s superbikes that were part of winning seven titles in WorldSBK. bimota’s design philosophy guided the decision to mount the shock vertically rather than horizontally to achieve the ideal on-track performance. The shock’s placement combined with machined billet aluminium parts and distinctive colouring confers bimota-original looks and performance to the KB998 Rimini’s rear end.

Advanced Variable Winglets

In a truly revolutionary step, bimota has designed and produced variable winglets for the KB998 Rimini. Envisioned and meticulously crafted by lead engineer and bimota COO Pierluigi Marconi and the team at bimota, these winglets are the first to ever be featured on a production motorcycle†. They offer the optimal amount of downforce for each riding instance, from assisting with braking and corner entry to mid-corner adjustments, direction changes, and suppressing wheel lift as needed.

† As of March 2025, per BIMOTA S.P.A. and Kawasaki Motors, Ltd. research.

Inline-Four Engine Thoroughly Proven on the Racetrack

The KB998 Rimini is powered by an engine featured on Kawasaki superbikes that were part of winning seven WorldSBK titles. Tailoring it to meet bimota’s own unique, time-tested philosophy, the development team has enhanced the engine’s ability to transfer power directly to the road, adding to its competitiveness in the process. Delivering the engine’s sound to the world is a lightweight titanium Akrapovic silencer designed specifically for the KB998 Rimini.

Material Beauty

High-quality Anticorodal, Ergal and Avional billet aluminium parts are used throughout, including the swingarm, triple clamps, front and rear suspension mounts and links. These luxurious parts, made from high-grade aluminium ingots by CNC machining, are not only highly rigid and extremely light, but also beautifully crafted. All these machined parts are also manufactured in Italy, in the Rimini area.

Carbon Fibre Parts Featured Throughout

Dry carbon fibre with a high carbon content is specially-sculpted into each part of the exterior, along with all structural subframes. These are produced in the same autoclave facilities used for MotoGP and high-quality Italian supercars.

Hand-Painting and Coating in Emilia- Romagna

There is a reason why every frame and exterior part is painted by hand: bimota’s no-compromise approach to beauty. It is a painstaking process that yields exquisite results. Even the carbon fibre parts are clear-coated to a beautiful finish. Everywhere the eye lands on the KB998 Rimini, there is an illustration of bimota’s amazing attention to detail and timeless commitment to quality.

Meticulous Development Process to Infuse the Spirit of bimota

Transforming bimota’s vision into a finished product requires an exacting and time-honoured development process. All design and development is done in-house, and all parts and labour are sourced from the Rimini area. Each step of the process, from design to modelling, assembly, painting, and finishing, is performed by skilled bimota craftsmen steeped in the brand’s history who infuse it into every part. Key in the KB998 Rimini’s development process was a single-minded focus on winning in WorldSBK, which formed the cornerstone of each idea, sketch, and final piece developed. Just as the “Rimini” in the name suggests, the KB998 Rimini is a proud piece of motorcycle artistry envisioned and hand-crafted in the heartland of bimota.