BIMOTA V-DUE 500 (1997 - 1998) Review

Only in Italy could someone bet the company's future on a complex, high tech, ridiculously expensive two-stroke, which couldn't compete with a 1000cc superbike of the time. The gamble was taken by Bimota in 1997, when (after eight years of development) the V-Due 500cc two-stroke appeared, and was almost universally slated as a rough-running, not particularly fast, oddball motorcycle for rich posers. Oh dear.

Big respect here, a superb chassis, probably over-engineered for the 500cc motor, but super-lightweight and possessed of outstanding suspension and brake. It made the Bimota V-Due a sweet thing to razz around corners, when in the right gear/rpm combo...

If you're going to build a two-stroke, then make it a tiger, not a pussycat spitting up a fur ball. The sad reality is that the Bimota V-Due never really had enough poke, and it made its claimed 110bhp in a narrow power band, which made the motorcycle very hard work to ride. When the 175bhp R1 appeared a year after the V-Due was launched it made the Bimota V-Due look like some badly jazzed up club racer's 250 stroker.

Nearly everyone who bought a Bimota V-Due seemed to take it back and demand a refund at some point in the late 90s. The trick upper cylinder lube system didn't work effectively and the fuel injection rarely played ball below 5000rpm. Body parts were rumoured to crack. Oh Lordy. The motorcycle was such a warranty and PR disaster it more or less sank Bimota financially.

As a classic bike investment, picking up a Bimota V-Due now might - just might - pay off in another 10-20 years time. But forget about riding it anywhere, just air bubble the thing and hope that the Italian government funds a musuem of motorcycle design folly in 2025. Find a Bimota V-Due for sale.

Hmm, perhaps it was the way that the mirrors looked straight off a Cagiva Mito 125, or the naff indicators poking through the carbon fibre bodywork, but the Bimota V-Due didn't exactly drip from head to toe in designer kit for £14,500. They even put two warning lights in the headstock and not the dashboard...bit poor. Compare and buy parts for the Bimota V-Due in the MCN Shop.