Bimota 500 V Due

The V-Due hit the headlines when it appeared in 1997. The pioneering Italian firm had developed a direct-injection two-stroke engine, a holy grail for engine designers. Normal carburettor-equipped two-strokes are polluting and fuel-inefficient: a fuel-injected version would fix both these problems, allowing a light, powerful engine that could pass emissions laws. While the engine was innovative, the chassis was typically Bimota. An oval-tube aluminium frame provides supreme stiffness, while fully adjustable Paioli forks and an Öhlins shock give a supple, well damped ride. The V-Due could have been an amazing machine, with the handling of a 400 and power of a 750, but it was dogged by fuel-injection flaws and discontinued a year later.

The only Bimota ever made that was actually fitted with a Bimota engine was the V Due. Launched in 1997, the V Due was fitted with Bimota’s own 500cc, liquid-cooled, two-stroke, fuel-injected v-twin that made 110bhp at 9000rpm, and 90Nm of torque at 8000rpm. Unlike carb-equipped two-strokes, the V Due’s radical, direct-injection two-stroke engine – which took eight long years of Bimota’s development time, effort and money – was supposed to be low on emissions, allowing it to meet mandated norms in the US and in Europe.

But fuel-efficiency and emissions compliance wasn’t, of course, the V Due’s primary mission in life. The bike, initially meant to be a 500cc GP racer, was designed to deliver GP-spec performance and handling on the street. And to go with the 500cc two-stroke engine, the V Due was equipped with a stiff, lightweight aluminium chassis, meaty aluminium swingarm, six-speed cassette-type gearbox, 17-inch wheels, fully adjustable 46mm Paioli forks and Öhlins rear shock, and Brembo brakes. Tyre sizes were 120/70 ZR17 at the front, and 180/55 ZR17 at the rear.

ith its carbonfibre bodywork and exhaust cans, Bimota claimed a dry weight of less than 150 kilos for the V Due. According to some late-1990s magazine road tests, the racy little Bimota was capable of doing the standing quarter-mile (400m) in 12.5 seconds (hitting a speed of 185km/h in the process), and had a top speed of 265km/h.

Exotic, expensive (about US$30,000 back then…) and desirable it may have been, but ultimately its high-tech engine was the V Due’s undoing. With limited resources and manpower, Bimota could never fully sort out the bike’s very inconsistent fuel-injection system and the erratic power delivery. Soon, customers started demanding that the company take the bikes back and refund their money.

This resulted in Bimota stopping production of the V Due after making only 340 units, instead of the 500 proposed earlier. And it didn’t stop at that – Bimota’s already precarious financial condition spiraled completely out of control after the V Due debacle. And even though the company tried to contain damage by fitting carburetors to some V Dues – dubbed the V Due Evoluzione Strada – the company went bust in 1999-2000, before it had a chance to sell any of those reengineered bikes.
 

The story of my Bimota V-Due

Bimota always borrowed someone elses engine, put it in their own design and ended up with something special. A few years ago they wanted to build a GP replica bike and decided on something quite spectacular. A GP replica powered by their own 500 cc two stroke fuel injected engine. The result was, on the face of it, purely spectacular. It weighed the same as an Aprilia RS250 but with twice the power and looked the business. The downside was that it didn’t work, literally. Owners complained about everything from peaky performance to intermittent power, dodgy electrics, plug fouling, weak cranks etc. The owners demanded a full refund. Bimota obliged and subsequently went bankrupt.

The V due engineer (Piero Caronni) for Bimota ended up buying all of the bikes, spares and legal rights and set up on his own. Many bikes were given the full overhaul to fix including binning the direct fuel injection system in place of a set of dellorto carbs. This worked to a certain extent and can still be bought today. Good results have been obtained with retaining the direct injection system and upgrading the rest of the internals. The injection bikes are of course more inkeeping with the original idea from Bimota and carbs were a quick fix with limited success.

Bearing all of the above in mind I am a true two-stroke nut and wanted one from day one. The downsides are as follows:

• You buy it blind from a stranger in Italy who speaks little English.
• You have to choose from an original bike with no modifications, a carburettor bike or an injection bike with some problems fixed.
• They cost the earth and they come with no warranty.
• You cant ride one in your local dealership to see what it rides or fits like.
• The factory in Italy openly admit the bikes are fraught with problems.
• They are unreliable and spares are a costly nightmare.
• On full power they only do 15 miles to the gallon they drink fully synthetic two stroke oil at £15.00 a litre like its going out of fashion.
• It is subject to 17.5% VAT duty at the point of registration in the UK.
• It has to be put through the UK SVA test which it may or may not pass and it has to be road registered at DVLA and may go on a P plate as bike made in 1997.
• The delivery man speaks even less English.
• Belly pan cracks after several miles of riding.
• Engine needs total strip and rebuild by a two- stroke expert prior to ever riding due to set up at factory being very poor, then it needs full rebuilds approximately every 3K miles.
• It may never arrive.
• It may never run.

 The good points speak for themselves though:

• It is a 500CC two stroke that looks the business and weighs very little.
• If you have always wanted a big two stroke your options are limited. Its either buy a 350 LC and tune it to the max, buy an RGV 250 or Aprilia rs 250 type machine and bore the engine out, buy an RD or RG 500 and ride it as is or update the bike overall or start a 500cc special project like an RGV 500.
• If  you want a modern 500cc two stroke with modern extras, modern handling and looks there is only the Vdue.
• There are only a handful in the UK and most are track day bikes only. The remaining bikes are unlikely to meet in the same place at the same time- although that would be a sight.

I saw one advertised years ago and I wanted it, but couldn’t afford it. I read they were unreliable, owners sent them back and they were bankrupt, I was gutted. I read that someone had bought the rights to them and was selling them off. They were still too expensive though.

I bought an RD350 instead and rode it till it blew. I bought an Aprilia RS250 and loved it so much I bought another. I owned everything from a fireblade to a Ducati 851 to a GSXR 1100... and everything in between. I still wanted a Vdue, but couldn’t afford one.

I looked at building a 500 cc special via BDK racing, who specialise in RGV 250/500 conversions, but built up bikes were circa £6000 plus. I also looked at buying an RG or RD 500 and updating it. But it was too expensive given the poor quality finish and unreliability. So I decided to buy a Vdue.

I looked for a Vdue carb version and found the only one in the country (already road registered) was for sale. Whilst negotiating around the £10K marker it was sold to someone else. Gutted, I contacted the factory in Italy directly and swapped lots of emails.

In the end I decided on an injected bike with electrics, lubrication and crank problems solved. Only issue with the bike is that it oils up the plugs constantly causing poor jerky running, intermittent power delivery and plugs need replacing after every trip. Great.

I Agreed a price in Euros with factory. Deposit wired to his account in Italy. Delivered via Belgium in a van to bike dealer in Norfolk. Euros sent by post to pay the balance. Delivered to me at home a month later.

Luckily for me I had a very good raport with an owner called Paul Clarke from London who steered me in the right direction with regards to problems encountered.
I put the bike through SVA test in the UK and it passed first time- although it wasn’t running.

It ran like a pig, then overheated , then stopped. So I sent to a man in the know- 2 stroke god Mark Brown from Nottingham, to be adapted to have oil injectors moved to the throttle bodies to run like a normal two stroke. Mark Brown completely sorted the bike from top to bottom. I also had the water cooling system adapted to stop it over heating, changed the ECU units as faulty ones came with bike, swapped the fuel pump as it was gunged up and not working correctly and put 3 different speedos on it until I found one that worked.

I've never looked back since... best bike in the world. Hassle factor 10 out of 10, Enjoyment/pose factor 1 million. What a treat!!!

Source MCN