Back to the Original – Almost!

This YB8 E came into my hands in the fall of 2017 as a “bycatch.” A Bimota YB10 was listed on the German platform eBay Kleinanzeigen, which piqued my interest. After a phone call with Michael, the seller, I drove to Lohmar, not far from Cologne-Bonn Airport. Upon arriving at Michael’s place, I found myself in a yard full of motorcycles. He was clearly a Suzuki fan and owned dozens of bikes from the 1980s to the present. The YB10 was also in the yard, in excellent condition, and quickly purchased.

Afterward, Michael showed me the rest of his motorcycles in the barn and various other outbuildings. While touring his collection, I discovered the YB8 E, which had been converted into a streetfighter. Not exactly pretty, but aside from the conversion, it was still a Bimota with solid substance. Although it had obviously been sitting for some time and the wheels had been painted, the frame, swingarm, fork, etc., looked top-notch.

“You can have that one too. I bought it like this in 2009 because I liked it.”

The YB8 had barely 12,000 kilometers on it, and I had all the necessary parts to restore it to its original condition. Michael and I quickly agreed on a price, and the decision to take this gem home as well was made just as fast.

However, the tour of the collection wasn’t over yet. Among the many Suzukis, I spotted another Bimota—a YB6! But that’s a story of its own.

But back to the YB8 E. In April 1995, Bimota Kraft imported it as a new vehicle, and it was first registered in Oberwesel. The first owner had an accident in 1998, which caused such severe damage to the monocoque and, above all, the fairing that repairs were deemed unfeasible. As a result, it was converted into a streetfighter, a modification officially registered in October 1999.

In January 2010, the bike was registered to the Suzuki fan but was already decommissioned again by November. Until December 2017, it remained unregistered and unused among its Japanese counterparts. After purchasing it, the YB8 sat for almost another year—this time, however, in the company of other Italian machines from the same prestigious lineage.

At the end of 2018, it was finally time for a small project, and I began restoring it to its original condition. At the time, I didn’t realize this would be just the start of a series of restorations. Strictly speaking, this was already the second conversion—but the first one done by me.

When dismantling the streetfighter parts, I was relieved to find that no irreversible modifications had been made to the wiring harness. Only the separate wiring harnesses for the front and rear lights, which were connected via plugs to the main harness, had been altered. Since the YB8 uses technology from the Yamaha FZR 1000, replacements were readily available and affordable. I already had the clip-ons for the 46mm Paioli fork, the headlight, and the frame to mount the cockpit and the upper fairing, including the mirrors, in stock. I had also acquired a slightly damaged fairing set a few years prior.

Assembly was quick, and the result was stunning. To me, the red wheels perfectly complemented the rare Tri-Colore paint scheme.

A direct comparison shows what I mean. In stock form, the YB8 E models with the Italian tricolor paint scheme were equipped with anthracite-colored wheels, or in a few cases, white ones. According to the Bimota Bible by Bruno Sarti, only 24 of the 169 YB8 Evoluzione models produced featured this Tri-Colore design. The YB8 Evoluzione is already a rarity, but in Tri-Colore, it’s an absolute collector’s item – and with red wheels, likely a truly unique and stunning masterpiece.