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Difference between revisions of "Bimota DB3 Mantra"
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(New page: 200px|thumb|right|Bimota DB3 Mantra {{cquote|The Mantra represents an attempt to open up new areas for bimota , as opposed to the traditional niche of super...) |
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[[Image:Bimota DB3 Mantra 4.jpg|400px|thumb|Bimota DB3 Mantra 4]] | [[Image:Bimota DB3 Mantra 4.jpg|400px|thumb|Bimota DB3 Mantra 4]] | ||
The Mantra certainly stopped as fiercely as any race-replica, too, thanks to its light weight plus a front brake combination of twin 320mm floating discs and four-pot Brembo calipers, backed up by a 230mm rear disc. Its 17-inch wheels wore fat Michelin Macadam's, which gripped well although they're not pure sports tires. Ground clearance was excellent, with just a corner of the belly-pan touching down under extreme provocation.Despite its relaxed riding position and slightly slower steering, there's no doubt that the Mantra is a seriously quick machine that, if well set-up and ridden hard, could keep up with most sports bikes. It's a true Bimota, even if it doesn't look anything like any of the others.All of which, of course, is pretty much what its creators intended. The Mantra achieves Bimota's aim of broadening the marque's appeal, providing great performance and handling in a stunning visual package that some riders will love, others will hate and few will ignore.Naturally it's also expensive, costing considerably more than Ducati's similarly powered M900 Monster. But for riders who've always appreciated Bimota's dedication to high performance and engineering excellence, and prefer a more rounded bike to the normal Rimini diet of racy sportsters, the Mantra could just be the answer.}} | The Mantra certainly stopped as fiercely as any race-replica, too, thanks to its light weight plus a front brake combination of twin 320mm floating discs and four-pot Brembo calipers, backed up by a 230mm rear disc. Its 17-inch wheels wore fat Michelin Macadam's, which gripped well although they're not pure sports tires. Ground clearance was excellent, with just a corner of the belly-pan touching down under extreme provocation.Despite its relaxed riding position and slightly slower steering, there's no doubt that the Mantra is a seriously quick machine that, if well set-up and ridden hard, could keep up with most sports bikes. It's a true Bimota, even if it doesn't look anything like any of the others.All of which, of course, is pretty much what its creators intended. The Mantra achieves Bimota's aim of broadening the marque's appeal, providing great performance and handling in a stunning visual package that some riders will love, others will hate and few will ignore.Naturally it's also expensive, costing considerably more than Ducati's similarly powered M900 Monster. But for riders who've always appreciated Bimota's dedication to high performance and engineering excellence, and prefer a more rounded bike to the normal Rimini diet of racy sportsters, the Mantra could just be the answer.}} | ||
{{cquote|Designed by Frenchman Sacha Lakic, the Mantra was one of the most unusually styled motorcycles of the mid to late 90's. Using a standard 904 cc M900 engine with a special four-muffler exhaust system, the output was 85.7 bhp at 7000 rpm. Every other component was different to the M900, and the Mantra was lighter and more compact. The trellis frame was constructed of oval section tubes, with a cantilever aluminium swing arm ands single Paioli rear shock absorber. This gave a wheelbase of 1370 mm (53.9 inches). Front forks were 43 mm Paioli, these providing rebound adjustments. The wheels were black painted 17 inch Marchesini fitted with 120/70ZR17 TX11 and 180/55ZR17 TX23 tyres. Though fully floating cast iron 320 mm Brembo front discs were featured on the publicity vehicles, the front brakes were standard 320 mm stainless steel discs with the usual Brembo P4 30/34 calipers. At the rear was a 230 mm disc with a brembo 05 Gold series caliper. | |||
It was Lakic's yellow and black bodywork that was the most controversial from the front mudguard to the belly pan, every part a new styling experiment. The smoked black windscreen was designed to be easily removed and a small baggage compartment at the rear of the fuel tank could house a rainproof suit and gloves. The tank itself was a twin saddle style to give optimum weight distribution. Most of the ancillary components were also specifically designed and built for the Mantra. This included the chrome mirrors, later used by Moto Guzzi, white-faced instruments and CEV headlight. | |||
In 1996 the Mantra front and rear sections were restyled, and the colours now included a red and black option. Two kits were available to bring earlier models up to the 1997 specification. There were also new handlebars, windshield, headlamp cowl, rear mudguard, uprated Michelin TX15 7 TX25 tyres and it was now fitted with Antera wheels as standard. | |||
As with the DB2 there was a wide range of options available for the Mantra, some of the were, Bimota Alarm, engine up rating kit and a front fork kit. More sophisticated fork action through this kit included Titanium fork tubes, along with pre load and compression damping adjustment. Production of the Mantra commenced in September 1995, the total production being 454 unit until 1998. The final 50 were constructed in November of that year. The basic Mantra frame and running gear was then used for the DB4 of 1999.}} | |||
[[Category:Bimota motorcycles]] | |||