[Teazer]

Headlight and instruments plus footpeg mounts are Honda CB72/77. Triple clamps are Ceriani.

rear brake is more or less what we used to do to our race bike rear brakes, and some of us did that to cafe racers back in the day. Backing plate is Honda - not CB72/77 but perhaps Honda Cb500.

Frame is odd though. The joins are pretty flimsy and the trellis looks like a Yetman inspired idea which suggests a locally home made from the seventies. Maybe inspired by the SB1 Bimota.

 

[jaguar]

Rear brake plate looks like OEM honda CB550/500. I can check mine latter.

Bimota frames normally wrap around the motor more. For many the goal was to get the head off with the motor in the frame.
Any Yetmans I have seen do not wrap under the engine.

Where was this found?
That might help with ideas of who would have been building stuff like this.

 

[jcboal43]

I am in Idaho.

The frame fits very tight to the engine...there are small notches is certain areas to provide the clearance from the engine. These notches are not hack job notches done to make the engine fit after it was built either. I think the engine drops out relatively easily with the lower frame section. Seems like a quick way of swapping out the engine.

I cleaned it up a bit more yesterday and still didn't find anything to identify it. In cleaning it though, it does look like all of the street electronics were added after (there were a few mounting holes drilled for the electronics, which doesn't match everything else that was done on the bike).

I also reached out to Bimota to see if they had a historian that might be able to identify a early bike....the said they don't, hahaha

 

[jaguar]

Bimota kinda lied to you.

Bob is the knower of all things Bimota in the USA

Bimota Spirit | Raleigh,NC USA | Bimota motorcycles

Bimota Spirit is a collection of resources about Bimota motorcycles. It has a BIMOTA MUSEUM, a GALLERY of FEATURES and a BIMOTA MOTORCYCLES FOR SALE inventory.

www.bimotaspirit.com

It really does not look like any Bimota frame I have seen.

 

[jcboal43]

Bimota kinda lied to you.

Bob is the knower of all things Bimota in the USA

Bimota Spirit | Raleigh,NC USA | Bimota motorcycles

Bimota Spirit is a collection of resources about Bimota motorcycles. It has a BIMOTA MUSEUM, a GALLERY of FEATURES and a BIMOTA MOTORCYCLES FOR SALE inventory.

www.bimotaspirit.com

It really does not look like any Bimota frame I have seen.

I agree that it doesn't look like a Bimota frame, other than a few elements. I am just trying to cover all my bases, hahaha

Thank you all for the resources!

 

[TrialsRider]

Looks a little like this one but not as advanced:

 

[jalsteve]

1st off you need to get all the road crap of the bike as its difficult to see the bike under. or at least wipe the chassis over.

Is the chassis bronze welded? if so that will help date it (darker the bronze the earlier it will be), bronze also tends to fill the weld areas making them look smoothed out under the paint. Date wise my guess is late 70's or early 80's.

The lower cradle looks like an addition as space frames don't need the lower cradle. Also that the headstock is sort of goosenecked suggests that the space created under was for a radiator.

There was a trend back in the day for converting stroker frames eg TZ into F2 bikes using engines like the 400/4. I would guess therefore that the chassis was originally built for a TZ 250/350 motor or similar water cooled lump.

You need to strip it and blast off to really understand what you have, there's likely a number somewhere. If you can somehow set the bike up to measure the head angle and calculate the trail (18" wheels) you should be able to establish if the forks / yokes are contemporary with the original build - my guess is they are not as the offset is large a likely over 50mm which lazy and pure 1960's. I would also guess that chassis would be running with a trail figure around 95-100mm.

What ever the frame is it its the sort of thing that would have attracted a lot of attention when built. GP? Likely but who knows! Drop Tony Foale a note..........

 

[jalsteve]

.....and i seriously doubt its Bimota as they had their own version of TZ chassis which is nothing like - Bimota like Harris had their own design ethos and would not build a chassis that deviated from this, a development of = yes but not a completely different concept. The swingarm by the way looks like Rickman or Rickman inspired.

However i would suspect its italian as there were loads of small manufacturers around this time eg MBA, Golinelli, Segale, plus a cast of hundreds of which many made versions of semi or full space frames.

 

[jalsteve]

I am in Idaho.

The frame fits very tight to the engine...there are small notches is certain areas to provide the clearance from the engine. These notches are not hack job notches done to make the engine fit after it was built either. I think the engine drops out relatively easily with the lower frame section. Seems like a quick way of swapping out the engine.

I cleaned it up a bit more yesterday and still didn't find anything to identify it. In cleaning it though, it does look like all of the street electronics were added after (there were a few mounting holes drilled for the electronics, which doesn't match everything else that was done on the bike).

I also reached out to Bimota to see if they had a historian that might be able to identify a early bike....the said they don't, hahaha

Why would you build a chassis then notch tubes after? At the time of build I place and fit the tubes in a position that wouldn't foul the engine! Or rather why create work for yourself? What you describe is a classic modification to make one thing fit another and is clear evidence that the chassis was made for a different engine IMO.

 

[jcboal43]

Why would you build a chassis then notch tubes after? At the time of build I place and fit the tubes in a position that wouldn't foul the engine! Or rather why create work for yourself? What you describe is a classic modification to make one thing fit another and is clear evidence that the chassis was made for a different engine IMO.

Excellent point!! I appreciate your insight. I am planning on getting it torn down and blasted as soon as I get a few other projects wrapped up. I will take a look at it again to see in regards to the radiators though....that is a very interesting thought.

Thank you!!

 

[jalsteve]

Bimota Honda 400/4. Space frame but with co-axle arm arrangement.

Posted for Interest. Some similarities.