BIMOTA TESI H2 BRILLIANTLY BONKERS

There are superbikes... and then there are supercharged bikes. Like this. And it's every bit as bonkers as you'd imagine.

- BIG MAC

Why is it special?

It's hard to know where to start with the Bimota Tesi H2. There's so much going on in terms of its design, concept, engineering and finish that literally everywhere you look is something that makes you stop and stare. Even from a distance, the Tesi looks like nothing else, with its monstrous dinner plate wings, sharp angular lines all over the place, rich carbon fibre bodywork, crazy exhaust with the sort of trick welding you only see on a handmade bespoke item, and, of course, the forkless front end. Did I mention that it's also got a 240bhp supercharged engine? Yeah, that too. Welcome to the madness of the Bimota Tesi H2, a genuine one-of-a-kind motorbike that blurs the line between engineering and art.

You could argue that it is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, because there have been other Tesis in the past and the whole idea would have caught on by now if there was a stand-out benefit to the forkless front end. But alas, it's only Bimota which seems to persist with it, thanks in no small part to Kawasaki buying a 49.9% stake in Bimota to keep the lights on and let it carry on making bonkers bikes.

The shock absorber for the front swingarm - which itself is made from two machined pieces of alloy billet bonded together with a carbon fibre section is mounted alongside the rear shock absorber in the rear swingarm, with a linkage connecting it to the front swingarm via a rod that runs underneath the engine.