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The Furano is on the road (at last)

 
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Andrew034



Joined: 02 Apr 2017
Posts: 52
Location: Sydney

PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 9:51 am    Post subject: The Furano is on the road (at last) Reply with quote

Finally, nearly 9 months after I bought the Bimota Furano in the USA, it has been unleashed on the Australian roads. Over the last two weekends I’ve been able to get a quick impression of my latest acquisition, unfortunately these days my favourite haunt seems to have attracted large numbers of constabulary meaning as always public roads are not a place to performance test an open class sports bike so here is just a quick view to date.

When I initially collected the Furano from the customs agents back in June, it was winter and it proved to be bear to start and when it ran it was running so rich the unburnt fuel exiting the exhaust made my eyes water. Now that it is spring and the weather has warmed up, to my delight the Furano starts straight away and idles from cold without any assistance. It still smells rich, but my eyes aren’t watering and overall fuel economy isn’t too bad (so maybe the air temperature trim is a bit aggressive or the air temperature sensor is out of whack, notwithstanding fettling works are still to come).

When getting underway the engine feels quite bit soft at the bottom end and needs quite a few revs to get moving (odd given the hype about the EXUP system improving the bottom end power), however it has also been it has been about 6 or 7 years since I last regularly rode a 1000cc bike with an inline 4 and that particular machine was at least 15 years younger than this Bimota, so maybe I’ve just adjusted by personal benchmark; notwithstanding my Bimota SB6 has always made big power everywhere.

On the move the suspension feels compliant and generally OK, maybe the previous owner was similar in weight to me (again tuning the suspension is still on the to-do list). When riding, as the corners tighten and speed increases when hanging off the bike I’ve needed to adapt my normal cornering stance to find sufficient room for my heels (my feet must be bigger than the rider the designers had in mind). However, when leaned over, there is plenty of room for my upper body and even though the bike is 25 years old, it doesn’t feel it, handling the road and its bumps without complaint. At the end of the day, chassis control has always been a Bimota hallmark and this machine is light and flickable. Interestingly, the Furano is not as intense to ride as my SB6; possibly it is the more compliant suspension and possibly more flex in the frame but the Furano tends to absorb the road whereas the SB6 telegraphs every ripple and pebble directly to the rider, neither bike is fazed by the road just the feedback is much greater on the SB6.

One great thing about bikes with 1980’s tech is the noise, the Yamaha engine emits a nice mechanical growl at low revs and then the Bimota carbon end-can really starts to bellow a throaty inline four cylinder beat by around 5000 rpm. Overall the fuelling is better than I expected, but still has the distinctive jerkiness typical of the era, especially when transitioning from trailing throttle to accelerating throttle.

Another pleasant surprise was the bike is relatively free from rattles and harmonic vibration induced noises (unlike my SB6), the front full floating cast iron Brembos still clatter their distinctive voice over bumps and when being applied. Speaking of brakes, it took a few good stops before they woke up from their long slumber but now work as they should.

The gearing was another unexpected turn, overall the Furano is quite short geared but first remains tall, by this I mean it should exceed 100km/h (60mph) in first yet the overall gearing will have the engine run out of revs by around 270 – 280 (170mph). This means the engine is spinning quite hard for a litre class bike on the highway (about 5000rpm), however I have no intention of changing anything as when the opportunity arises this gearing should enable the bike to easily accelerate like a lightning bolt all the way to “go directly to jail, do not pass go or collect $200”.

When I pulled up at the obligatory mid ride bikers coffee shop it drew a quite a few onlookers, unfortunately only a couple of the more mature riders recognised the name Bimota, the younger crowd just thought it was cool, especially when they found out it was 25 years old but they still had no idea what a Bimota is.

And the best bit: before my first ride, I honestly expected to be returning home on a tow truck, amazingly after a couple of gentle 100km rides in perfect weather on a mixture of road types, I’ve pulled into my driveway on the still running bike with a big smile on my face.

Andrew...


Bimota meets Sydney Harbour Bridge
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laminator



Joined: 27 Oct 2007
Posts: 320
Location: Midlands

PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great write up and nice bike. It's always good to finally get them rolling on the road after all the waiting, work, and expectations. Glad it lived up to yours.

Of course it'll get you home it's not a DBxx, LOL
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Bimotas, Yamaha FZR 2TK, Honda NC30, MV Agusta F3 800, Aprilia RS250
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rpo83



Joined: 28 Oct 2008
Posts: 387
Location: Melbourne, Australia

PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 11:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Congrats Andrew, she looks great....

Nice write up, it still amazes me how many motorbike riders don't know Bimota..

Have fun over the next few summer months fettling Smile
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Cheers

Steve

YB5 #130, YB5 #196, YB7 #302, SB6 #949, Laverda RGS Executive, Laverda RGS Corsa.
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who



Joined: 10 Nov 2010
Posts: 402
Location: Melbourne Australia

PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well done. Looks great. Enjoy Very Happy
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