Dark Clouds on Bimota?

I was expecting a return email or call from either Claudio Longoni or Marco Chiancianese, respectively vice-president and president of Bimota, to identify the most convenient date for a meeting and related interview on the state of the Rimini-Italy-based specialty motorcycle firm. Bimota is small in size, but big in image even after all these years of an uneasy life.

Bimota’s creativeness and quality is a result of the dedication of every single worker at the factory, and has somehow against the odds kept the marque flying along nonetheless. I got no response from from Longoni via email or telephone.

The next logical step, was a call to the Bimota factory in Rimini: no answer. The last chance was a call to Dr. Pierluigi Marconi’s personal cell phone. To my surprise, my old friend Pierluigi announced that he had quit his position at Bimota and was looking for a new job. This is not a minor fact. Pierluigi returned to Bimota slightly more than one year ago, hired by Messrs. Longoni and Chiancianese specifically to steer the boat back on the correct course, given his personal acquaintance with the firm and his experience with the motorcycle industry and related market. He was charged with massive responsibilities in a multi-role position, acting almost as sort of a CEO, but with no power for final decisions.

In reality, he was the acting General Manager-cum-Chief Project Engineer of Bimota. Pierluigi focused on two main projects that got a lot of attention from both consumers and dealers alike at EICMA 2015: the Impeto, a naked sportbike with beautiful styling and a mighty 162-hp Ducati 1198 Testastretta engine. The other was the highly evolved, carbon-fiber Tesi that was intended to be the seed of a new-generation Tesi. Now, all this might be up in the air since Pierluigi quit, mainly because he was having problems interacting with the owners and their managerial policies.

Pierluigi led a dedicated group of men, and some of them might even follow him out the door. This is not a good sign, a new storm might be approaching. Bimota’s total manpower is less than 20, all highly specialized and dedicated, any man lost is a big loss for the small firm. I hope that at this stage either Mr. Longoni or Mr. Chiancianese will answer the phone, I am looking forward to hear their side of the story and I am fully open, with a sad heart though, because Bimota was the creation of my great friend Massimo Tamburini and, though he was badly ousted by one of his partners, Bimota always had a special place in his heart. And in mine.