The return of Bimota (again)

Bimota is on course to make yet another comeback under new management.

The firm’s assets have been auctioned off by the Italian court dealing with its bankruptcy, and one of the former bosses bought them.

Guiseppe Della Pietra – a former Aprilia and later Bimota manager – stumped up £1.25 million to buy the brand, the rights to its designs, all the tooling and any engines or bikes left at the factory. He doesn’t get the factory buildings themselves. They were rented.

He intends to put the bikes back into production next year, although he has yet to establish where they will be built or what models will be resurrected.

The courts made two attempts to auction the firm’s assets as a complete package, but only Della Pietra’s new company – Alternativa Moto – was able to reach the reserve price. It is not known who is funding the firm, but some sources suggest Bimota’s German importer, Dieter Konemann, might be a player in the deal.