Bimota announce major UK expansion with five new dealerships opening under Kawasaki control

Bimota are looking to expand their presence in the UK market, opening five new dealerships under Kawasaki command – with ambitions for a showroom in Scotland too. And you’ll even be able to book a test ride.

Until now, the only UK outlet for Bimota was Norwich-based Signature Moto, but Kawasaki, who are now the sole custodians of the Italian marque having previously held a majority stake and launching an ambitious World Superbike project, are expanding their reach with dedicated Bimota subshowrooms inside existing Kawasaki dealerships.

“For now, it will be just those five,” Kawasaki’s Head of Marketing Ross Burridge, told MCN. “Hopefully, a bit more of a geographic split will open Bimota up to a wider customer base.

“We haven’t really been promoting Bimota in the UK until now,” he continued. “It’s no secret that there hasn’t been a huge number of sales over the past few years, but now we’ve established a proper dealer network, we can start building upon sales.”

The Bimota dealerships are Cobb and Jagger in Leeds, M&P Motorcycles in Cardiff, Hyside Motorcycles in Chelmsford, Chris Walker Motorcycles in Grantham, and Signature Moto.

All five showrooms will receive stock from this month, with deliveries of the KB4 – Bimota’s Ninja 1000SX-powered retro sportsbike – beginning immediately.

Each outlet will also be able to offer a demo bike for test rides. Next to arrive is the Tera, due in June.

It offers a more potent alternative to Kawasaki’s Versys 1100 tourer, making use of a supercharged Ninja H2 SX motor and featuring aerodynamic winglets, plus specially designed tyres – which despite their semi off-road appearance have been built to withstand speeds up to a claimed 168mph.

Also incoming is the KB998 homologation special superbike, which forms the basis of the machines piloted in WorldSBK by Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani.

The racer combines a ZX-10RR engine with a steel tube mainframe and billet mid-section arrangement, lots of carbon fibre, plus tech innovations including first-of-their-kind active winglets that adjust automatically for optimal performance.

Crucially, due to limited production and lack of Euro5+ approval, the KB998 will only be available via factory order and won’t be road-legal in the UK – although owners may choose to seek Individual Vehicle Approval to get it fully registered.

Prices are predictably premium, with the KB4 costing £31,269, the Tera at £34,392, and the KB998 topping the charts at £37,777.

“We spoke to enthusiasts at the MCN London Motorcycle Show when we had the bikes on display for the first time and a lot of people are excited about the expansion of the brand,” Burridge added.

“We’re going to be targeting Bimota enthusiasts and, outside of that, customers who enjoy high end specialised motorcycles.”

Other Kawasaki operations in Europe – including France, Spain, Germany, and Italy – have already adopted the direct-to-dealer strategy, posting promising early sales results compared with their previous private distribution model for Bimota.