Engineered art

Massimo Tamburini changed the way the world viewed motorcycles, giving delicious form to function

The under seat exhaust. The single-sided swingarm, the fully exposed wheel. Twin cat’s eyes for headlights. Tantalisingly revealing full-body fairing. Elements of the Ducati 916 that make it one of the prettiest motorcycles ever made – an opinion that’s hard to argue with even if you find pleasure in uncommon choices. It’s the motorcycle that put Massimo Tamburini on the map of every motorcycling enthusiast, and though his CV may be short and sweet, it’s one filled with hits that changed the course of the companies he worked for, from Cagiva, Ducati and MV Agusta to his very own outfit, Bimota. A company that started out making air-conditioning ducts. So, how did Tamburini come to be the ‘Michelangelo of motorcycles’?

The early years

Going by some of the breakthrough designs of the latter half of the 19th century, you’d think there was something in the water in Italy that made great automobile designers out of men. From Gandini to Giugiaro (read their Design Journeys in previous issues of OVERDRIVE) to Tamburini, who all lived in a 500km radius of each other, Italy seemed to be producing some of the most notable automobile artists, from humble beginnings. Tamburini, born on November 28th 1943 near the idyllic beachside town of Rimini, could’ve slipped into obscurity if he’d taken the family trade of farming. Lucky for the world though, the young Tamburini was smitten by motorcycles. As a child, he would run out of the house to catch a glimpse of a neighbour’s Moto Guzzi Falcone fly by, watching the big Italian single carve through the set of curves nearby. Going to an engineering university was too expensive for the family, and Tamburini instead studied HVAC design at a local technical school.