The Lamborghini Design 90 - A Raging Bull on 2 Wheels

No… this isn’t one of those custom made tribute bikes that have an engine and a chassis bolted together and sold off separably, but a genuine motorcycle commissioned by Lamborghini themselves.

No… this isn’t one of those custom made tribute bikes that have an engine and a chassis bolted together and sold off separably, but a genuine motorcycle commissioned by Lamborghini themselves.

Back in 1978 when Lamborghini filed for Bankruptcy, founder of the company Ferruccio Lamborghini was forced to sell all of his automotive business shares. The Italian court was looking after the company until Swiss Mimran brothers were appointed to run the company. The brothers began by restoring the name to former glory by restructuring the company’s program and managed to bring in a large sum of money. By 1984 the Mimran brothers officially owned the Raging bull brand and managed to rebuild some of the failed projects such as the Countach and the LM off road.

Now begins their diversification of the brand. One of brothers, Patrick Mimran decided that it would be a good idea to introduce Lamborghini motorcycle after using Lamborghini’s V12 engine in powerboats. For this, rather than investing more money into the company just to get hold of the tools to make the bike, he went to the then French bike specialist, ‘Boxer’ who back then had won several races in various categories and were considered as one of the best bike manufacturers at the time.

Boxer Voxan VB1
Boxer Voxan VB1

After the agreement with Boxer, the Lamborghini Design 90 was born in 1986. Designed by the Italians, engineered by the French and built using Japanese components. The fiberglass bodywork has a lot of design cues borrowed from the Countach 25th Anniversary.

The body was inspired by the Countach 25th Anniversary and the bull itself.
The body was inspired by the Countach 25th Anniversary and the bull itself.

Power came from a Kawasaki 1000cc, DOHC, 4 valve inline 4 engine producing 130bhp. More impressively, it only weighed 184kg wet. The low weight and optimum power gave this bike a top speed of 258km/h (160mph) which at the time was considerable fast. Journalists who were lucky enough to get their hands on described it as “one of the best handling bikes and was ahead in terms of performance compared to the bikes of that era”.

The Countach 25th Anniversary body lines were used as an inspiration for the Design 90
The Countach 25th Anniversary body lines were used as an inspiration for…
The Lamborghini Design 90 - A Raging Bull on 2 Wheels

The handmade alloy frame, machined alloy parts, lightweight aluminium fuel tanks and adjustable oil-and-air suspension meant that production was slow and expensive. All together around 25 were planned to be produced and cost $13,500 which at the time was twice that of similar performance oriented motorcycles.

The exposed internals reveal the handmade alloy frame, aluminum fuel tank and the Kawasaki engine
The exposed internals reveal the handmade alloy frame, aluminum fuel tank…

In the end, the project wasn’t deemed successful and was scrapped after just 6 bikes were made out of which just 5 are known to survive today. The value of these bikes as of now is estimated to be around €55,000 - €75,000. That is a lot for a 30 year old bike! and is a rare collectible among bike enthusiasts. It’s a shame there are no videos of the Design 90 being ridden or the exhaust note.

The Lamborghini Design 90 - A Raging Bull on 2 Wheels

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Comments

Anonymous

Fantastic article man

02/12/2016 - 12:45 |
10 | 0
Ali Mahfooz

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Thank you. ☺

02/12/2016 - 13:30 |
8 | 0
Reza Aditya

Mate, one of the most informative post and interesting

02/12/2016 - 12:47 |
6 | 0

Thanks! I happen to come across this bike in one my local car magazines. Decided to do a little research and write about it. :)

02/12/2016 - 12:50 |
2 | 0
Mertcan

Me reving this comment and scraping it to you, jk. Good post! :)

02/12/2016 - 13:34 |
2 | 0
enzob

Very entertaining and interesting article Ali :D

02/12/2016 - 13:43 |
2 | 0
Artur 'The Haferkeks' Kempf

One of the best blog posts!

02/12/2016 - 16:52 |
4 | 0
ForcedInduction

Cool!

02/12/2016 - 17:00 |
0 | 0
stygianraptor

Good post mayn! :D keep em’ coming.

02/12/2016 - 17:49 |
0 | 0

Thank you! Oh I assure I will be coming up with many in the near future. :)

02/12/2016 - 17:51 |
0 | 0