The late 60's and 1970's saw the big Japanese bike manufacturers in competition to see who could keep producing motorcycles with more and more power.
Sure, Japanese bikes were exciting, but sometimes the lack of handling ability made them second best to the more complete packages on offer from European manufacturers.
Bimota were a company established in 1966 to make air conditioning and heating gear.
The three founders of the company went by the names Bianchi, Morri and Tamburini, hence Bi-mo-ta.
Indeed Mr Tamburini is very much associated with the modern era, being the driving force behind the Ducati 916 and MV Agusta F4.
The three men saw the potential of marrying the power of the Japanese motorcycles and putting it into a frame that would allow a bike to have both power and handling - the best of both worlds.
Having produced a Honda-based race machine, they then turned their attention to a street legal bike, which would be the SB2.
The company chose to use the engine from a Suzuki GS750.
This was an in line four cylinder machine that they bored out to 850cc and fitted high compression pistons.
Bigger carburettors and stage 3 Yoshimura camshafts increased power output from 60 to 78bhp.
The frame was constructed from tubular steel and the machine sported a complete wrap around fairing and body kit which was a first on road bikes of the day.
This was a completely different machine compared to anything else out there at the time.
Monoshock rear suspension as opposed to twin shock absorbers gave the bike a radical look, and the handling owed much to the fact that the engine was employed as a stressed member.
The frame was therefore a mere 10kg! Much of the external bikes parts were made from super light aircraft grade alloy - common in today's superbikes, but this is where it started.
In total, the SB2 was 20kg lighter than the GS750 on which it was based.
The handling and performance were as impressive as the price, which meant that this machine was a true piece of Italian exotica, and beyond most people's reach.
Only 70 SB2s were made.