Vale Massimo Tamburini

Brilliant Italian motorcycle designer Massimo Tamburini has passed away at the age of 70 from lung cancer.

Tamburini’s legacy is immense, after having created some of the most stunning bikes of the last 25 years, including the Ducati 916 and, more recently, the MV Agusta F4. The Cagiva Mito is another one of his babies.

Tamburini also dabbled in R & D for 500cc GP racing during the early 1980s.

The genesis for the famed 916 design came in 1985 when Tamburini was introduced to fellow Italian Claudio Castiglioni, who owned the Cagiva Group which included Ducati.

Tamburini then linked up with engineer Massimo Bordi and their combined talent crafted the 916, which was a bike for the ages – it changed the way sportsbikes were styled.

Tamburini, a co-founder of Bimota in 1973, announced in late 2008 that he was retiring as a full-time bike designer to move into other fields. He said at the time:

"I have dedicated a significant part of my career in motorcycle design to Cagiva and MV Agusta and am immensely proud of the beautiful and thrilling motorcycles we have created," says Tamburini, who also dabbled in R & D for 500cc GP racing during the early 1980s. "While my decision to retire was extremely difficult to make, I am confident the highly talented designers and engineers in San Marino will continue the tradition of excellence that is the hallmark of MV Agusta."

The friendship between Castiglioni – who ironically also died of lung cancer in 2011 -- and Tamburini became strained late last decade, which saw Tamburini slapped with a no-compete contract that expired on December 31, 2011 – but it was all a moot point by then, as his health was already beginning to deteriorate, and he finally passed away on April 5, 2014.