Issue # 240 Science, Cynicism and Sportbikes | Sportbikes, Little, Better, Bikes, Faster

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Issue # 240 Science, Cynicism and Sportbikes

Written by John Molony
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Science, cynicism, sportbikes A gentleman vigourously proceeded to tell me that sportbikes don’t belong on the road. Modern sportbikes are too powerful he said, too fast, too stunt-oriented. He claimed that in his day there weren’t sportbikes and the roads and the world were better for it. After we had both paused for a moment, I to gather my thoughts as there were so many arguments to pursue here and, he to catch his breath and shake a fist at a whippersnapper. A world without sportbikes, hmm ... In one form or another there have always been sportbikes, even if they didn’t look like the repli-racers of today. Their collective mission has always been to go faster, handle better and stop shorter than other bikes. It’s human nature and it’s progress. If we didn’t constantly want faster, quicker and better we wouldn’t have the motorcycles of today. This goes for all motorcycles whether they be sportbikes, motocrossers, adventure bikes or cruisers. Yet it is the sportbike that exists at the pointy end of the stick. Sportbike design and development is driven by competition and science. The differences between manufacturer offerings in the litre and 600 classes are slim, and each builder has to be innovative and diligent in constantly improving its products (products that are already excellent) because everyone else is. The good news is that the “science of sportbikes” leads to advancements in all classes of motorcycles as the technology trickles down to other lines. Electronic fuel injection, adjustable suspensions, ram air, four- and five-valve cylinder heads, liquid cooling, six-piston calipers, lighter yet stronger frames, alloy this and titanium that ... the list goes on. The technology that has benefited all motorcycles was initiated to make a bike somewhere go faster, handle better and stop faster than some other bike. Can’t think of too many advancements that made a bike slower or increased its braking distances. Take away sport bikes and you take away much of the progress and innovations that will make a cruiser accelerate faster, stop harder and hold a truer line through a corner. The V-Rod, the Yamaha Warrior, the Suzuki M109R didn’t get to their respective levels of excellence by ignoring technology. You want a big V-Twin that can pull your arms out of the sockets from a standstill and yet have a frame, suspension and brakes that can handle that kind of explosive power. Consequently you are going to need some of the technology driven by the science of the sportbike. Perhaps what the gentleman meant to say was that in his day there were no bikes that put out 150-plus horsepower and reached speeds approaching 200 mph. The figures were probably inconceivable. Do we need bikes capable of this kind of performance? In 20 years will I be shaking my head at bikes with 250 plus horsepower and 300 mph top speeds? Probably. Our brains don’t need the performance, but our guts and hearts appreciate knowing that it exists. I recently read Canadian author Will Ferguson’s Happiness; its premise being that universal happiness or satisfaction would lead to society’s collapse as unhappiness or dissatisfaction drives society to improve. If you are happy with what you have why innovate, why improve? None of us are eternally happy with one motorcycle. Eventually we will want a bike that is a little lighter, a little more comfortable, a little better on fuel, a little better handling, a little more responsive, a little more of that science of the sportbike because that will be what keeps us happy... for a little while at least. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.