Sports Bikes Have Been Banned From The Pikes Peak Hillclimb
It takes real guts to tackle the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in a car. The 12.4 mile road climbs over 14,000 feet, features over 150 turns, and a lot of scary drops. It takes even bigger stones to do it on a bike. A rider died at the 2014 event, and another at this year’s, which has led to the effective banning of all sports bikes at the hillclimb. However, the event organisers have chosen to go about this in a rather peculiar way.
The new rule - similar to one used for the 2011 event - states that “Only motorcycles manufactured with one piece handle bars as original equipment will be permitted,” - in other words, sports bikes and superbikes with two-piece ‘clip-on’ style handlebars have been effectively outlawed. But the thing is, that doesn’t suddenly mean all bike runs will be slow and safe. Just look at Greg Tracy’s bonkers run below, set on a Ducati Multistrada, a bike which would be allowed under the new regulations.
Plus, there’s the argument that a single handlebar motorbike will be trickier to hustle at speed, and won’t necessarily be the ‘safer’ bike on the course. Speaking to Road Racing World, 2014’s fastest Pikes Peak rider Jeremy Toye said: “The handlebars didn’t cause those deaths, and the handlebar isn’t going to reduce speed. A motorcycle produced with a one-piece handlebar isn’t designed for optimum handling. The conditions at Pikes are pretty intense so you need the best-handling situation you can get.”
Source: Road Racing World via Lanesplitter
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
I’ll never get this “it’s dangerous, so let’s just ban it” logic.
It’s just an excuse to control people. I really can’t think of any actual good reason to ban something, where you can only harm yourself
Always remonds me of the good ol F1 days
It’s most likely because the event organizers don’t want people to die. A driver in a car with a full roll cage and lots of safety tech has a muchhigher chance of survival if they go over the edge than a bike does. There is really no other way of preventing deaths of bikers due to rider error, so the next best thing to save lives is to ban it.
Guess you have seen the videos on how many who loose their grip, it costs the emergency services alot of money so they just ban the whole thing I suppose :|
Well you can still braaap a supermoto
Did someone say Supermoto Class. Imagine the huge backing it in moments on pikes peak.
Well they already killed fan fun by limiting where spectators can stand after a woman lost her arm in 2013
pikes peak need to take a look at irish road racing. stupid fun killers. its a closed road people know the risks including spectators why are you trying to stop people living? if you dont want the danger watch it on the internet or the telly dont get in harms way, but if you want to get a thrill, go do it!
Don’t worry, they’ll start flipping ape hangers cafe style. “You said it had to be one-piece bars, well, they one-piece.”
Who makes theses rules???????
Those who can’t race, officiate.
Meanwhile at the Isle of Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtZlm9Lp7q4
IOM has it’s own rash of ‘safety restriction’ rules that make no sense at all. The Sidecar class has an outdated rule limiting the outfits to a 600cc I4 powerplant ‘to keep the speeds down’. That may have worked 25 years ago when a tuned 600 only made 85 horsepower, But these days they’re making 115 horsepower out of the box before tuning. So you have modern sidecars ripping around the island cutting 116.785 mph average flying laps. That’s -fast-
just limit to supermotos
What the fck is this bullsht!
Can I ride a CB250? It has a one piece handlebar and goes faster than jogging:)
All the teams are just gonna be welding their clip ons now, hahaha. I doubt that’ll get around the rules, though.
It does say out of the factory