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