In a recent bit of circuit business, MotoGP has decided that front height adjusters will not be allowed next season, with the reasons ranging from ‘not sufficiently relevant to road bikes,’ to the more obligatory ‘safety concerns.’
Naturally, Ducati – the engineer of the technology and first track prototyper of the concept – was ‘not at all pleased,’ but has ultimately agreed with the other manufacturers in the paddock.
“’Our general thought on these devices is to possibly ban all of them as soon as possible,” explains Romano Albesiano, technical director for Aprilia’s team (via Motorcycle Sports).
“It’s just a complication; it’s something that will never make it to production bikes. It’s something related to the rules that prevents the manufacture of proper height adjustment devices.”
“We have introduced the holeshot device on the front, just for starting, but our philosophy is to avoid this kind of development that we believe is not useful for production bikes.”
Honda is apparently also in agreement with the removal of the technology, having tested it for themselves and determined that the adjustment devices will likely never see production for the bikes on our streets – present nor future.
…And for Honda, no production means no need to test the tech further – at least, for now.
“We did some studies, and we thought that this would not be implemented on road bikes in the future – which, actually, is a big reason why HRC is in the competition,” adds Honda’s own Takeo Yokoyama.
“So on our part, we decided to vote to ban it as proposed by the organizer – and at that point, it was decided.”
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