TankGrip Tank Mounted Sportbike Handles
June 18th, 2008 at 1:03 pm by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider"
You have a fast sportbike and you want to take a passenger along for a ride, unfortunately, the passenger may not feel as comfortable as you because they have nothing secure to hold on to. Sure they can grab your waist or wrap their arms around you but sometimes that isn’t as secure as you or they would like and sometimes it can restrict your movement in controlling the bike. TankGrip solves that problem, the tank mounted handles for your sportbike.
If you accelerate quickly, stop fast or run through some turns, your passenger can feel secure and braced under any conditions. Easy to mount and easy to remove and designed specifically for the motorcycle model it will be fitted to.
When I first saw this, I thought it was a little odd but then I looked a little closer and it looks pretty neat and I bet your passenger would feel a lot more secure. Sportbikes aren’t known for their passenger accommodations, this might make their ride a little easier and safer. Interesting!
From TankGrip:
Tankgrip is an entirely handmade shell with integrated handles that can be fitted simply and quickly to a motorcycle ’s petrol tank. The shell can be made from polyester or carbon fibre, depending on the customer’s preference. Tankgrip is always altered to suit the make of bike so that it creates a single streamlined unit.
The product is fully compliant with safety standards and will not injure either the rider or the passenger in the event of an accident, because it is constructed from saturated fibreglass and the shell therefore cannot rupture.
The Tankgrip manufacturing process is extensive and the prices are therefore between 400 euros for the lacquer-finished variant and 500 euros for the carbon-fibre version.
Link: TankGrip and a video showing it in action.
Posted in Motorcycle Accessories, Motorcycle Safety
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20 Responses to “TankGrip Tank Mounted Sportbike Handles”
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June 18th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
It seems to defeat the purpose of having pretty girls on your terrifying sports motorcycle.
June 18th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
One downside I can forsee is the loss of the communication the grasp around the driver by the passenger conveys. While I seldom have anyone on the back of my bike, when I do I get various cues that a passenger is ready for take off, and a firm grasp is one way of letting me, the driver, know that my passenger is indeed ready and expecting me to start forward movement.
Another non-verbal cue I get from time to time is a swift helmet to helmet headbutt letting me know that my passenger, commonly my wife, is not as excited about my flipping off cagers for cutting me off on the road. Apparently folks on the Olde South don’t flip off each other for transgressions in driver etiquette… Who knew?
June 18th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Almost forgot, it does look like they did a nice job on the installation. It could easily be mistaken for a factory job.
June 18th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
You are right Matt. The quality of the work looks first rate. However, I’d rather remove a part than add a part.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
not quite universal (won’t work on my R75/5?) but it’s a great idea. The passenger grab handles at the base of a seat are a complete joke. With these the passenger should be just as secure as the rider - as long as his/her arms are long enough and the rider’s waist is thin enough (like the two women). I can imagine manufacturers picking this up and standardizing it. For TankGrip’s sake I hope they figured out all patent loop holes.
-todd
June 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
“Even Models can do it” -
This is most excellent engineering and design. A functional part that is easy to use and does not lose sight of aesthetics.
Well done!
June 18th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
“the shell therefore cannot rupture.”
And the Titanic cannot be sunk by god himself….
never say never.
But I will say, its a great idea, it looks like it would force the passenger to lean with the bike instead of fighting it like many newbies on the back do.
Beyond safety, could it also be a good instruction tool?
June 18th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I see the sportbike genre has matured enough to grow love handles.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
They look nice (and at first thought I wondered what idiot was riding around grabbing his tank…) But with my .. umm.. girth (6′1″ @ 230lbs) with a full jacket on, Im thinking holding onto me is a better bet for my wife.
Nice thinking. What solid bolts on some bikes would it mount to? I wouldnt feel safe with anything less.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
It’s basically the same idea as Chris Ulrich’s two seater GSXR1000 that he uses for media rides. They work very well for him.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
great idea and great execution from what i can see
sportbikes should have this as flip up standard
this is exactly how passengers should hold on much safer and more comfortable, especially acceleration
i dont see or didnt read how it is secured, it has to be pretty secure under harder acceleration
June 18th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I’m sure a stunter out there is drooling at the possibilities of this!
June 18th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
great idea.
I like the added benefit of these handles giving the sportbike passenger the ability to support their own weight during braking.
how about suction cup handles for a universal fit?
June 18th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
there’s demo video right on their site for those who ask how it is secured….and you don’t even have to read!
Rohorn strikes again!
June 18th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
reminds me of that ex-MotoGP Desmosedici demo bike that used to (still does?) take lucky passengers around a track before a race. i’m guessing if it’s good enough for an honest to God race/press bike it would work well enough for some street riding. awesome idea. i only wonder how much it would limit the rider’s ability to get into a crouch. assuming you left it on when you didn’t have a passenger.
June 18th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
ROHORN SAID IT.BEST LOL
June 19th, 2008 at 12:34 am
Damn, another really good idea I didn’t get to market in time.
So it goes.
June 19th, 2008 at 12:53 am
I kind of like the girl holding on to me, crap if she is grabbing the tank why bring her along.
June 19th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
These look like a great idea. My girlfriend is not to keen on being pillion, but when we do I where a belt that has grab handles as she doesn’t feel safe holding the grab handles at the back of teh bike. It works OK, but under breaking the passanger slids forward pushing me into the tank and reducing my room to manouver the bike. This would appear to stop that happening. Any idea on cost?
June 19th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
This looks great and has function! Fighting to counterbalance the weight and lean of the inexperienced or frightened pillion is dangerous and down right scary. Saying this though the idea of more people riding like nutcases while carrying pillions is not going to be much fun for trauma centres when they start getting two for the price of one admissions