Recently, Honda announced their withdrawal from Formula One racing and last Friday said they would also be pulling the factory teams out of AMA Superbike. Will this be the only factory to go due to the economy or is it the first of many?
NASCAR, for one, is experiencing a major reduction of support from and, in some cases, the complete departure of many companies long associated with racing. Factory teams and big name sponsors look like a luxury for better times, are motorcycles that much different? Well, yes they are. While race cars and family sedans no longer connect except by name, the same motorcycles you can buy are often a short step from the starting grid. The factories design many models specifically for the purpose. The question becomes, why build cutting edge race bikes if you’re not going to race?
The Honda withdrawal may be isolated or the first of many, how long it will last depends on the economy, but it will be interesting to see if the pace of constantly changing sportbikes slows a bit as factories, or at least Honda, look for better returns on their investments.
Jason says
Oh boy. This could be good and bad at the same time. Good, at the racing level. No factory support, more grass roots racing. Bad, on the advancement of technology. Any word on MotoGP?
taxman says
this could take some of the focus away from “racer” style motorcycles. i’m sure they will always have a race model for sale. but maybe we could start seeing some everyday utility style bikes start to get a little bit more lime-light. or put out the occasional classic bike. instead of having 4 different models of the CBR, they could make room for the CB.
Nick says
Jason – they have announced they are continuing participation in MotoGP.
Morpheous says
+1 (Like Taxman says) we may see some more streetable bikes. Why sell Race ready machines for the street? Never has made any sense to me anyway. Road Race bikes should be sold much as MX bikes are, Race only machines. As far as loosing technology development: The motorcycle comsumer is S-L-O-W to buy up new technologies anyway, even ones that make perfect sense for motorcycling (IE.. Anti-lock brakes),so i doubt that anything will be lost on us. They should be developing usable high mileage utility transport. The motorcycling industry has missed this in the USA or they would be making a fortune right now.
mark says
I have a feeling that Honda’s departure from AMA Superbike may have a little more to do with the issues the factories have been having with Daytona Motorsports Group than the economy. I haven’t heard anything about Honda leaving World Superbike, for example…
mark says
And speaking of high mileage utility transport… it still makes no sense to me that Honda doesn’t sell the Transalp in the US. Maybe if they do refocus their brand away from race-ready sportbikes, they’ll see fit to import the Transalp to the US market. It would be an ideal commuter and general-purpose bike, and the ADV market is salivating for it. Suzuki’s had success with the V-Strom; no reason Honda couldn’t do even better with the Transalp, since it’s a pretty legendary adventure-touring bike. If they gave us an Africa Twin, half of ADVrider.com would die of excitement…
aaron says
but how many squids buying sportbikes follow racing anyways? wander up to a random porsche owner and ask him/her what they think of the rs spider’s efforts in endurance racing and you’ll likely get the same blank stare as if you asked most north american riders about their chosen mount’s riders in wsb or motogp. a significant number of these bikes are sold on looks and the data sheet alone.
aaron says
LOL – 10 mins after my post I see that porsche has withdrawn from the AMLS.
kneeslider says
aaron, I agree sportbike sales often go to riders who don’t follow racing which is the point of my question about cutting edge technology. Those riders would not notice anything lacking in bikes already being produced, innovation in the technology could stop and the same bike could sell for 10 years or longer with little more than fresh paint or slightly modified bodywork.
Tyler says
“the same bike could sell for 10 years or longer with little more than fresh paint or slightly modified bodywork.”
Why not, innovation is great in some categories, useless in others. EFI is irreplaceable due to emissions restrictions, so that’s great, but how many people here have ever hit the brakes in their car hard enough to engage the ABS? You’d know it instantly if you had, and most people haven’t. I can only imagine how disoncerting it would be to feel that pulse on a bike, nor can I see the need for throttle-by-wire or traction control for the street. Those are technologies meant for the upper echelon of riders in extreme (read: racing) applications, not for street use. Show me a bike with a genuine STREET APPLICABLE innovation (traditional telescope forks begat anti-dive forks begat cartridges are a good example), otherwise just give me what works and leave me to tinker with a simplest machine I can get. Simplicity, that’s the mantra, don’t innovate for the sake of innovation.
Matt says
Who ever said that Honda was retreating from racing? The economy is dictating that they scaleback, and if you have to cut back somewhere, why not pick the series that just had all of its rules turned upside down. AMA racing is going through a painful transition, and Honda may not be the only major manufacturer to pull out (any word on Suzuki yet?). As others have noted, even without the economic issues, there was a good chance that some manufacturers would be pulling out due to rule changes.
Honda has been very competetive in World Superbike (2007 championship, and strong finishes in 2008), and will be racing there in 2009.
kneeslider says
Matt, Honda leaving Formula One is one indication of a scale back in racing other than AMA Superbike, Formula One is notorious for simply being expensive, regardless of the rules. The AMA transition is just an added nudge that helps make the decision easier to choose that motorcycle series first, but I wouldn’t be surprised if more follow.
B*A*M*F says
Honda was practically built on racing. That said, they are at a size and position where they can pick and choose which racing series in which they participate. Scaling back and sticking with the racing programs that actually yield results makes sense.
aaron says
I doubt that cutting edge, high strung race replicas will ever become more practical…
everyone knows a cbr600rr is suitable for novices, and it’s hard to get respect at the local hangout without the latest literbike. (yes, that was sarcasm!) just because the gear ratios are useless in the real world and the “area under the curve” makes the bike slower than less aggressively tuned motors doesn’t mean that many riders won’t base their purchasing decisions on a review written by an expert rider after testing the bike exclusively on the track.
I seem to remember reading that the honda fireblade was the best selling motorcycle for several years running in the uk, and this is a country that requires new riders to work their way up in displacement and performance, starting with a 12hp 125cc!
I have no problems with the march of progress, but I’d love to see the technology trickle down into other categories of streetbike. when you can pare down a 180hp machine to 375lbs, why does a “lightweight” 70hp standard weigh 450lbs?
I think that triumph has the best mix in the 675 street triple. I know my “full size” speed triple is the most fun I’ve had on a bike in a long time!
zach says
“I have a feeling that Honda’s departure from AMA Superbike may have a little more to do with the issues the factories have been having with Daytona Motorsports Group than the economy.”
I do believe commenter mark hit the nail on the head as far as Honda leaving nAMAscar motorcycle racing.
John says
look at suzuki. Their hayabusa sold better at the end of its run than the beginning.
No honda makes a boring race series even worse.
Bjorn says
I’m with Mark and Zach on this one. My understanding is that Honda are pulling the pin on the AMA series due to restrictive rules to be imposed by DMG in an effort to reduce the cost of competition. With Honda continuing in WSBK and other countries SBK championships, where the rules allow a more open slather and hence more expensive form of racing, it would seem to be a move based on dissatisfaction with the organising body rather than cost cutting. The “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.” form of promotion is far more effective in motorcycling than automotive sales because motorcycles are more emotive than cars. We as comsumers continue to demand the fastest, best handling motorcycles whether we require or are even capable of handling them. Untill that changes at the point of sale you can expect to see motorcycle maufacturers continue to pour money into their race teams.
rangeroger says
Doesn’t Honda supply all the engines for IRL series cars? If so, their drop from F1 doesn’t mean a drop from formula racing.
vic says
World Superbike will be the winner here. Maybe this will give some innovative new racing series a chance to start up too. Can an electric series be that far off.