We haven't done any research to back it up, but if I had two nickels to rub together I'd bet that for the vast majority of you out there in Super Streetbike land, a sportbike is the only type of motorcycle you've ever ridden. That stinkbug riding position, with your ass way up in the air and your hands stretched out toward too-low clip-on handlebars, is probably the only position you know. We understand this, of course. Just like you, we love everything about sportbikes-the speed, the styling, and yes, even the torture-rack ergonomics that make you feel like you're going 200 mph standing still (and that, conveniently, work so well as you approach triple-digit speeds...).
At the same time, anyone who has ridden a dirtbike knows there's something special about a real, honest-to-goodness handlebar on a motorcycle. There's just something so right about the way a high, wide handlebar feels in your hands-the heads-up, elbows-out riding position takes you straight back to that first BMX bicycle you got when you were 8 years old. A high handlebar feels fun-and it makes you want to behave like a sugar-fueled 8-year-old boy, popping wheelies, jumping curbs and generally causing all sorts of moto-mayhem.
An upright handlebar changes your entire relationship with the motorcycle. On a traditional, clip-on-equipped sportbike you sit "in" the motorcycle, and your body becomes an integral part of the machine. A riser bar, on the other hand, takes you "out" of the motorcycle and puts you on top of the bike. You are no longer a part of the machine-you're the master of it now, and the bike begs to be dominated. "Yank me up into a wheelie! Shove me down into the corner!" it screams-and of course, you can't help but oblige.
A higher-leverage handlebar gives you more control over the bike than low-mounted, roadrace-style bars, especially at street speeds. Stunters value control more than the average rider, which is why so many of today's best stunt riders-Tony D, Kyle Woods, Jacob Brunelle and all the top Euro riders-rock streetfighter handlebar conversions on their stuntbikes. And as casual sportbike enthusiasts become more accustomed to seeing streetfighter handlebars in stunt videos and yes, even on the pages of this magazine, we're going to start seeing more and more streetfighter-styled motorcycles on American streets. Take our word for it-streetfighters will be the custom motorcycle of the future.
This, of course, is already the case in Europe-unlike in America, where choppers rule, across the pond streetfighters are the dominant form of custom motorcycles. Deeper into this issue you'll find bike-show coverage from Holland, England and Germany that proves how strong the high-bar style is in Europe. This makes sense, as streetfighters were invented in England back in the 1980s when urban sportbikers began stripping busted plastic off crashed sportbikes and drilling holes in the upper triple clamps to mount a dirtbike bar that enhanced maneuverability in a crowded urban environment.
Finally, some two decades later, it's happening Stateside, too-we've photographed some pretty incredible home-brewed streetfighters over the last few months from across the country (New York, Florida, even middle-of-nowhere New Mexico) that we'll be presenting to you over the next few issues. And as the popularity of stunting in this country continues to grow, expect to see even more streetfighter bikes built by stunter wannabes hitting the streets. And where kids on the streets go, the OEMs and the rest of the industry are bound to follow.