On Track Off Road No. 189

telling us. Some things are
selling better than others compared
to five years ago –
Such as?
A big one is the clamp-on
style grips. Five years ago I
would say they were not the
priority but nowadays a lot of
people are buying them. They
are willing to pay more money
not to have to worry about
glue and safety wiring. A lot of
that leads to cannibalisation of
our other grips. So we’ve had
to look at skews and our other
offerings as a lot of customers
are moving that way now.
KTM and Husky putting them
on their stock motorcycles has
really carried it. A lot of people
are used to it and it’s what
they want. I personally don’t
think it is a racing product at
all; it is more for everyday use.
If you are collecting championship
points then the best
way is still with an aluminium
throttle tube and a glue-on
grip. Every customer has a different
taste but the clamp-on
grip has gained a lot of momentum
in the last years.
Let’s talk about grips for a
moment: is there a great deal
of science or R&D there? Or
is it just an extension of the
product catalogue for a handlebar
manufacturer?
I guess I can only speak for
our brand and we take the
technical approach to everything.
It starts with an idea
and then we look at the science
behind it. I’m a scientific
and mechanical kind of person.
I need facts! We kinda
nerd-out on that. We get into
durometers and different levels
of softness: ‘low’ being a
soft grip and ‘high’ being very
hard. We’ll also look closely at
outer diameters and what the
installed diameter is on a ‘bar
because we’ve learned a lot
from our kids handlebar – the
Micro – about how size makes
a big difference and how a
rider’s hands feel after a moto.
A bigger diameter is harder to
hold onto and can give armpump.
It’s like holding a baseball
bat and the difference
between where you should be
holding it and sliding it further
up the bat where you’ll
have less control. That’s why
so many riders are particular
about a full diamond grip
because they have a smaller
hand. To answer your question
then a lot more goes into it
than you think.
It must be hard to make
something that’s generic and
universal…
Yeah, you can go overboard
with it. Grips are still a wonderful
product because they
can skew and also sit in a
warehouse or a DC [distribution
centre] and still be brand
new after some time. They are
good for business. I’m sure
there are some brands that
don’t find any science in it and
just make a grip of any colour
but we are trying to make
it as good as it can be. I try
to sprinkle them around: the
guys here in the office all vary
in skill level on the bike and
what they ride and then we’ll
have our factory guys, some
media guys to create a nice
mix of age, riding ability and
experience. We’ll try to create
the best and biggest ‘box’ that
we’d want people to fit into.
Does the type of material really
matter? This is an area
where the apparel industry
is really advancing for example…
It is not as crazy as apparel.
But there are different mixtures
to get different things
out of it. You can go very soft
but then the grip will disintegrate
over time. You can go
harder and it will last longer
but it will be harsh in your
hand. There is a fine balance
with the material to increase
your wear and longevity. Not
only can you change the grip
pattern but also the wall of
the grip to give more cushion
or rebound. So there are a lot
of little things you can do I
guess.
The SELA start device is new.
What’s the story there?
It’s been an idea for a while
and in development for a little
bit less but like I said earlier
we really had to race-test
this one. The unique feature
means there have been a lot
of legal dealings and it was
important for us to get our
PROTAPER & WHY BUY A HANDLEBAR?