Community Question: Why Are Bikes Unpopular In Sim Racing?

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Image credit: Logitech
Motorbikes have been flooding the modding scene within Assetto Corsa, but are they utilized by the community? Is motorcycle racing a discipline you want to see more of in Assetto Corsa?

Within sim racing, racing normally revolves around battling other cars on race tracks around the globe. However, some people have brought the world of motorbike racing to life. Motorbikes are woefully underrepresented outside of the motorbike-specific titles (like RIDE or MotoGP). But is that for a good reason?

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Suzuki GSXR 750 Bike mod.

Some might say yes to that question, after all, it is very hard to simulate a bike when 99% of the racing simulators are set up and designed for cars. However, the trusty gamepad is always there to pick up the pieces and provide a great racing experience for those who prefer their engines to power two wheels instead of four.

Bikes are seen as unnecessary in the modern sim racing space by some. After all, sim racers love realism and racing bikes is hardly realistic on their steering wheels and pedals. However, back when sim racing was more common in arcades than in front rooms, bike sims were just as, if not more, popular.

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Honda 750F1 Assetto Corsa mod. Image: hungrysnorlax

Editor's Take: A Life in Neon Lights​

If you have ever been to a seaside town in the UK, you almost certainly will have seen some of the arcades on offer, like Blackpool Pier and Brighton Pier to name just two. Inside these arcades will be a variety of racing simulators, but not the ones you might be thinking of.

Think of the original GRID but on an original arcade machine from when the game was the hottest release. Multiple versions of Fast and Furious racing machines are also commonplace. However, it is the motorbike simulators such as the MotoGP ones pictured below that always regular the arcade forecourts.

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MotoGP arcade bike simulators. Image: MotoGP.com

What is the reasoning for this? It is quite simple when you break it down - unique opportunities. Most people can pick up a second-hand Logitech wheel and pedals and compete in any sim title on the market in a matter of hours, but how many people can lean, control and ride a virtual motorbike albeit on a very basic motion sim?

However, outside of the arcades is where bike games fall down. Sim racing is a huge success due to the closeness to reality it can produce, especially in titles like iRacing and ACC that simulate every small detail. Bike titles can not quantify that same level of simulation without something like a leaning motion sim seen in the arcades.

And outside of DIY projects, bike racing simulators are far outnumbered by sim racing rigs aiming to recreate four-wheel-based racing.

What are your thoughts on bikes in sims like Assetto Corsa? Is there a future for the recent wave of mods to hit the sim racing world? Let us know what you think on X @OverTake_gg or down in the comments below!
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Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

Comments

Bikes always were less popular than cars even in real life. In videogames, bike games use to have smaller budget and way less titles.

Also, in simulation there is the unsolvable issue of a realistic, immersive and practical control. With cars, even with an old Driving Force GT I have immersion enough.. with a bike no one have really solved the issue, so good bike games are restrict to less realistic approaches.

PS: I still play Ride 4 from the release to the present and used to like bike racing since the 80s. Unfortunately, can't call any of these games by "simulator", but still good games
 
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I have been a rider for 55 years and still enjoy riding today. Motorcycle not as popular as cars! Not true, very dependent of where you live. Not as practical, yes, but also depends, as riding a motorcycle in Many Europeen busy city makes total sense.
All that said, if you believe that “the trusty gamepad is always there to pick up the pieces and provide a great racing experience for those who prefer their engines to power two wheels instead of four.” then you are not a rider, a gamepad is as remote as riding a motorcycle as can be. Zero immersion.
And that is why motorcycle are not popular in a simulation form. Car simulation is already pretty far form the real thing, but somehow with a proper rig, we can trick the brain and pretend.
Riding a motorcycle, any motorcycle, is very thrilling, riding a sport bike even more so, the performance are addictive, most people cars do not even come close to what even an average motorcycle can deliver.
If someone, somehow, could deliver a simulation of what riding is, at least on the level of driving simulation, they would not have to worry about money ever again.
 
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They are cheap enough that you can get a decently fast bike for a fraction of the cost of a decently fast car, and its really hard to make a peripheric to simulate the experience.
True, but medical bills ain't cheap & pain from broken bones is real.

Actually, bike simulation is improving & for the price of around 20k you can get a decent one. Some car sim companies are also working on bike sims. The main reason is MotoGP testing restrictions :) Also, you can't load a bike with 500 sensors like you can an F1 car, so I expect in the next decade bike simulation to improve massively!

Check out mototrainer.it, their platform is used by pros for training & it's especially useful for training amateur riders how to sit, stand or lean on the bike. The savings in medical bills will be giant. I was about to buy one, but you also need space & I just don't have it.
 
I've been trying bikes in sim racing recently.
The bike mods in AC are kinda fun but quite limited in terms of realism and immersion as they're very limited by car physics in AC.
LFS bike mods on the other hand are a complete blast with much more challenging and rewarding controls.
I'm actually finding myself hesitant to go back to cars after experiencing LFS's bikes in VR with a DD wheel.
Unfortunately control options are quite limited in most of the dedicated bike sims and native VR is very rare.
LFS bikes in VR
 
Its difficult to simulate since steering in bike driving at high speeds very much includes direction/steering control by leaning your whole upper body to the sides, forward, backward. That you cannot replicate in a 2D-sim. VR is mandatory. VRider SBK for Quest 3 for example does a solid job in covering these essentials. Visuals may look dated since they must deal with the - compared to PC: limited - Quest 3 processing power: but the feeling blows other bike "simulators" off the tarmac.
 
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The bike mods in AC are kinda fun but quite limited in terms of realism and immersion as they're very limited by car physics in AC.
It is possible to do it right, but the people making the mods don't know how (it's not just a car that leans when you steer, which is what the public mods mostly seem to be), and then you get into non-physics problems, like that a completely unassisted bike is challenging to learn, and if you fall over the game resets you to the pits. I would say at least most if not all the dedicated "bike simulators" have assists to stop the bike falling down while you start moving and probably also smooth out inputs towards what's necessary so you don't just tip it on its side entering corners.
 
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since steering in bike driving at high speeds very much includes direction/steering control by leaning your whole upper body to the sides
that is a popular belief, but it is not how it works. You can lean your body all you want, assuming you are even riding, the motorcycle is not going to change direction, countersteering is what makes a motorcycle change direction, just like a bicycle.
This video is a good o source, among many, debunking the urban legend.
Plus, I really like that guy. :D
.
 
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I've been a biker for 40 years and haven't had a hospital trip yet...
Anyway, I would suggest that no matter 'realistic' the developers make the handling in a bike sim, there's no controller that can translate that to the user.
I believe Thrustmaster once made a handlebar style controller, but I don't think it sold very well and was discontinued.
 
that is a popular belief, but it is not how it works. You can lean your body all you want, assuming you are even riding, the motorcycle is not going to change direction, countersteering is what makes a motorcycle change direction, just like a bicycle.
This video is a good o source, among many, debunking the urban legend.
Plus, I really like that guy. :D
.
He also made a video in which he explained that the fastest way around corners at normal speeds is to stay upright when you lean the bike. That one caused quite the stir.
 
Been a biker during 1990-2005 and just enjoyed real life gyro effects, the getting one with your bike symbiosis feeling as every biker knows of, it's difficult to get same level of excitement with hardware affordable at market at present.
Though I've witnessed some very good DIY attempts lately.
Aside from that I enjoyed a specific arcade hall game, single point more DOFs solid stand, more than compensating for pixel graphics. Unfortunately I've lost the name of the title, but closest to the effect of the tad counter-leaning making the precision cornering and a good immersion of gyro effects. By the time (mid-late 1980ies) I was sure the future looked bright here.
Now I'm just down to keyboard racing TT IoM, Ride 4 and MotoGP '20 occasionally...solely due to they're into my Steam library and give it a go once in a while, but nothing close to the immersion of the arcade hall game +35 years ago I must admit. Subsequently 99% of the time I'm doing 4-wheel simracing...
 
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Weird question really when driving trucks around a very lose idea of European or American roads is VASTLY more popular than sim racing.
(I could never understand it, till I tried it and now I'm addicted, beware you have been warned)
 
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Two facts about Motorcycles
1: There are two types of bikers, those that have fallen off and those that are going to fall off.
2: Flesh wears out at one inch per second at 30 MPH (so always wear leather protection)

As for there bieng less call for bike sims, it's understandable, as most of the riding is about feeling and the human body has far more sensors than the average sofa arm, motorcycling is much more that just sitting astride one, and if you've ever riden a bike you'll likely know about a sudden patch of wet leaves in Autumn, or the hidden line of snow over the brow of a hill (often on a bend) where the cars have cleared their path but not yours.
These things go through your body and make the bike do things that cannot be simulated without actually being there.
The last two wheeled game I tried was Road Rash, a great fun kick-em-off racer on the PS1 with the controller... but it wasn't bike racing, it was just another fun game.

If Michael Dunlop played the Assetto Corsa mod with a gamepad and said "wow, it's just like the real thing" I'd ask "how much are they paying you to say that" or "what have you done with the real Michael Dunlop
 
Two facts about Motorcycles
1: There are two types of bikers, those that have fallen off and those that are going to fall off.
2: Flesh wears out at one inch per second at 30 MPH (so always wear leather protection)
Back in the Early to Mid 70's, "High School Me" read Cycle Magazine religiously. I even remember a Cover with the brand new Honda 4 stroke 250 Enduro(play) bike. Why do I remember it? Cuz this 18 yr old Model named Beau Derek was standing next to the Honda in a knitted Bikini.(probably wasn't Mrs Derek yet...so whatever her proper last name was)
I remember one editorial that spent the first SEVERAL pages writing about every staffer at Cycle Mag and most of the other Motorcycle mags of that era. One by one they listed their expertise(or lack there of) and then came the wrecks. Every editor, reporter, tester, had all had some sort of accident mostly while riding on the street. The purpose of the article was only apparent in the last paragraph where they advocated for ALWAYS wearing a helmet...
 
Premium
Back in the Early to Mid 70's, "High School Me" read Cycle Magazine religiously. I even remember a Cover with the brand new Honda 4 stroke 250 Enduro(play) bike. Why do I remember it? Cuz this 18 yr old Model named Beau Derek was standing next to the Honda in a knitted Bikini.(probably wasn't Mrs Derek yet...so whatever her proper last name was)
I remember one editorial that spent the first SEVERAL pages writing about every staffer at Cycle Mag and most of the other Motorcycle mags of that era. One by one they listed their expertise(or lack there of) and then came the wrecks. Every editor, reporter, tester, had all had some sort of accident mostly while riding on the street. The purpose of the article was only apparent in the last paragraph where they advocated for ALWAYS wearing a helmet...
The 'Helmet' law in the UK came about just as I was getting two wheelered, I started with scooters, 150Li, 200SX*, then bikes, and I had a very minor off on a RD 250 coffin tank, torn ankle ligament and a deep scratch on my new Bell helmet, at first I though "shiiii...." that cost me a fortune, then I thought three months ago that would have been my head, swore on them after that.

* I went over the handle bars on that when a front fork sheared... I did my best impression of a butterfly, but I was fine!
 

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