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!
About author
Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

Comments

Premium
I don't have a car, but i like car racing sims.
I ride a motorbike instead through rain and shine, and i had a racing team in the late 90's, but i don't like motorbike racing games at all. I would if i could afford (and had the space for) a sim rig. Changing direction, accelerating and braking on a motorbike is very different (and physically stressful) from car physics as the weight shifting of the rider itself plays a massive part in motorbike behavior and control.
You can't replicate that with a joystick or steering wheel.
 
Ride 5 is a nice motorcycle collection game, but it lacks the real feeling of riding a bike. MotoGP 24 is very good and fun, but 'real bike simulators' like RiMS Racing or GP Bikes are too hard to master and not enjoyable for everyone. Bike simulators are still far from replicating the true experience of motorcycle riding.
Here we've got a huge niche market potential. Those who will exploit it with a good and well-polished product/device will make a ton of money.
 
SCS aren't full fledged simulation and nor racing. These games are assessible enough for basically anyone to play and I believe that labor (basically what all survival games are all about... to do a correlation, not saying ATS and ETS are survival games) in gaming have way more appeal than racing. Also, SCS games flirt with world exploring, management, character evolution, colection... all things that also made some racing games to have better selling numbers.

That was my point though, taking a lorry on a road trip with a wheel and pedals is insanely awesome and insanely addictive, for me its the wheels and pedals bit, that's why it works and why motorcycle games won't ever be as popular as cars in gaming.
So like i said if lorry logistics are more popular than racing cars around then bikes have no hope. I love motorbikes IRL. i have tried a few of the games and they can be a bit of fun but will never capture my attention like driving games simply down to wheels and pedals.... I know things have shifted somewhat these days but i am of the opinion that wheels and pedals are a must, if your using a wheel and pedals you are literally doing driving... that will always work.
 
There are 2 problems....

Problem 1 is that all of the moto games on market are "not enthusiatic enough".
Ride 4/5 is basiacally ok in terms of graphics and sound but nowadays it could be much better imo.
I have nearly all of them (Ride, TT, Mxgp) and tried also Rims and MotoGp.
Rims is just bad and its not the big promised motosim (imo).

Problem 2 is the steering periphery and doesnt matter what you try, it ends up on a controller.
I can drive for example Ride 4 but i feel that my inputs are not smooth enough as it could be.
I have a quite good controller (Nacon Revolution Unlimited).
There were attempts to create bike steering bar "simulators" (already mentioned on previous pages) but its hard
to get that direct and lag-free input.
Its different like to drive a sim car.

Games itself are more or less ok to give a oppoturnity to drive a bike but there is lot room of improvement.
I miss also few long A-B tracks/roads or a "big playground" but with proper physics.
It would be also cool to get an motobike something like a Harley cruiser game with some tasks or similar.
There is some potential but due to the steering problem this kind of games will always suffer.
 
I would drive bike sims IF they included wheels and pedals to setup in game. It is crazy and it is not realistic but for myself it works. Driving with a controller feels wrong for me. I remember GPLaps drove isle of man3 game with a wheel and explained his settings. Something like that would work for me.
Sorry for my worthless opinion. :)
 
That was my point though, taking a lorry on a road trip with a wheel and pedals is insanely awesome and insanely addictive, for me its the wheels and pedals bit, that's why it works and why motorcycle games won't ever be as popular as cars in gaming.
So like i said if lorry logistics are more popular than racing cars around then bikes have no hope. I love motorbikes IRL. i have tried a few of the games and they can be a bit of fun but will never capture my attention like driving games simply down to wheels and pedals.... I know things have shifted somewhat these days but i am of the opinion that wheels and pedals are a must, if your using a wheel and pedals you are literally doing driving... that will always work.
I believe that SCS games public don't use the same logic as with racing games. Personally I see their games just as any other among the billion of PC games that have "Simulator" in the name and are all about a caricatured, hollow and out of scale mock-up that is anything but a real attempt to simulate the proposed subject.

Most players like it that way... the casual way. Sometimes I think about if a game about truck driving that happens in a 1:1 map (even if it's detailed as in the new MS Flight Simulator... basically a drivable and fully 3D Google Street View), but with simulation physics/gameplay, and where the player have to deal with all the trucking job (real length trips, loading and unloading, bureaucracy, crime, real scale traffic jams and etc) if it would be nearly as popular as ETS2. I would buy this game on day one... but I'm sure that the sales wouldn't get near SCS game.
 
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Ride 4/5 is basiacally ok in terms of graphics and sound but nowadays it could be much better imo.
This stopped me. Are you dead serious?
The title's engine sound is pretty much jigzaw 8bit mono sine curve lacking any depth in the sound picture and something I cannot relate to the ditto real world bikes, I've heard at the tracks.
 
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I believe that SCS games public don't use the same logic as with racing games. Personally I see their games just as any other among the billion of PC games that have "Simulator" in the name and are all about a caricatured, hollow and out of scale mock-up that is anything but a real attempt to simulate the proposed subject.

Most players like it that way... the casual way. Sometimes I think about if a game about truck driving that happens in a 1:1 map (even if it's detailed as in the new MS Flight Simulator... basically a drivable and fully 3D Google Street View), but with simulation physics/gameplay, and where the player have to deal with all the trucking job (real length trips, loading and unloading, bureaucracy, crime, real scale traffic jams and etc) if it would be nearly as popular as ETS2. I would buy this game on day one... but I'm sure that the sales wouldn't get near SCS game.

Not even sure what you are dribbling on about now. Did you get triggered because i gave you some facts about how popular ETS2 is? It has trucks, with a wheel you turn the truck, with pedals you stop and go.... game.

My point is motorbike games have to be played on a controller, so in answer to the question, that is why, certainly from my perspective, why i play driving games, with a wheel, its why i have a wheel and pedals obviously....
So really, it is a pointless question. A better question would be why do majority of 'sim racers' think racing cars have glass tyres and the track is made of black ice?
 
This stopped me. Are you dead serious?
The title's engine sound is pretty much jigzaw 8bit mono sine curve lacking any depth in the sound picture and something I cannot relate to the ditto real world bikes, I've heard at the tracks.
Well... i know what you mean so i just compared the engine sounds to existing motogames.
We both know that the real moto engines and pov videos on YT are much better.
Thas why ive said its only ok. Every moto game has this looping engine sounds...unfortunately.
I still wait for a real good moto game.
 
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How much does a mototrainer cost? Around 10-20k euros I guess.
I don't remember the different models, but the full on version was below below 30 or 25k and this was including the computer, there were cheaper versions. Some pretty well known riders had ones or were training riders. If I had an extra garage... it would be invaluable to call some pro & start training me while I ride!
 
I don't remember the different models, but the full on version was below below 30 or 25k and this was including the computer, there were cheaper versions. Some pretty well known riders had ones or were training riders. If I had an extra garage... it would be invaluable to call some pro & start training me while I ride!
I've never tried it, but I saw several videos of it on IG and YouTube. It seems to be very good, but far from the purchasing power of the average Joe.
 
I like bike games they can be a lot of fun. Heads up 'TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2' can be played with a wheel, at least I got my Moza R5 to work no FFB but I can live without it for the fun I have had with it, large free roam map to ride and the Snaefell Mountain Course is 60 km long so takes me around 20 minutes to go around with the amount of falling off I do. For those who say it's not immersive with a wheel I say try it first. Also mention games 1 and 3 of TT-ROE can not be set up with a wheel.
As for immersion in car sims I always know I'm playing a game , my problem is when I get in a real car I forget it's not a game. Cheers and have a good one.
 
As for immersion in car sims I always know I'm playing a game , my problem is when I get in a real car I forget it's not a game. Cheers and have a good one.
Thats funny, Im the same way. Couldnt count how many times Ive almost mashed my left foot into the brake coming up to a stop sign.
 
Premium
I find that hitting curbs in my real car kicks me back into reality, Though I do think the FFB is a bit blunt and lacking in detail.
 
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1. Counter-Steer. 2. Lack of Controller 3. Software/Gyro/Force feedback

1. Riding bicycle is not intuitive. No body ever learned to ride a 2-wheel bike without a good length of time to learn to stay up and to steer. Thus a bike sim will probably necessitate the same struggle. I tried to "pivot" the recently posted bikes in AC and reversed the steering, on FF steering wheel and 3-pedals, and I struggles. Now in this day and age when most people expect EASY, this kind of learning curve is an obstacle to popularity.

2. Lack of bike controller - either you have it or not. Right now, who has a handlebar controller for your rig?

3. As other mentioned, some assist is needed so that bike does not fall down when starting off. Once underway, the gyro needs to be integrated w/ force feedback. AND, lean does not equal turning.. It's a bit more complicated than that. Counter-steering/gyro initiated the lean and lean/steer controls the front and rear grip. Now, even GP-bike isn't getting this part right. Now, with just a few hours on GP-bikes demo, I am not sure what is the hype is about. The bike turns by leaning like any other bike game, from what I know. But what do I know, I sold my bike a few years back and now only rides a 50 lb eMtb.

So 3 strikes.. Hope the situation changes though. Any how, go out and ride. Why ride the virtual bike? In fact, I believe my eMtb is curing my AC driving addiction.
Refreshingly smart reflection to a very complex issue.
I agree to all three points, but not the GP-bikes part. It does simulate but also has had to be adapted to gamepad use. Going around that is not easy, and like you said easy is expected.

Not sure what you mean with ‘lean does not equal turning’? Physically for a motorcycle it does, but it’s not as easy as leaning a joystick that’s for sure.
 
If Corsair or fanatech or some big controller company makes a gamble on marketing a motorcycle peripheral it can be successful. It needs to be light weight and ez to store like a Wii fit. I'm sure GTA 6 will have bikes and ppl would cruise along in that game too!
 
Not sure what you mean with ‘lean does not equal turning’? Physically for a motorcycle it does, but it’s not as easy as leaning a joystick that’s for sure.
Steady state turning, i.e. same lean angle, same throttle/brake, same steering, same tire/road friction, yes a certain lean angle gives a certain centripetal force. But in transition, or dynamic situation where adding/chopping throttle, pushing in or out, will straighten or lean in more. Lean is not directly controlled but indirectel controlled by those other factors. (That is the bike physics, including counter-steering.)
 
It's easy to simulate a car. Just like in a car you sit in front of a computer and have a steering wheel in front of you, with motorcycles it's a completely different story. Despite this, I switched to motorcycle games a few years ago and since then car simulators have simply been stale and dull for me. Nothing currently gives me such an adrenaline rush as Ride or MotoGP. I especially value older titles because of their engine in which you could practically mod everything. Unrealization (Unreal Engine) is a step back in my opinion, monopolization, standardization, uniformity (unreal look).
 

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