[m463]

It's a tough one... do you bow to convention or do you forge a new path.

I remember for years thinking that conventions on motorcycles SUCKED. One thing that bothered me was that using the back brake on a motorcycle required your foot, which seemed to me like trying to do surgery with a mallet. The gearshift was to a lesser degree inaccurate with your foot. Thing is, every motorcycle follows the convention, so you would have to figure out your own system, then modify every motorcycle you used to use it.

I was heartened when I heard of a pro roadracer who use a thumb-brake for the rear brake. :)

[_carbyau_]

Mick Doohan, world champion multiple times broke his ankle while racing. They figured out a thumb operated rear brake for him.

Now, while not exactly common in use, it is a commonly accepted option in racing. Current moto2 championship leader has a rear brake lever on the handlebar.

I imagine at the motogp level there might be biomechanical advantages to a hand lever but I'm no racer so I have never really investigated.

"motorcycle thumb brake kit" gets a few hits to buy your own to fit to your bike if you wish.

[raihansaputra]

Just off the top of my head, but having the option to shift your bodyweight using your legs is quite a big advantage. At MotoGP leved it's either they can exchange that advantage with something else or it's so advantageous everybody will use that.

[noir_lord]

It makes more sense to me to have the back break on the right foot, in normal (not racing) riding you brake way more with the front anyway, most people are right handed to having the make things stop lever be on the dominant hand makes sense.

But it is just a convention, Other parts of the world used different conventions until Japanese bikes exploded onto the market and we standardised on the current status quo.