Why do road bikes have clip ons?

[noggythenog]

Ah cool that explains it, it's just something ive never actually known for sure. Only ridden one bike with clip ons, my mates gsxr600 & it was weird, i was crouched up like a sleeping hedgehog on that thing it was painful.I had guessed a small part was aerodynamics.I thought that the narrow bars would be quicker to turn, like a sports car with a tiny lock to lock, so more precise.But im sure ive heard that this smaller lever mixed with the correct frequency of road speed and tarmac can cause tank slappers......& once clip ons start tank thrashing you cant stop them.I hadnt realised that weight over the front would come into it, makes sense now.I jus wonder why most road riders have them considering the perceived pitfalls & as the Tuono & Mt09 show you can have a sports bike with wide bars on the roads & go quick & i see that lots of guys install the top yoke with wide bars conversion to their sports bikes.But if weight on the front wheel comes into it so much then surely installing the wide bars and risers would stop you putting down the weight & make the bike set up totally useless.