Motorbikes with raised fuel tanks, called crotch rockets, can do serious damage to a male rider's genitals in a collision, say Australian researchers who will use a new crash lab to examine ways to minimise these injuries.

About 13 per cent of riders who were hospitalised with serious injuries suffered from pelvic injuries caused when their own bike's fuel tanks smashed into the lower abdomen and pelvis. These collisions caused fractures of the pelvis and damage to the groin, penis, scrotum and testicles, sometimes with long-term effects.

Dr James McCauley used to ride a large Harley motorbike with a crotch rocket, an elevated and large fuel tank that may cause riders serious injuries. Now he rides a street bike, but says the threat of injury doesn't make him less likely to ride these beautiful and manly bikes in the future. Credit:Louise Kennerley

A review of 155 motorcycle crashes found a "surprising source of injury was the bike itself," said Dr Julie Brown, a senior research fellow from Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) where the new $1.7 million Transurban Road Safety Centre lab is located.

"We'd see one, then another, and think, oh no, another one," she said commenting on the frequency of injuries caused by the fuel tanks. "Having a fractured pelvis can put you out of action for a long time," she said.