![THE SPRING](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/15533/450819/5ecf6c6d97b1d/THE-SPRING.jpg)
The word “spring” usually applies to an intentionally created elastic element, such as the helical coil springs used in vehicle suspension or engine valve trains. It can also apply to the compressibility of gases, as in the pneumatic valve springs used in MotoGP, or in the MX “air suspensions” that flower every few years. Rubber in torsion was a common form of spring in 1960s British motocross bikes. Spring can also describe structures never intended to be flexible, as when former Ducati engineer Corrado Cecchinelli explained to me that certain riders mistakenly feel flex in footpeg brackets as loss of tire grip.
Structures acting as springs became a big subject during the decades when chatter set the upper limit of chassis performance. I was shown a Yamaha 750 Superbike on a two-post hydraulic shaker rig as the operator Rob Tuluie (Makers, Issue 3, 2019, CW) made a frequency sweep. At around 22 Hz the front wheel essentially disappeared, so large and rapid was the fore-and-aft whipping motion excited in the springy fork tubes and steering head. When in 1993 Yamaha again stiffened the chassis of its two-stroke YZR500 GP bike, rider Wayne Rainey characterized the result as “chatter, hop, and skating.” Since that time, intensive work has gone into making chassis and swingarms into functional suspension springs, their deliberately created lateral flexibility improving the ability of the tires to follow irregular pavement at high lean angle, rather than skip rigidly from crest to crest, losing grip each time.
Denne historien er fra Issue 2 - 2020-utgaven av Cycle World.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 2 - 2020-utgaven av Cycle World.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![KENNY CUMMINGS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2dd983b446/crp_KENNY-CUMMINGS.jpg)
KENNY CUMMINGS
The BUILDER
![WORKING FOR THE READER](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2cbd11818d/crp_WORKING-FOR-THE-READER.jpg)
WORKING FOR THE READER
On 58 years and a new start
![WRITING BY ACCIDENT](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2edea81cf3/crp_WRITING-BY-ACCIDENT.jpg)
WRITING BY ACCIDENT
Learning to get solidly behind every word
![LITTLE HERO](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2db8d36ad5/crp_LITTLE-HERO.jpg)
LITTLE HERO
The Honda Trail 125 faces Captain Overkill and comes out humbly victorious
![CREATIVE TOOLS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2d9a5b28ed/crp_CREATIVE-TOOLS.jpg)
CREATIVE TOOLS
How four master builders defined the path of the 2021 BMW R 18
![THE SUZUKI HAYABUSA](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2d45f2142b/crp_THE-SUZUKI-HAYABUSA.jpg)
THE SUZUKI HAYABUSA
Suzuki said the first Hayabusa invented a new category called Ultimate Sport. We said, “Yeah, right,”…until we rode it.
![FORCES OF CREATION](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2cd63d8295/crp_FORCES-OF-CREATION.jpg)
FORCES OF CREATION
The Harley-Davidson V-Twin has shaped American motorcycling
![ASSAULT ON PIKES PEAK EXPEDITION II](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2e0ade4b6f/crp_ASSAULT-ON-PIKES-PEAK-EXPEDITION-II.jpg)
ASSAULT ON PIKES PEAK EXPEDITION II
Forty-three years ago, we did it with a Honda 50 and a Stella 10-speed bicycle...
![ALTERED STATE of ADVENTURE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2e6816c850/crp_ALTERED-STATE-of-ADVENTURE.jpg)
ALTERED STATE of ADVENTURE
Smaller ADVs, bigger rewards.
![ADDING A DIMENSION](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15533/566995/5fe2eb76d1054/crp_ADDING-DIMENSION.jpg)
ADDING A DIMENSION
We send our motorcycle-loving car racer to the Yamaha Champions Riding School so he can learn to think outside the, ahem, box.