A motorbike chassis is just some metal that's been formed and welded to hold everything the motorbike needs in place, like the engine, suspension, fuel tank and rider, to name just a few things, right? Well, sort of, except that its design, the material used, and how it is constructed is critical to how a motorbike feels and gives confidence to the rider. Get the sums wrong on a bike chassis and it doesn't matter how posh the suspension or tyres are, or good the rider is, the bike will be a hound. Just ask Honda how its MotoGP season went in 2023.
Walk into pretty much any motorcycle showroom and you'll see bikes with frames that have different approaches to the same goal. Steel tubes are the go-to solution for KTM on all of its frames and Ducati for most.
Fabricated alloy is probably the most common material, and the construction technique for beam frames is used by pretty much everyone, and the Ducati Panigale and Monster use cast alloy 'front frames', which is essentially a way of connecting all the front suspension to the engine, effectively using the engine as the frame. There's a mixed bag of concepts and approaches to frame building, which suggests that there isn't a right or wrong method or material, which in turn suggests there are pros and cons for each concept. So, I took a trip to one of the best chassis builders in the business to ask some questions...
Bu hikaye Fast Bikes UK dergisinin April 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Fast Bikes UK dergisinin April 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Sensational Suzuki Live - Blending decades of motorcycles, racing legends, track time and a beer tent with a cracking band, Suzuki Live's formula proved a winner for the thousands there.
Blending decades of motorcycles, racing legends, track time and a beer tent with a cracking band, Suzuki Live’s formula proved a winner for the thousands there. As motorcycling events go, Suzuki Live's 2024 effort is surely set to take some topping. Held over two days at the iconic Cadwell Park circuit, the event played host to a list of two-wheeled legends and a mixed bag of iconic Suzuki machinery spanning five decades.
Steve Parrish
It's been a busy old month but so good being back in the thick of it. Despite the great British weather, it finally feels like summer is here, and I've been all over the place with some really great events since we spoke last month.
Christian Iddon
It's a long time since I had that feeling... 1057 days, to be precise, and if you were to ask if 'that day' was the day it would happen again, then I would have bet all my worldly belongings against it.
BOTH A CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CASE
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LONGTERMER KAWASAKI ZX-6R
Last month, I was gearing up to consign my ZX-6R to the back of my garage while I disappeared for the best part of three weeks to work at the TT with Batham's Racing.
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When you live a life of wheelies, burnouts and fast laps on race tracks, it's hard to spot a midlife crisis... but six months on in the saddle of Yamaha's Wabash e-bike, I daresay that's exactly where I'm at. I'll be honest, cycling isn't for everyone, and quite frankly, Lycra is even more polarising, but for me, life on two wheels, be it powered or pedalled, has formed my staple diet for as long as I can remember.
24 HOURS FLAT-OUT!
Ever fancied a crack at 24-hour endurance racing? You might think again after reading this...
PROJECT 37 A TEST OF TIME
Having got his head around the standard bike at Cadwell, Timmy heads to Powerslide Motorcycles with a wish list of improvements for the Suzuki GSX-8R...
'WHY WE GO RACING...5
Ever wondered why big brands spend big money and put in huge amounts of effort to go racing? Well, we did too, so we didn’t hesitate to ask the man who makes that call for Honda Racing UK...
9 BIKES WE WISH WERE STILL HERE...
No one’s worked out how to bring things back from the dead, but if we had our way, these are the bikes we’d oe see makingareturn.