Blog Archive
March 2020

While talking to a friend the other day I mentioned that the CycleStats image of the bike’s geometry was not technically accurate when it came to the trail measurement, even though the numbers were correct.

“Well, why don’t you write a column about it then?” he retorted. Fair enough.

Ground Trail

Perhaps the most important geometry number for a modern motorcycle is front-end trail. What we commonly call “trail” is technically “ground trail...

Perhaps the biggest initial problem riders have when trying to go faster (especially on a track) is shifting correctly. By that I mean being able to upshift and downshift as quickly as possible without upsetting the chassis. It is all too common to hear horrible noises coming from the transmission as an aspiring performance rider mashes gears with reckless abandon. Even worse is seeing the rear tire chatter as the rider downshifts from a high speed without “rev-matching.”

In upshifting the primary goal is to reduce the amount of time that you are not accelerating. As you can see on the graph, the red line shows how you lose speed each time you pull in the clutch and shift, making you vulnerable to vehicles trying to get you're your space...