Section 05
Chassis
A frame exists to hold the steering head and the swingarm pivot in a fixed relationship while everything else tries to move them. Three pieces on how that is done and what each method costs.
Start here
The Featherbed
The McCandless brothers' 1950 frame was stiff enough for power that already existed, and the handling difference was immediate.
Photo: Featherbed frame · Wikimedia Commons
All of Chassis
3 pieces
- 01
The Featherbed
The McCandless brothers' 1950 frame was stiff enough for power that already existed, and the handling difference was immediate.
- 02
Trellis and spine
Triangulated tube against a single large-section beam — two ways to reach the same stiffness with different mass and different access.
- 03
The engine as a member
Bolting the motor in as a stressed part deletes tubes and makes servicing worse.