Types of Front Motorcycle Suspensions

• Keeping the wheels in line with the road and controlling their movement is the purpose of a motorcycle suspension.

• Two elements comprise a motorcycle's suspension system: the front and the rear. The first is the spring, and the second is the damper.

• A spring allows the suspension to move upward when a wheel strikes a bump and back down once the bump has passed.

• Motorcycles typically use coil springs and gas springs, except for leaf springs.

• Without dampers, the spring system of a motorcycle suspension is useless.

• When the suspension is in control while the motorcycle bounces, dampers reduce the stress on the sprung mass.

• Telescopic Fork Suspension

• Upside Down Telescopic Fork Suspension

• Saxon-Motodd Suspension

• Hossack Suspension

• Trailing Link Front Suspension

• Leading Link Front Suspension

• Springer Suspension

• Hub-mounted Steering and Suspension

1. Telescopic Fork Suspension

• Scott was the first manufacturer to introduce telescopic forks until 1931.

• BMW became the first motorcycle manufacturer to produce telescopic forks with hydraulic dampers in 1935.

• Currently, most motorcycles use telescopic forks for their front suspension.

• It is easiest to understand the forks as sizeable hydraulic shock absorbers with coil springs inside.

• By isolating the motorbike's rest from road imperfections, the front wheel can react to defects in the road.

2. Upside-Down Telescopic (USD) Fork Suspension

• In upside-down forks, the sliders, typically set at the bottom, are placed at the top, a more modern variation of the conventional telescopic fork suspension.

• As well as the oil, the sliders contain the spring. Upside-down forks have the advantage of less unsprung mass and a more substantial, wider slider clamping onto the yoke.

• Despite its excellent stability and suitability for performance-oriented machines, this type of fork will not function if the oil seals inside the top part break, unlike conventional forks where leaks are still functional for a while.

• As well as adjustable preload and damping, modern telescopic fork suspensions offer many adjustment options.

• Expensive motorcycles have telescopic forks that can be preloaded with springs to stiffen the suspension and make the ride more controlled.

• Besides regulating preload, oil flow during fork operation can also control damping.

• Using suspension dampening on an advanced system, you can cover small bumps with stiffer damping while overcoming larger bumps with softer damping.

• It is possible to control the damping both for compression and rebound.

3. Saxon-Motodd Suspension

• It has an additional swing arm that mounts to the frame and supports the spring.

• BMW markets motors manufactured by Saxon-Motodd as Telelever. With traditional telescopic forks, rake and trail decrease when braking instead of increasing.

• Saxon-Motodd's suspension uses one wishbone to connect the frame with the twin telescopic sliders just above the wheel, an improvement over the conventional fork.

• The wishbone also has a front shock absorber for the bike that handles most of the suspension and braking forces.

• A low unsprung mass and decoupling of shock absorption from steering functions are some of the system's advantages.

• Additionally, it enhances stability and comfort under braking and reduces dive under braking.

4. Hossack Suspension

• In the front, the Hossack suspension separated suspension and steering very well.

• Under heavy braking, the system significantly reduced motorcycles' wheelbase reduction.

• In addition to the wishbones, upright and steering linkages are also in the system.

• BMW markets the Hossack or Fior (sold as Duolever) as a system that completely separates suspension forces from steering forces.

• After Norman Hossack developed it, Claude Fior and John Britten used it on race bikes.

• A steered upright is how Hossack himself described the system. Based on this design, BMW introduced the K1200S with a new front suspension in 2004.

5. Trailing Link Front Suspension

• A trailing link suspension setup between the axle and pivot point consists of one or more arms or links. Hence, the term trailing arm refers to the link that trails the pivot point ahead of the axle.

6 Leading Link Front Suspension

• An opposite of a trailing link suspension is a leading link suspension or a leading arm suspension. Linking the wheel to the pivot point suspends it ahead of the pivot point. In this case, it's called a full link suspension because the link leads to the pivot point.

7. Springer Suspension

• Motorcycles' front forks with girders were the earliest. Uprights connect a girder fork's legs to its triple clamps. A spring secures the leg pivot points to the triple clamps between the top and bottom clamps.

8. Hub-mounted Steering and Suspension

• A hub-mounted steering system has been used on some production motorcycles, but they are sporadic. This system utilises one or more swing arms to allow the front wheel to move vertically between the main chassis and the swing arms. Unlike a conventional motorcycle with telescopic forks, hub-centred motorcycles have pivots in the hub, not the headstock. Swing arms can channel brake forces horizontally without affecting suspension without any adverse effects.

• With hub-centred steering and suspension, the steering is claimed to be more agile and consistent than conventional forks. While the system works, its effectiveness in the real world remains a bit debatable. Hub-centred steering and suspension systems are complex and expensive to manufacture because of their complex linkages and setup. It has also been reported that such systems lack a sense of feel and feedback as the rider steers the motorcycle.

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