Motorcycle components

Motorcycle components and systems for a motorcycle are engineered, manufactured, and assembled in order to produce motorcycle models with the desired performance, aesthetics, and cost. The key components of modern motorcycles are presented below.

The chassis of a motorcycle includes the frame and suspension, along with the front forks, of the vehicle.

The frame is typically made from welded aluminium or steel (or alloy) struts, with the rear suspension being an integral component in the design. Carbon fibre, titanium and magnesium are used in a few very expensive custom frames.

The frame includes the head tube that holds the front fork and allows it to pivot. Some motorcycles include the engine as a load-bearing stressed member; this has been used all through motorcycle history but is now becoming more common.

Oil-in-Frame (OIF) chassis, where the lubricating oil is stored in the frame of the motorcycle, was used for Vincent motorcycles of the 1950s, and for a while during the 1970s on some NVT British motorcycles. It was widely unpopular and generally regarded as a bad idea at the time. Today it is a used on some "thumpers" (single-cylinder four-strokes) that usually have dry-sump lubrication requiring an external oil tank. It has since gained some cachet in the modern custom bike world too because of the space savings it can afford and the reference to an earlier era.

Buell motorcycles employed a similar design with the oil held in the swingarm and fuel held in the frame.

Modern designs have the two wheels of a motorcycle connected to the chassis by a suspension arrangement, however 'chopper' style motorcycles often elect to forgo rear suspension, using a rigid frame.

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