Cycle World Podcast

Listening to our listeners (and viewers), this topic came from you guys: Kevin and Mark take a look at motorcycle rear suspension starting with "all arm and no swing" rigid frames of the early days to the many variation on the swingarm as we know it today. A sprung saddle is "rear" suspension, no?

How many ways have motorcycle designers gotten it wrong? So many! One of these was chasing an ultra-low center of gravity on motorcycles, only to find it made handling worse! How have we settled on 20-22 inches off the ground for center of gravity? Because it works, and transfers weight on the front wheel during braking and to the rear wheel when accelerating. The right C of G also assists us when tipping into a corner. Technical Editor Kevin Cameron and Editor-in-Chief Mark Hoyer discuss motorcycle weight transfer and motorcycling handling. Our favorite moments of weight transfer? Wheelies and stoppies, of course!

The motorcycle gearbox can be a great mystery but Kevin Cameron is here to help us all understand how it works. Why do we have six-speeds and constant mesh (mostly)? Kevin and Mark Hoyer also divert into DCT, helical gears vs. spur, and how to make your dogs happy. Join them for another Cycle World Podcast.

Honda made a big impression with its close-firing-order "big bang" NSR500 and became dominant in two-stroke 500cc Grand Prix racing through the 1990s, replacing the "screamer" engine. Other factories followed suit. But firing order on four-strokes also plays a huge role in how an engine works and how it relates to the rider and to traction. How? Join Cycle World Technical Editor Kevin Cameron and Editor Mark Hoyer as they talk about Big Bang, Yamaha Crossplane, "Twingles," and the all-important "MORE"!

There have been many engine valve designs since the dawn of the internal combustion engine. What made poppet valves stick? (See what we did?) There were many other designs and some, like the sleeve valve in the Bristol Centaurus WWII radial aircraft engine, that worked very well. Classic Kevin Cameron stuff here as he and Mark Hoyer discuss the relative merits of engine valve types.