Road bike innovations

[chickenstrip]

I haven't really followed all this closely since way back in the 80s
But I've always felt that the 80s were a period where things changed and moved forward quite radically. The 90s seemed to me more like an era of refinement.

I get the impression the most notable advances these days are with electronics, so I wondered what people consider to be the major landmark innovations in engine and chassis design since, say, 2000?
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[doggone]

Possibly upsidedown forks and single sided swinging arms, not that either are demonstrably more than a gimic.

Everything has got significantly more reliable with even the most basic maintenance. Most owners won't need do much more than put fuel in and lube the chain.

[-]

I always believed Yamaha did the most to pioneer bike technology from the 80's to 00's. The other manufacturers all copied these ideas later.

They introduced the first Ally Deltabox type frame (TZR250 2ma/1KT), the first 2 stroke powervalve system (YPVS), the first 4 stroke powervalve system (EXUP), the first 5 valve heads (FZ750 Genesis). Also the FZ750 was the first bike I remember to have the engine slanted forwards, with the carbs above and the storage part of the fuel tank down towards the seat, like most modern sports bikes.
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TZR250 2MA road, TZR250 1KT road, TZR250 2MA race, TDR250, YZF-750R Boost colours.
Jaguar S Type 3.0 V6 Sport R, VW Transporter T5 GP LWB Shuttle 140ps DSG.

[linuxyeti]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[Easy-X]

[stinkwheel]

Fuel consumption is better. Bikes are quieter...

Nah, that's about it. All downhill in other respects from about 2000 onwards.

One thing I have noticed is size. Bikes are getting bigger and bigger. My VFR750 was considered to be a lardy sports tourer when it came out, it was a BIG motorcycle. Now it looks tiny when I park it in a row of modern bikes. Even some 125s.

Incidentally I've seen 1950's mopeds with USD forks. Monkey bikes have them too.


Nothing new in this world.
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Easy-X]

Yeah, there was a Revzilla vid I saw a while back looking at Harleys over the years and they made the same observation on bike length over time.

Am I right in saying long = more stability but short = better cornering?
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[stinkwheel]

[stinkwheel]

[chickenstrip]

[Hong Kong Phooey]

I think braking and tyres are much better these days, yes the concept and basic construction is the same but would you rather have 80s brakes and tyres?

Some engines were both reliable and capable back then, arguably some racing bike suspension wouldn't be much worse than today either.
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'81 CG125, '97 FZS600 : '99 CBR600F4, '09 KTM RC8

[chickenstrip]

[Easy-X]

ABS as a concept has been around for a while and BMW started slapping it on bikes in the late '80s (with Yammie and Honda following soon after) it's only really been recently it's become standard on most bikes... and only the major brands at that.

Reading into the CX500 (thanks, Mr. Forte!) seems like Honda had a few good ideas - it's not all on Yamaha
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Nobby the Bastard]

[chickenstrip]

[Teflon-Mike]

It wasn't 'new' even when it was, sort of, but probably the most significant 'advance' in tech of the last 1/4 century has been in radisl tyres.

As old pops used to say, almost everything else is re-invention; he looked at a magazine expose of the oval-piston Honda Never-Ready once, and commented that Norton had tried that when he was a kid in the 1930's!!! Little is actually all that novel in the world of engineering, its just made cheaper and more manufacture-able. That is probably the single greatest advance in technology of the last 50 years... making stuff affordable.

Interesting that in the 1080's, the 'old' defacxto standa\rd motorcycle design, the Teiumph Bonaville was still available new in the show rooms, along side the now defacto standard motrorcycle design the Honda CBR600.....

So I would plump for COST being the all important 'advance' in motorcyle design,
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[chickenstrip]

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[chickenstrip]

[Polarbear]

Wasn't radial brakes just a product of the upside down forks?

As far as progression with technology I think it has pretty well stalled nowadays. How often do we see a new bike as in a brand new model that isn't a update on an old one? Can someone say what the last all new bike built was by anyone?

In the 80's the big manufacturers turned out something new at least every year and usually more often. The had the resources, money and vision to try new things. Even Norton worked on a wankel engine.

I think we are watching the end of motorcycling as we think of it. The money is in Asia with scooters, not Europe with large cc toys.

I can see some bike manufacturers closing their bike divisions in the not too distant future. All the Japanese companys have other products. Honda and Suzuki with cars, Yamaha with musical instruments and Kawasaki with heavy engineering. I doubt losing the motorcycles would cause them too many sleepless nights.
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[linuxyeti]

[Easy-X]

It all went downhill after the Turbo 'Busa...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAKqhwLQ4Jc
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[stevo as b4]

Some things have come back around and into fashion again.Finger followers on DOHC engines instead of shim under bucket for example.
I don't really buy the first 200bhp> litre engines as huge advances in technology over older say R1 and GSXR1000 and CBR1000RR engines. Any of these if re-designed with silly short strokes and titanium internals could have been reliable 200bhp+ engines.

All you've got now is integrated chassis and electronics designs, and ever more integrated systems and stuff like CAN bus looms. But frames and chassis have probably got far better since the 90's for those who can push a bike hard enough on a track to the limit to notice.

They have gone away from stiff is good and stiffer is better. And now they can design and simulate a chassis and deliberately introduce more flex in certain planes but with immense strength and rigidity too.

The computer modelling and simulation advances have hugely moved on the ultimate two stroke exhaust designs and performance too. This is in part to to the greater knowledge of the subject since all GP classes stopped using two strokes and the information, testing development from teams like Aprilia has become public knowledge. But also because of advanced full engine and bike simulation and design software that can model, shape and test exhaust designs and ideas very accurately without ever building a pipe or doing track testing.

Even in the 90's the simulation software wasn't good enough alone to get 99% of the way without alot of physical prototypes and track testing.

[Polarbear]