Swingarms - Is It Just Me?

When SSSA win in MotoGP I will think they are a good idea.
Here are the reasons why they are a bad idea
1. They are heavier
2. At least half of that additional weight is unsprung
3. Because the single arm has to be stiff to support the stub axle they cannot be easily engineered for lateral flex which provides a degree of suspension movement when the bike is cranked over at extreme angles when the conventional suspension spring/damper no longer works
4. Chain adjustment can only be accomplished by clamping an eccentricly mounted stub axle which means that adjusting the chain changes the ride height of the suspension.
5. The frame and the bearing mount at the SSSA pivot (particularly the open end) needs to be stronger and therefore heavier as it is needs to counteract the twisting force. The extra leverage being a function of the force acting on the hypotenuse of a triangle whose tip is the junction between the stub axle root and the SSSA. The hypotenuse is a longer lever than the "straight" double sided arm
6. A fully floating rear brake caliper is extremely difficult to engineer so it is not possible to separate the braking forces from the suspension movement. Locking the rear wheel effectively freezes rear suspension movement because the tyre contact patch with the road cannot rotate as it would need to for the suspension to work. If you raise or lower the suspension then the tyre contact patch rotates around the tyre, if the brakes are locked then suspension movement can only happen if the spring/damper overcomes the grip of the tyre on the tarmac.
Why was the 999 more successful in WSB than the 916/955/996/998 series?

 

It must be just you, I don't swing. Reminds me too much of my parents house parties from the 70's.

 

I do like a good laugh..

 

Please can you stop using logical engineering principals to diss a brilliant idea! A wisecrack should follow here, but I think that I have lost the argument.

 

I'd like to see his workings out.

 

Oh, apologies. I misread the title and should have followed the thread. I'll get ma coat.

 

Yes this may be so ,but as i am yet to see a 1200R Monster in a motoGP race and if used on a track i am sure there will be other limitating factors at play (the rider)i am going to totally enjoy the beauty of a single sider showing of more of the rear wheel etc

 

Wow - always thought I like single sided swingarms... until you got me thinking about it...

Had a MonsterR a few years back and that was a bike that always photographed better on the one side (termis helped alot too )

 

Marginal handling differences on race bikes don't really have much to do with normal road-riding, though.