Motorcycle Terminology

[Shorty]

Ever hear riders or mechanics talking and using words that make you go 'huh?'. I know I have and it drives me nuts. The following is a list of words we hear frequently in the motorcycling world but perhaps we dont know what they mean.
If anyone would like to correct whats here or add anything else on please feel free.

*Countersteering - Turning the bikes handlebars in one direction(at higher speeds) and having it go in the opposite direction.

*Displacement - 1. The size of an engine, in cubic centimeters (cc) or cubic inches (ci). 2. The volume through which the piston travels during a single stroke of an engine. This term is sometimes also used for the total volume displaced by all engine pistons. The displacement is measured in cubic centimeteres (ccm).

*Endo - The art of stopping a motorcycle and having the rear wheel lift off the ground, a reverse of the catwalk.

*Gear ratio - A gearbox contains several toothed wheels that are connected and disconnected to eachother in order to switch into the intended gear. The gear ratio is the ratio between the number of teeth of the two wheels that are connected at a given time. If one wheel has 25 teeth and the attached one has 50, there is a 2:1 ratio.

*Hard Tail - A rigid motorcycle frame with no shock absorbing device on the rear.

*Inline Four - An inline four cylinder motorcycle (or automotive) engine. Inline refers to all cylinders being lined up in a row as opposed to opposite each other.

*OEM - An acronym, "Original Equipment from Manufacturer," refers to parts or components.

*Oil Bag - Oil tank

*One-Off - One-of-a-kind fabricated part

*Parallel Twin - An inline 2 cylinder engine

*Rake - The degree to which the front forks are extended out.

*Revolutions per minute (or REV) - The number of revolutions the engine makes in a minute. Abbreviated RPM and often referred to as "rev"

*Rigid or Rigid Frame - A type of frame that has no swingarm, it is a one piece neck to rear axle frame.

*Rolling Chassis - Incomplete project, has everything but mill & tranny

*SIPDE - An MSF term used to help you remember what to do when making judgments in traffic - Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute

*Soft Tail - Refers to a mono-shock swingarm bike, has the rigid or hardtail styling yet full rear suspension capability. One major company utilizes a play-on version of the word to describe their line-up of this style; the Softail.

*Softail® - A motorcycle frame whose suspension is hidden, making it resemble a hard tail

*Stanchions - The front suspensions of most motorcycles is made up of two telescopic tubes (or stanchions) that slide one into one another. The smaller stanchion is usually silver and very smooth while the bigger can be virtually any colour or finish.

*Stock - A motorcycle set up to OEM specifications with no alterations

*Stroke - (as in bore/stroke) The distance traveled in either direction of by an piston or rod in an engine.

*Swingarm - The rear portion of a bike that the rear wheel mounts to, a pivoting structure that moves up and down with the rear suspension.

*Tourer - A type of motorcycle designed for long distance riding, typically a heavier bike with hard luggage and comfortable seating arrangements.

*Torque - The tendency of a force to cause an object to rotate. In an engine, the torque is expressed as the force applied multiplied by the distance from the center of rotation. It is the basic measure of the propulsive effect of a powered wheel. Or, said in other words: The measure of the force applied to produce rotational motion usually measured in foot-pounds or Nm. Torque is determined by multiplying the applied force by the distance from the pivot point to the point where the force is applied.

*Triple Trees or Triple Clamps - The two pieces that attach the bike's front end to the frame, named after the three positions on each piece; one for each fork tube and a center for the steering stem.

*V-Four - A four cylinder motorcycle engine with the cylinders aranged in two rows in an angled V.

*Wheelbase - The distance between the center of the wheel hubs on the motorcycle.

[Wild1Poet2]

An endo used to be when you got off the bike while it went on end over end. Often hits you as it goes end over end. Creates a lasting memory too.

A "stoppy" is when you grab the front brakes hard enough to bring the rear wheel up off the asphalt in a reverse "wheelie".

Another cool term and my favorite is "stroker". This is where the stroke of the engine is increased(usually also the bore) to significantly increase displacement. A longer connecting rod is used and is attached further out on the flywheel. What it does is give you lots more torque(and hp). Everyone loves a stroker.

[Shorty]

Thanx Wild.

[Wild1Poet2]

now you got me thinking.... ...there must be lots of terms for "getting off" the bike

like "high side": typically refers to crashing in a curve where your bike goes up and over towards the outside of the curve due to uncontrolled centrifugal forces. Of course, you are catapulted into who knows what, in the process...

or "T Bone": typically occurs when a car "left turns" in front of you and you impact it at a perfect 90 degree angle. Bang!!

or "lay it down": easier done while in a corner but can be done in a straight wherein the bikes slides out to the low side and you hopefully go down in a smooth slide avoiding injury. Like sliding into second base.

Of course you may develop road rash from that slide. this is self explanatory. Your road rash may have gravel imbedded in it for texture. Results may vary.

[junior]

garage ornament- where someone has way too much money to spend, buys a harley, spends another $10,000 on engine upgrades and screaming eagle cup holders, then rides it only to starbucks on sunday (but only if it's sunny outside).

garage ornament.

j

[Wild1Poet2]

Hey Junior, that reminds me; I'm looking for a blonde fender ornament...

[Calli]

..

[Stoney]

Sometimes I refer to my bike as a "scoot" or "scooter" which may lead the unbeknownst to think of a small under powered machine when it actually refers to the almighty V-twin. dafinger

[Wild1Poet2]

"on the pipe": years ago before one had ever heard of crack cocaine this term referred to the RPM where the engine hit it's peak torque. Or the flat peak of a torque curve. For example: he came out of the corner and "got on the pipe".

Harley's have pretty flat torque curves so you are pretty much "on the pipe" whenever you open the throttle. But a lot of multi's and especially 2 strokes have peaky torque curves and required finesse to stay "on the pipe".

not to be confused with "layin pipe"

[OldBikerGuy]

garage ornament- where someone has way too much money to spend, buys a harley, spends another $10,000 on engine upgrades and screaming eagle cup holders, then rides it only to starbucks on sunday (but only if it's sunny outside).

garage ornament.

j

You just described half my HOG chapter, Junior.

Shorty, your list didn't include V-Twin, but I'm not sure what that means anyway. The definitions looked pretty good. Only thing I'd mention is that for countersteering, it said it's when you "turn the handlebars one way..." Not really. You can't turn the handlebars at speed. You only apply pressure as if to turn and you go in the opposite direction. That's what they teach in the MSF courses, but I just "countersteer" by shifting my body weight.