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LIFESTYLE

All About Geometry

What the important numbers mean, how to change them, and why you
would want to
By Andrew Trevitt
January 19, 2016

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

Mechanics check the front and rear weight of Ben Spies’ Yamaha M1 during a MotoGP test. This
data can be used to calculate the horizontal position of the combined bike/rider center of
gravity. A slightly more elaborate method, using scales at different heights, can be used to find
the vertical CG position. Andrew Trevitt

Quite often in Sport Rider road tests and comparisons we refer to

various aspects of a bike’s geometry—rake, trail, wheelbase,
center of gravity, anti-squat, and so on—without offering an
explanation as to what we are actually referring to or why it’s
important. Just as it means in the mathematics world, geometry
here refers to the physical measurements of a motorcycle’s
chassis. There are a handful that go a long way to determining
how a bike handles, with some—like rake and trail—being direct
measurements but others—such as anti-squat—being a
combination of dimensions rolled into one handy reference value.

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When it comes to setting up a motorcycle, the difficulty we

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 usually run into is that changing just one of these variables
impacts many others down the line, and it’s easy to lose your
way. In this issue we’ve put together a guide to the important
dimensions and attributes that make up a motorcycle’s
geometry, with explanations as to what aspects of handling those
attributes affect and how to make adjustments to change them.
This knowledge can go a long way to keeping you from
wandering down those dead-end setup paths we are trying to
avoid. In our next issue we’ll put that information into practice
with a setup guide detailing handling symptoms and how to
address them with adjustments based on the material covered
here.

Trail is measured from the tire’s contact patch to a point where the steering axis intersects the
ground. Other important dimensions shown here that directly affect trail are rake, fork triple

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clamp offset, and front-tire diameter. Rake refers to the angle of the steering axis with respect to
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vertical, while offset is the distance from the steering axis to the front axle. On most bikes, the
steering axis is set at the same angle as the fork tubes and the axle is on the fork centerline;
offset can be measured from the steering stem to the fork centers. Andrew Trevitt

Front Geometry: Rake And Trail

At the front of the bike, it's trail that largely determines how a bike
steers and how stable it is on the road. Trail is defined as the
distance the front tire's contact patch is behind (or "trails") the
intersection of the steering axis with the ground. More trail
generally gives heavier steering effort but more stability, while
reducing trail makes steering lighter with less stability. Rake is
important in that it is one of the parameters that sets trail.

While we cannot adjust trail directly, we can by changing one of

the three dimensions that directly affect trail: rake, offset, or front-
tire diameter. Fitting a larger front tire, increasing rake, or
decreasing offset will all add trail to some degree. On a streetbike
with limited adjustments, unfortunately, we can’t change these
dimensions directly and have to resort to even more indirect
methods. The most common way to adjust trail is to change rake
by raising or lowering the front or rear of the bike, which alters the
angle of the entire chassis, including the steering axis. This is
typically accomplished by sliding the fork tubes up or down in
the triple clamps, but some bikes have an adjuster on the rear
shock; extending or shortening the shock length will change ride
height, an amount determined by the linkage ratio.

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

A change to trail can be made by raising or lowering the front or rear of the motorcycle, which
changes the rake of the chassis. Ride height can be adjusted by sliding the fork tubes up or
down in the triple clamps or adjusting the length of the shock. On most bikes, a 4 to 5mm
change in ride height equates to a 1mm change in trail. Note that as the bike moves on its
suspension, trail will change just as if you were making a ride-height adjustment. Andrew
Trevitt

We refer to these changes as ride-height adjustments, which you

can measure in a number of ways. Typically we track front ride
height by measuring how much fork tube protrudes from the top
triple clamp and rear ride height by measuring from the rear axle
vertically to a point on the subframe. In summary: You can add
trail by raising the front of the bike or lowering the rear of the
bike, either of which increases rake; note that if you raise the front
end, the fork tubes would be lower in the triple clamps, giving a
smaller number if you track ride height this way.
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 On racebikes, there are usually alternatives to consider:
Adjustable triple clamps allow the offset to be changed, inserts in
the frame can be used to adjust the steering head angle to
directly affect rake, or a different tire could be fitted.

(Left) An easy way to track front ride height is to measure how much fork tube protrudes from
the top triple clamp. (Right) Race teams use the fancy “hockey stick” to accurately measure rear
ride height, but you can also use a point on the subframe. Andrew Trevitt

Rear Geometry: Anti-Squat

As bikes become increasingly powerful, the effects squat and
anti-squat have on handling become more pronounced. Squat
refers to the tendency for the rear suspension to compress on
acceleration, as load transfers to the rear of the bike. Countering
that tendency is anti-squat, a characteristic of the chassis that
tries to extend the rear suspension on acceleration.

The anti-squat effect is a combination of two forces. The first is

the driving force of the rear tire, which acts to extend the rear
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suspension provided the swingarm slopes up from the rear

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 wheel to the pivot. Picture the front of the motorcycle blocked
against a solid wall; if you were to push directly on the rear axle
forward, the upward angle of the swingarm would cause the rear
suspension to extend. The second force is from the chain pulling
on the axle in a direction parallel to the top chain run, which also
acts to extend the suspension in most cases. The magnitude of
the chain force’s anti-squat contribution depends on the angle of
the chain relative to the swingarm and how far the chain run is
from the swingarm pivot.

Anti-squat is a function of two forces acting on the rear axle. The first is driving force (red arrow),
which pushes the motorcycle forward. If the swingarm is at an upward angle, this force extends
the suspension. The second is the chain force (blue arrow), which pulls the axle forward and
down in a direction parallel to the chain. In most cases, this also extends the suspension. The
combination of these two forces acts to offset weight transfer from acceleration and prevent the

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rear suspension from compressing. The magnitude of anti-squat depends on swingarm angle,
Menuangle, and the chain’s distance from the swingarm pivot. Andrew Trevitt
chain

There are many ways to express the magnitude of the anti-squat

effect. The simplest is to use a percentage to indicate how much
weight transfer is offset by anti-squat. For example, if anti-squat is
75 percent, its effect offsets 75 percent of the weight transfer on
acceleration and the suspension would still compress some
amount. At 100 percent anti-squat, the weight transfer is perfectly
offset and the suspension would not move due to weight transfer.
And at more than 100 percent anti-squat, the suspension would
extend on acceleration. This number can be calculated if you
know the exact location of the front sprocket in the chassis along
with some other dimensions.

Anti-squat is important for handling, as it can be used to change

the chassis’ behavior on the exit of a turn. In general, we want
some squat to load the rear tire for traction but not so much that
the front tire loses traction and causes you to run wide.

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

As the rear suspension compresses, the swingarm angle and chain position can change
considerably with a resulting change in anti-squat characteristics. On most bikes, anti-squat is
just over 100 percent with the suspension fully extended, meaning the suspension will extend
on acceleration as the anti-squat effect more than offsets any weight transfer. The typical
chassis layout causes anti-squat to gradually decrease as the suspension moves through its
travel. At full compression, some chassis will exhibit a pro-squat tendency (negative anti-squat)
if the swingarm goes much past horizontal. Andrew Trevitt

Adjusting anti-squat is a matter of changing the parameters that

affect the swingarm angle or chain angle. That means raising or
lowering the rear end to change swingarm angle, changing
gearing to alter the chain angle or distance from the pivot, or
adjusting the pivot location itself to change swingarm angle. To
increase the anti-squat effect, you would: Raise rear ride height to
increase swingarm angle; fit shorter gearing to change the
chain/swingarm relationship; or raise the swingarm pivot to do

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both. Note that you must fit gearing with a different ratio to affect
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 anti-squat—and not just bigger or smaller sprockets with the
same ratio. It might sound counterintuitive, as the chain run does
move significantly if you go from 15–45 to 16–48, for example. But
even though the chain angle increases with that swap, the chain
is farther away from the pivot, almost exactly offsetting the angle
increase in terms of anti-squat.

The center of gravity (marked by the crosshair symbol) is the point at which forces can be
considered to act for many calculations. In most cases, the CG’s physical location on the
motorcycle cannot be changed, but there are some alternatives: Raising or lowering the entire
bike on its suspension effectively raises or lowers the CG. In a similar manner, moving the rear
wheel forward or rearward in the swingarm changes the horizontal CG position with respect to
the wheelbase. And there is also the rider’s weight, which can be repositioned for a change in
CG. Andrew Trevitt

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Center Of Gravity
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 Thus far, we have referred to raising or lowering the front or rear
of the bike to change rake, trail, or anti-squat. But doing so raises
or lowers the whole bike to a certain extent, and such a change
on its own can also affect handling. To put numbers on these
attributes, we often refer to the center of gravity (CG), which is the
point where forces like load transfer, acceleration, braking, and
cornering can be considered to act; it's easiest imagined as the
point from which you could balance the entire motorcycle, as you
would balance a hammer by supporting it near the head end
rather than near its physical center. On most sportbikes, the CG
with rider on is roughly midway between the front and rear wheel
(hence the 50/50 weight bias of most bikes) and a few inches
below seat height.

Here we are concerned with both the height of the CG as well as

its position front to rear. If the bike is higher, wheelies under both
acceleration and braking are easier as weight transfer is
magnified; however, taller motorcycles tend to turn from side to
side quicker for a given effort from the rider, and less lean angle
is required for a given cornering force. A more-forward CG helps
keep the front end down on acceleration and can help with front
grip, but the rear end will more easily rise during braking and will
not have much grip; the opposite applies if the CG is more to the
rear of the bike.

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

To use an extreme example, dragracers fit extended swingarms to effectively move the center of
gravity position forward in the wheelbase and prevent wheelies on acceleration. Moving the rear
axle in the chain adjustment blocks can have a similar (albeit much less pronounced) effect.
Here, even though the CG has moved slightly rearward in the chassis due to moving the rear
wheel further back, it is significantly further forward as a portion of the wheelbase, which
determines weight bias. Andrew Trevitt

There are no direct adjustments for CG, though on some bikes—

like the Aprilia RSV4—the engine can be raised or lowered. And
there is also the rider’s weight to be considered; moving the
seating position can have a significant effect. As mentioned, a
ride height change will raise or lower almost the whole bike, with
a corresponding change to the CG. In the horizontal direction,
adjusting the rear wheel in the swingarm does affect the CG to a
certain extent. Many people are under the impression that raising
or lowering the front or rear of the motorcycle can add or take
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away weight from that end, but that is not the case—a ride-height
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 change moves hardly any weight front to back, and the horizontal
position of the CG changes very little. Not convinced? Do the
math, or make the actual adjustments and record the weights
using scales.

Race teams keep track of setup and geometry changes using some form of software that
calculates important characteristics based on a number of input variables. These range from
simple apps, which calculate change in rake and trail for given ride height adjustments, to more
elaborate packages that track multiple setups and variables. This is a screenshot from
MotoSpec (motospec.ca), a high-end program used by many world-level teams. Courtesy of
MotoSpec

Dynamic Geometry
The trouble that most people encounter with setup is that
making a change to adjust one variable affects another of the
many geometry numbers and so on down the line. This is
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especially true on streetbikes that have limited adjustments,

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 which forces us to sometimes make changes in a roundabout
way. So, for example, while Valentino Rossi's mechanics can
change his M1's swingarm pivot height for more anti-squat, we
have to raise the rear end for the same thing. But this also
changes rake, trail, and center of gravity height. Often making a
single change can introduce more problems than it fixes.

Adding to the confusion, everything that we have referred to so

far is with the bike vertical and the suspension fully extended—a
position that almost never occurs with the bike on track.
Geometry numbers constantly change as the suspension
compresses. Under braking, for example, the front suspension
almost fully compresses and the rear suspension extends; just as
if you were to change ride heights, this significantly reduces rake
and trail and also lowers the CG. In terms of anti-squat, the
swingarm and chain angles change with suspension movement;
anti-squat typically decreases with suspension travel and can
even turn into pro-squat near the bottom of the stroke.

These dynamic aspects of geometry mean that spring rates and

preload can affect how your bike works on track. Making just a
single change to ride height, spring rate, gearing, or any other
adjustment on your bike can affect the entire setup and undo
sometimes hours of work in terms of track and shop time. In our
next issue we’ll look at some common issues and ways to isolate
and address them while minimizing those secondary effects.

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What do you think?

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T texas99r1
20 March, 2020
Great article! Where's everybody else?
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JD Joe Doe
5 February, 2022
Great article. Simple and to the point without exaggeration and sales nonsense. Unfortunately,
folks these days do not want the "Real" thing and preferer a virtual reality like Facebook.
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