The Banana Swingarm, Does It Work?

I'd like to see how much bending is going on to what I feel. My 98 250wr had the most flex.
On that single shock on the left side the right side rail appears to be straight. It's one shock on the left side that's flex city?

maybe im numb to it..my 95 has the first year of the chassis your 98 had, and im have no idea what flex your referring to. its very solid riding sit-down wheelies or drifting it steering with the back tire on a grass track. isnt this the bike you said had jacked up springs and suspension?

I think we should start an oil thread. This one has gotten way too deep from the original question.

The Book " An Invetors Life " by Don Richardson might prove to be an interesting read. I found it so. He was the one who first designed a rising rate single shock system in his home garage in southern California. Although it was controversial as to whether he alone should be the sole inventor ( as formula 1 cars were already using it) He was a eventually awarded Millions from Suzuki for stealing His patented designs. All this has nothing to do with a Banana Shaped Swing Arm, but hey it was the next step in the evolution. The beginning of the book is about the design and I consider it the most interesting. The rest of the book is about the court cases. One of the most interesting parts of the book is how His first real Bike with the suspension was a Husqvarna. And a Factory Husky Test Rider rode the bike and Husqvarna could of had the exclusive rights. Instead they laughed it off and remained the last manufacturer to use Twin Shocks. One thing of interest is that Suzuki had the first rising rate, yet the Kawasaki KX 420 was out in 1980 with the first single shock linkage. It didn't have a rising rate, it actually had a losing rate, and that's how they must of got around the patent. All of Us have been told by the modern bike guys just how bad our Twin Shock Bike really are. With my Linkage 83 Maico stuff I have kinda agreed. Now with my new Husky build with ITC's done by WER and Race Tech up front I'm not so sure. I like them both I don't consider one better than the other. KTM has gone back and forth on whether Linkage is really necessary. I have always wondered if the biggest advantage to single shock bikes is they are cheaper to build. A shock is probably one of the more expensive parts of a bike, and if you only need to make one instead of two.....

one of the biggest arguments for the single shock are ergonomics
the dual shocks are pretty wide and most modern bikes are VERY thin
i like my early bikes but feel bowlegged when i get done riding

you cant go past how the modern bike feels c/w the twins. while the twins ride better I rekon. the new razors are so good to just ride

I'm a heavy weight rider don't forget. I had the heavier factory springs installed.

Here's my take on it. Silverstreak is correct that the swingarm and wheel travel in in an arc. BUT! the shock shaft does not travel in an arc, it travels in a straight line. Cutting the corner so to speak. So for every inch the wheel travels in its arc the angle of the shock shaft to the swing arm changes. That helps to create a progressive resistance and dampening. When engineers discovered this they began the laydown shock era to better take advantage of it. Longer shocks help spread the angle change over a longer distance.

Mounting the shocks over the swing arm instead of outside keeps the width down. My 79 Elsinore Evo racer has its shocks mounted on the outside of the swingarm and frame. It's obnoxiously wide when you slide back on the seat.

To me the twin shockers are a more stable ride with dirt bikes. Look at the added strength when it comes to street bikes with single shocks. I wonder when it will come full circle and go oh look what we discovered that twin shocks handle better? Funny the Swedes knew this eons ago. Trends change all the time. What's great today can be yesterday's news tomorrow. Wether it's an improvement or not it's hyped up to be in some cases. No one talks or mentioned the casted swing arm over the welded swing arm. I was taken under a certified welder wing to teach me, an old timer who did every type of welding from under water welding on oil rigs to close tolerances TIG WELDING the man has done it all. His first words were the strength of the material is in the vertical plane and so are your vertical welds. Now look at the fancy angles on swing arms when the vertical plane is the strongest? I often wonder why? Nothing is stronger than the rectangle box design. The Swedes knew this on there first single shock.

In the old days when they didn't have the stress analysis they over built everything motorcycle wise. Now things are designed on the hairy edge to the point it's just good enough. Keep the weight down.

I remember when the olin shocks got no respect. Neither did the husqvarnas. There's a generation gap or knowledge gap between us and the older generation who knew and raced the husqvarnas. The generation inbetween us grew up on Japanese bikes. They know nothing about the history nor the European bikes. Now that Yamaha owns olin there on snowmobiles to anything on wheels for decades now. Funny how one thing wasn't admired or respected at the time for being quality years ago is well respected today in the industry.
I always felt the husqvarna bikes were thought as an under dog.

Ohlins bought itself back from Yamaha years ago
now Yamaha is the major shareholder of KYB

I been out of touch for over a decade. I like the olins.

I have 2 banana swingarms one is for sale but whats a good price?

You have to remember that Bill was a very heavy boy and what would not flex when landing from high jumps

not much you can do with the bike in that case