Comments on: The Machine by Fusion Motorcycles is For Sale

By: David

David — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:31:20 +0000

Will,
How thick are your girders? They are aluminium right?
Also what are the main diferences between the shock/spring on the girder set up compared to a rear shock… might sound stupid but just curious.

By: Will @ Fusion Motorcycles

Will @ Fusion Motorcycles — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:04:15 +0000

Sid,
I saw a guy in Germany that makes a gauge like that. The company is WMD Instruments. Here is the web site, http://www.wmd-instrumente.de
Thanks for looking at the bike,
Will

By: Sid

Sid — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:50:06 +0000

Brian – who makes the Confederate speedo/tach gauge ?

By: Will @ Fusion Motorcycles

Will @ Fusion Motorcycles — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 17:26:53 +0000

I do agree Brian, the girders are expensive.
My design also has 16 sealed ball bearings,which I don’t think is overkill just good design sense. Precision ground shoulder bolts ect., all of the right parts needed to make a long lasting functional front end were also used.It all adds up in cost.
I have gone through many designs from the time I left the last motorcycle company in 2000 till now. The geometry of the front end is very critical to the performance of the bike, thats why careful cad design and prototypes were used in the production of this front end.
In fact I have been producing an updated version of this front end for several different bikes, V-rods, Softails, and customs.

As far as Sturgis, I won’t make it this year. My next bike won’t be done in time. I’m trying for the Vegas show in Sept.

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:06:17 +0000

Good point, Bob. Hey Will. To make a one-off front end is one thing, to manufacture it in volumes is another. Why change something that the mass majority doesn’t believe is a problem in the first place.

But, small-batch manufacturers and high-end boutiques don’t have to follow the mass majority and can implement what ever they want.

To make a simple girder front end perform at today’s standards, I believe it will cost more to manufacture than an oem telescopic. A girder should have more moving parts, more bearings, etc. Bearings are expensive, especially when you have 16 of them in your front end like the Wraith does. But, we like overkill.

Can a girder perform better than a telescopic? Absolutely, in the same way a double-wishbone on a car performs better than a mcphearson strut.

Keep in mind, what Will has on his bike is a true girder. It’s not like the Britten, really, and the BMW uses a duo-lever/tele-lever which are derivatives of hossack’s designs. Or at least that’s the current popular belief.

I believe the inherent flaw with all true girders is that the wheel trajectory forms an arc or “S” shape through it’s travel. This does funky things to your trail and wheel base. Okay for a B-to-B chopper, but not for a good canyon carver. This is why production girders became obsolete so many years ago, the steering mass was extreme, the pivot bushings would wear out quickly and the geometry was mediocre.

But with today’s technology and components, I believe that true girder geometry can be optimized to provide near linear wheel trajectory, through it’s entire range of travel. In other words, the wheel doesn’t move in the same arc as the multi-links. This gives the rider a familiar telescopic-like feel when the weight of the bike shifts forward. But, the advatages are zero stiction, and very little bump steer, giving the rider more confidence through the turns. We have been trying to make this type of front end better at Confederate since 2004, and by gosh, we’ve got it right. Our cause is not for the track, but for today’s street enthusiast. The prototypes we’ve made will handle pothole-covered mountain roads better than most sportbikes.

My point is, girder’s are expensive.

Good luck Will, hope to see you in Sturgis.