VOL. 52 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 P107
as the only system with a virtual
kingpin that starts at the contact
patch of the tire, travels through
the hub center along the steer-
ing axis, and ends above the
front wheel. The whole system
is perfectly triangulated from the
wheel axle back to the suspen-
sion arms, and then to a point
above the front wheel, making it
extremely strong and reducing
the chance of oscillation har-
monics arising from the wheel or
the kingpin to almost zero."
But that's not all, because in
addition to separating steering
and suspension, the TS3 has
parallelogram swingarms, which
together with the triangulated
steering mechanism, keep rake
and trail geometry constant
throughout suspension travel, as
well as providing inbuilt pro-dive
or anti-dive, and speedy rake
and trail as well as damping and
preload adjustment all very read-
ily. And with braking separate
from suspension, it means you
can also trail-brake deep into the
apex of a turn, because there's
only as much front-end dive
as you choose to dial into the
setup, meaning the fork doesn't
freeze because of excessive
dive, but suspension continues
to be provided as per normal by
the fully adjustable front shock.
On the TS3, a pair of fully adjust-
able AFCO T2 shocks specially
developed for the radical chassis
package are fitted, the rear one
operated by the machined billet-
aluminum swingarm pivoting in
the Ducati engine's crankcases,
via a direct-action cantilever.
The unusual format the
partners have chosen sees
the TS3's front swingarm pivot
directly off the Ducati engine's
front mounting lug, making the
engine a fully stressed chassis
member. Because steering is
separated from the suspension
and braking force, there's no
need for a bulky, strong and
heavy chassis such as those
required on normal designs with
telescopic or BMW-type steered
stanchion systems. This reduces
the overall weight considerably,
so in spite of being over-engi-
neered and therefore heavier
in prototype form than it would
be in production, the TS3 has a
dry weight of just 354 pounds,
with a 52/48% split on a tight
54.9-inch wheelbase. This is
66-pounds lighter than the stock
437-pound Ducati 900SS, which
the engine unit and not much
else was sourced from, thanks
not only to the aviation-grade
aluminum chassis and swingarm,
but also the eventual substitution
of the original metal wheels by
South African-made BST carbon
wheels. These notably reduce
rotational mass as well as
unsprung weight, meaning they
help the bike accelerate and
brake better, and also lighten
up the steering because of their
reduced weight and mass. That
also comes from the bike's radi-
cal steering geometry, currently
set at 19ยบ of rake with 3.9 inches
Apart from
looking
pretty
good in
a completely
radical kind
of way, my
hands-on
assessment
is that the
Motoinno
concept has a
lot going for it.
