MOTOINNO TS3
TEST RIDE
P98
sion cause it to compress under
load, and thus to reduce rake
and trail, making the handling
more nervous, while conversely
assisting with turn-in to the apex
of a given bend. Furthermore,
the fact that steering and sus-
pension are coupled together
means that one influences the
other to the detriment of each,
especially, once again, under
braking.
But the fact that a tele fork is
still today the go-to option for
motorcycle manufacturers in ev-
ery single continent—irrespective
of price or performance—results
from technology having been de-
veloped to paper over these de-
ficiencies, even if some of these
solutions bring added problems
in their wake. So, an upside-
down fork is not only heavier and
more costly to manufacture, but
also has the propensity to lose
all its damping oil should a fork
seal fail—although its increased
torsional stiffness can improve
handling by reducing or eliminat-
ing deflection, while also de-
creasing the unsprung weight,
which enhances suspension
compliance. The reluctance of
manufacturers—with the notable
exception of BMW—to risk public
disapproval by adopting avant-
garde technology for the highly
visible front end of their models,
has meant that, more than a
century on from when Scott in-
vented it, the tele fork still rules.
That isn't for lack of trying
to find an alternative, though—
and not just from BMW, which
today remains the only volume
production manufacturer to fit
what mechanical luddites term a
funny front end to their customer
models. Still, so far the German
company's engineers have yet
to display much original thought
in concocting an alternative
front suspension design, since
the Telever front end adorn-
ing their range of mainstream
Boxer models is an outright
duplication of the Saxtrak front
suspension design created by
British engineer Nigel Hill for
the Motodd Laverda and Saxon
Triumph road racers a decade
before BMW dreamt up their
copy, but which he unfortunately
omitted to patent. Conversely,
the Duolever fork BMW fits to its
K-series models is a copy of the
fourche Fior invented by maver-
ick French designer Claude Fior
Alan Cathcart
got the chance
recently to test
the latest—and
much improved—
version of the
Motoinno TS3.
