Before the internet came along and I couldn?t get my daily fix of bikes and breasts online, you?d quite often find me with my head in a magazine. If I wasn?t pulling out the centrefolds for masturbatory purposes, I was ogling over the latest and greatest superbikes; dreaming of the day I?d be old enough (and rich enough) to have one. I?d memorise power figures, 0-60 times, kerb weights and compression ratios (what a loser). But one thing in the motorcycle specs list I never gave a toss about was ?frame type?. It didn?t seem to matter what shape the bit of metal holding it all together was. As I got older and (not very) wiser, I started to realise just how important it was. I started to understand just how much that ?bit of metal? could affect the way a bike feels and handles.
For years though, I still found the whole subject a bit complicated. With all the different types, how was I to tell the difference. I?m guessing I?m not the only one that didn?t know one from the next, so to clear things up here?s a brief explanation of the five main types.

Cradle Frame

2022 HONDA CRF250R

This is the kind of thing that loads of bikes used to use in the olden days. It?s called a cradle frame because it, quite simply, cradles the engine. They tended to be made out of heavy steel tube, with one or a pair of tubes looping underneath the motor. They?re fairly cheap and easy to make but quite heavy at the same time. And whilst they?re stiff enough for old bikes with put-put ...