Motorcycle FUN Trivia Quiz

Motorcycle Construction

Choose an answer from the three choices and True or False offered after each question and then "Check Your Answers" at the end of the quiz.

1. The frame is typically made from welded aluminum or steel (or alloy) struts, with the ___________ being an integral component in the design. Carbon-fiber and titanium are used in a few very expensive custom frames. (Fill in the blank)

• rear suspension
• front suspension
• engine

2. Modern designs have the two wheels of a motorcycle connected to the chassis by a suspension arrangement. However, a ‘chopper’ style motorcycles often elect to forgo rear suspension. Instead they use what?

• rigid frame
• front suspensions
• seat

3. For handling, what is the most critical part of a motorcycle?

• the front fork
• the rear fork
• rear suspension

4. The displacement is defined as the total volume of air/fuel mixture an engine can draw in during one complete engine cycle. In a piston engine, this is the volume that is swept as the pistons are moved from top dead center to bottom dead center. To the layperson this is what?

• Engine size
• Engine speed
• Engine fuel

5. As applied to motorcycles, two-stroke engines have some advantages over equivalent four-strokes: cleaner, more reliable, and deliver power over a much broader range of engine speeds. But four-stroke engines are lighter, mechanically much simpler, and produce more power when operating at their best.

• True or False?

6. Modern motorcycles normally have five or six forward gears. Today, shifting on the world's motorcycles has been standardized to what shift lever?

• Left-side foot-operated
• Right-side foot-operated
• Left-side hand-operated

7. From neutral, either first or second gear can be selected, but higher gears may only be accessed in order - it is not possible to shift from second gear to fourth gear without shifting through third gear. What is the most commonly used transmission?

• sequential gearbox
• continuously variable transmission
• Non-sequential gearbox

8. Power transfer from the gearbox to the rear wheel is accomplished by a number of different methods. What is NOT a method?

• Chain drive
• Shaft drive
• Comb drive

9. Dirt-bike tires have knobby, deep treads for maximum grip on loose dirt, mud, or gravel; such tires tend to be less stable on paved surfaces.

• True or False?

10. There are generally two independent brakes on a motorcycle, one set on the front wheel and one on the rear. Front brakes are generally much more effective than rear brakes: roughly two thirds of stopping power comes from the front brake - mainly as a result of weight transfer being much more pronounced compared to longer or lower vehicles, due to the motorcycle's short wheelbase relative to its center of mass height. This can result in brake dive.

• brake spin
• brake dive
• hand brake

Check Your Answers

• 1. rear suspension
• 2. rigid frame
• 3. the front fork
• 4. Engine size
• 5. False. As applied to motorcycles, two-stroke engines have some advantages over equivalent four-strokes: they are lighter, mechanically much simpler, and produce more power when operating at their best. But four-stroke engines are cleaner, more reliable, and deliver power over a much broader range of engine speeds.
• 6. Left-side foot-operated
• 7. sequential gearbox
• 8. Comb drive
• 9. True
• 10. brake spin