Streetbike chassis of today is far superior to the racebike chassis of even just one or two decades ago.
As sportbikes have gradually become more like racebikes, they have the same needs, namely for chassis stiffness. Back in the early 1970s, the standard motorcycle chassis was a structure of steel tubes, and swingarms looked like they were welded out of three pieces of tubing.
The introduction of front disc brakes greatly increased the bending load on the fork. And the coming of slick tires made it necessary for racebikes to become much stiffer because the tires had such grip that they made “nonsense” of the old tubular steel frames.
Racing exerted strong pressure, resulting in stiffer forks and frames. Swingarms also rapidly evolved with rectangular sections and bracing. In the present day, the frame structure passes over the engine, which is itself part of the structure, and swingarms are tall “triangles.”
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