This page has motorcycle setup sheets and downloads that are useful for keeping track of your chassis setup and give you some direction on making changes. The setup sheets are in pdf and Excel format, while the gearing chart, rake/trail calculator and thrust chart are all in Excel format.

Motorcycle Setup Sheets
These three motorcycle setup sheets can be used to help you track your setup changes over time and from track to track. Each can be downloaded as a .pdf file ready to print, or you can download the Excel version to make your own custom setup sheet. Download the charts:

sheet_1.pdf | sheet_1.xls

sheet_2.pdf | sheet_2.xls

sheet_3.pdf | sheet_3.xls

Gearing chart

Gearing Chart
Gearing is one of the most basic and important setup variables for on-track performance. Using this chart, you can input all the details about your bike’s gearbox – primary, secondary and internal ratios – and see how that changes maximum speed in each gear for a range of front and rear sprockets. The chart also calculates an approximate swingarm length for a given chain length; using that information, you see how much your wheelbase will change and if you have room to adjust your wheel to the required chain tension, all before you make the actual change. Download the gearing chart in Excel format: gearing_chart_v1-3.xls

Rake/trail calculator

Rake/Trail Calculator
Rake/trail calculatorTrail is an important dimension in motorcycle chassis design as that value has a large effect on how the motorcycle will handle. This Excel version calculates trail based on input values for rake, offset and front tire radius. Download the Motorcycle Rake and Trail Calculator here: rake_trail_calculator_v3-0.xls.

Thrust Chart
Thrust is a measure of actual driving force delivered to the motorcycle’s rear wheel, and is calculated as torque multiplied through the primary ratio, internal transmission ratios, secondary ratio, and over the radius of the rear tire. This chart produces a thrust chart for each gear, and calculates the optimum shift points to maximize thrust at any given speed. The chart allows you to see how changing the internal gear ratios affect thrust and shift points, and how changing the engine’s power delivery characteristics changes performance. Download the thrust chart in Excel format: thrust_chart_v1-2.xls

Suspension Histogram Analysis
One very useful technique for suspension setup is to use histograms and suspension velocity analysis to evaluate spring and damping settings. Histograms put values to how much time the suspension is active in each damping range (high-speed and low-speed compression and rebound damping), and by using some basic statistical analysis techniques, that information can be used to make spring and/or damping adjustments to the motorcycle and improve its performance. This Excel file takes suspension velocity data, plots the required histograms and outputs a summary of the time spent in each damping zone. More details on analyzing the histograms are here: Histograms and Suspension Velocity Analysis. Download the histogram analysis Excel file here: suspension_histograms_v1.0.xlsx

Anti-Squat Calculator
The anti-squat calculator shows results for two geometry setups, displaying a graph of anti-squat percentage or angle vs. wheel travel, and a line diagram of the motorcycle’s layout with the relevant force lines for each setup. The calculator also outputs a polynomial equation for anti-squat that can be used as a math channel in a data acquisition software package. More information and the download file is here: Motorcycle Anti-Squat Calculator