Swingarm

Immediately before and after World War II, the plunger suspension, in which the axle moved up and down two vertical posts, became commonplace.

Swinging fork - the original version consisting of a pair of parallel pipes holding the rear axle at one end and pivoting at the other.

A pair of shock absorbers are mounted just before the rear axle and attached to the frame, below the seat rail.

The HRD-Vincent Motorcycle is a famous early form of this type of swingarm, though Matchless used it earlier, and Yamaha subsequently.

[clarification needed] Extended swingarms - are often used by drag racing motorcycles (called dragbikes) to keep their center of gravity as forward as possible, which reduces the tendency to wheelie at the start.

Ducati has created several models featuring single swingarms, most notably the Massimo Tamburini-designed 916 series.

[4] "Squat" occurs because the top of the final drive chain run pulls the swingarm upwards; "shaft-jacking" occurs because the shaft drive bevel gear tries to "climb up" the large bevel gear in the wheel hub, thereby pushing the swingarm downwards and away from the frame.

A practical way to minimise squat on a chain-drive bike is to locate the final drive sprocket as close as possible to the axis of the swingarm pivot; the ideal solution is to make the final drive sprocket and the swingarm pivot concentric, as was done on the Hesketh V1000.