These bikes are rather heavy and when I look at pictures where the entire Tupperware has been removed, I often wonder if some clever off-road vehicle builder could replicate the entire frame made from aluminium or an aluminium alloy. The problem here is that nobody has an original jig to follow. Surely some clever pipe bender can measure and reproduce the frame using some lighter material.
I wonder what % of the total weight the frame alone is. I have an 08 engine (and swingarm and rear wheel) in my garage and i think it is more than half the weight. Just a guess.
Also i wonder if an alluminium frame made with the same exact measures (i mean, also the pipes diameter) have the required strength of the original one.
And finally, you'll have a whole different elasticity ('cause different materials but exact same shape) which i don't know if it what you're looking for....
yeah, the frame flexes a bit, aluminum doesn't return from a bend as well as steel , you might end up with a burgman 23 feet looong or 2 ft long and reaal tall Want to cut weight? get a smaller pillion and both of you back away from the donuts
Ok thanks for the humor, but more seriously thanks for some decent replies and Dave thanks for the 'nekkid pictures". It was just a curious question and not something I was going to try. I think dismantling everything is more work than the benefit of a lighter frame. Would it then be correct to say that the frame, as over-designed as it appears" is not the weight culprit but rather the engine and drivetrain is?
You could drill lots of holes in the tupperware. It's not structural, so no worries. And the wind noises at speed could be spectacular.
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