Types Of Motorcycles

There are three major types of motorcycle: street, off-road, and dual purpose. Within these types, there are many different sub-types of motorcycles for many different purposes.

Street

Choppers: Highly customised motorcycles based on a cruiser-style frame with long rake (longer front forks) and wild paint jobs. Many are created more for show than rideability.

Harley-Davidson Softail Heritage Classic. A typical "cruiser" design

An Italian 125 cc Cagiva Planet.

A "standard" or "naked" motorbikeCruisers: A range of small to large motorcycles designed for comfort and looks with a relaxed upright or reclined seating position. They often use lots of chrome and may be highly customised.

Electric motorcycles: Nearly silent, zero-emission electric motor-driven vehicles. Operating range and top speed suffer because of limitations of battery technology. Fuel cells and petroleum-electric hybrids are also under development to extend the range and improve performance of the electric motors.

Mini bikes: Very small bikes designed to be simple run-around fun for both children and adults. Generally they have no hand-operated clutch or gearbox to simplify operation. Also known as Mini Motos. Not street-legal in most countries and jurisdictions. May be used for racing by all age levels.

Mopeds: Small, light, inexpensive, efficient rides for getting around town. Usually started by pedalling (motorcycle + pedals = moped). Mopeds typically have an engine mouted to the frame with a chain supplying the drive force to the wheel.

Naked bikes/Standard/Street bikes: Naked bikes have a riding position midway between the forward position of a sports bike and the reclined position of a cruiser. Unlike touring bikes, naked bikes often have little or no fairing (hence the title). Luggage capabilities are often an optional extra. Naked bikes are popular for commuting and other city riding as the upright riding position gives greater visibility in heavy traffic (both for the rider and to other road users) and are more comfortable than the hunched over sport bikes. Note that naked bike and standard are not fully interchangeable terms. Naked refers to the lack of bodywork and standard refers to the upright riding position.

Scooters: Motorbikes with a step-through frame, generally smaller wheels than those of a traditional motorcycle and an engine mounted near the rear wheel on the swingarm. Can be ridden without straddling any part of the bike and usually features a floorboard. Available in sport, commuter, and touring models and wide variety of engine sizes from the standard 50 cc to 850 cc.

A Kawasaki ZX-7RR sport bikeSport bikes: Fast, light, sleek motorcycles designed to give maximum performance for racing or spirited road riding while conforming to FIM rules. They are distinguishable by their racing style fairings and the rider's tipped-forward seating position. They are also called "race replicas" because of their connection to the racing category for production motorcycles known as Superbike racing, and earlier similar race series (the term arose in the 1980s). The power to weight ratio of the 900 cc+ models typically matches or exceeds one bhp of power for every one kg of mass.

Racing bikes: Motorcycles designed for circuit or road racing, including mass-production motorcycles modified for motorcycle racing or sport riding.

Street customs: Highly customised motorcycles with wild paint jobs also built for show, but constructed from a sport bike frame instead of a cruiser-style frame.

A BMW R1200RT touring bikeTouring motorcycles: Touring bikes are designed for rider and passenger comfort, luggage carrying capacity, and reliability. Cruisers, sport bikes and some dual-sports can also be used as touring bikes with the addition of aftermarket luggage and sometimes seats. Common throughout the touring market are usually large-displacement fairings and windshields (for weather and wind protection), large-capacity fuel tanks (for long-range travel), engines