Introducing: Your rear suspension

To help you better understand what happens when your rear wheel moves up and down, we present two illustrations. The animation on the left shows how everything back there fits and works together. The one on the right is for those who grew up before MTV.

Parts

This view is from the left side of the bike, so the front is at the left side of the picture, and the rear at the right.

• The thing that looks like a shock absorber is, ummm... a shock absorber. Its main job is to keep your rear tire on the road (the fork springs do the same thing up front). When a bump forces the tire up, the shock sends it back down. This is a delicate balancing act. Too much downward force and the ride becomes harsh; too little and the ride is too soft, making handling poor and bottoming out the shock.

• The black piece with everything connected to it is the frame. This is what nearly everything on your motorcycle is connected to. It supports the forks, the engine, the seat, and, of course, the rear suspension.

• The long, rectangular thing attached to the frame is the swingarm. The Ninja 250 has a double-sided swingarm, so there is one piece on each side of the rear wheel. The wheel attaches to the swingarm via the slot at the rear. The swingarm pivot is where the swingarm attaches to the frame.

• The elbow-shaped piece at the bottom is the Uni Trak shock linkage ('rocker arm'). This is the part that connects the frame, tie rods (dogbones) and rear shock together.

• The last piece is the diagonal bit running from the shock linkage to the swingarm, making an indirect connection between the shock and the wheel. These are the tie-rods, or 'dogbones'. There is one on each side.