Patent ID: 8776933

Claim:
A vehicle body frame for a motorcycle, comprising: a head pipe which steerably supports a front fork which pivotally supports a front wheel and a steering handlebar; a pair of left and right main frame sections which extend rearwardly and downwardly from the head pipe; a pair of left and right pivot plates which are respectively joined to left and right rear end portions of the main frame sections at joint portions where the respective pivot plates and rear end portions of the main frame sections overlap in a vehicle widthwise direction, the rear end portions of the main frame sections curving inwardly at the joint portions such that outer surfaces of the rear end portions of the main frame sections are disposed inwardly away from respective outer surfaces of the pivot plates in the vehicle widthwise direction, and said pivot plates extending rearwardly and downwardly from the main frame sections and having upper end portions which extend inwardly away from inner surfaces of the main frame sections in the vehicle widthwise direction; and a crossmember which interconnects the upper end portions of said pivot plates, said crossmember having a damper mounting portion on which an upper end portion of a damper is mounted; wherein the vehicle body frame is configured such that outermost lateral ends of the crossmember, which are respectively joined with the upper end portions of the pivot plates, are spaced inwardly away from the inner surfaces of the main frame sections in the vehicle widthwise direction; and wherein the upper end portions of the pivot plates are respectively disposed between the crossmember and the rear end portions of the main frame sections, and at least a portion of a cross-sectional area of each lateral end of the crossmember overlaps the respective joint portion where each respective main frame section and pivot plate overlap as viewed in a side view of the vehicle body frame.