Patent ID: 7832752

Claim:
A suspension assembly for use with a front end of a vehicle, the suspension assembly comprising: an upper triple clamp defining a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction; a lower triple clamp, the upper and lower triple clamps being adapted to retain a pair of forks and hold the pair of forks substantially parallel to each other; a steering shaft extending substantially perpendicularly between the upper and lower triple clamps; the steering shaft being adapted to be coupled to a frame of the vehicle and including two ends; a spring unit coupling an upper one of the two ends of the steering shaft to the upper triple clamp, the spring unit being arranged to absorb lateral forces that are transferred from a road surface up through a front wheel and the pair of forks; and a pivot mechanism coupling a lower one of the two ends of the steering shaft to the lower triple clamp, the pivot mechanism defining a pivot axis oriented longitudinally with respect to the suspension assembly, wherein the front end pivots about the pivot axis and the spring unit flexes laterally of the triple clamps in response to bumps in a road surface on which the vehicle is operated.