Voge weights, load capacity and axle limits

Load capacity is generally consulted only after a motorcycle has begun to feel wrong with luggage aboard. Every manual prints the figure.

The figures

Model	Kerb weight	Load capacity	Maximum weight
DS900X	238 kg	205 kg	443 kg
DS800X Rally	213 kg	205 kg	432 kg
DS625X	206 kg	183 kg	389 kg
SR4 Max	214 kg	201 kg	415 kg
500DS	188 kg (dry)	150 kg	318 kg
500R	-	-	348 kg
SR1	139 kg	168 kg	307 kg
SR450X	210 kg	150 kg	360 kg
SR3	165 kg	205 kg	370 kg
125R	136 kg	-	316 kg
300 Rally	158 kg	150 kg	318 kg
300DS	155 kg	-	320 kg
SR16	142 kg	168 kg	310 kg
525RR	198 kg	-	378 kg
250RR	155 kg	180 kg	335 kg
250 Rally	158 kg	190 kg	338 kg

Load capacity covers everything the motorcycle carries beyond itself: rider, passenger, luggage and any equipment fitted after it left the factory.

The DS900X per-axle limits

The DS900X manual goes further and prints figures for each axle:

	Limit
Front hub loading	161 kg
Rear hub loading	282 kg

The SR4 Max prints axle figures that do reconcile. Its manual gives 148 kg at the front and 267 kg at the rear, which sum exactly to its 415 kg maximum, and 214 kg kerb plus 201 kg load arrives at the same figure. On a scooter the rear carries the engine, the rider and the passenger, which is why the split is even more pronounced than on the DS900X.

The DS800X Rally prints axle figures too, and they do not reconcile. Its manual gives 113 kg at the front hub and 114 kg at the rear, which total 227 kg against a stated maximum weight of 432 kg. The same table also gives 213 kg kerb and 205 kg load capacity, which sum to 418 kg rather than 432 kg. The figures are reproduced here as printed, but they cannot all be correct, and the maximum weight is the one to work to.

The disparity is the useful part. The rear axle is rated for 75 per cent more than the front, which is why luggage belongs low and to the rear, and why a heavy tank bag alters the steering long before the total limit is approached.

The arithmetic in practice

Taking the DS625X and its 183 kg of capacity:

• Rider in riding gear: 85 kg
• Passenger in riding gear: 70 kg
• Top box and panniers, empty: 12 kg
• Contents: 15 kg

The total is 182 kg. Two adults and a week away place a mid-size adventure motorcycle at its limit before anything has been packed carelessly.

What exceeding the rating does

Tyres are affected first. The manuals repeat the warning that overloading leads to tyre failure. A tyre inflated for a solo rider and loaded for two runs hot and flexes beyond what its casing is constructed for. The pillion pressures in tyre pressures by model exist for precisely this condition.

The suspension follows. Preload set for one person and loaded for three consumes the available travel, so the motorcycle sits low, the geometry slackens and the suspension runs out of stroke over bumps.

The brakes follow in turn. Stopping distance is proportional to mass, and the brakes were specified for the rated weight.

The SR1 proportions

The SR1 is worth separate note: 139 kg kerb weight against 168 kg of load capacity, a scooter rated to carry more than it weighs.

That is normal for the class, but it means pressures and preload matter more here than on a large adventure motorcycle, because the proportional change between unladen and fully laden is far greater.

Before a long journey

Weighing rider and gear together on domestic scales once is worth doing, since the figure is commonly ten kilograms above the one assumed. The passenger and the luggage are then added properly and compared against the table rather than against an impression.

Related pages

Dimensions and ground clearance are in dimensions, wheelbase and ground clearance, and suspension travel, which the load consumes, in suspension travel and fork diameters.