hub steering. it's technology that exists but never really caught on outside of custom bikes that just want to be different. Somebody more educated than I am could talk about what the advantages might be over traditional suspension and steering. if i had to guess, i'd say weight distribution?
Kevin Cameron did a column on this. Stiction was one thing mentioned. Can’t remember the other things that were good. Or bad.
Nothing new under the sun. From Wikipedia: "The hub-center steer concept is a very old one used as early as 1910 by the British James Cycle Co,"
Why? Again, from Wikipedia: "The advantages of using a hub-center steering system instead of a more conventional motorcycle fork are that hub-center steering separates the steering, braking, and suspension functions."
The Bimota Tesi of some years ago is the first to come to mind....
My riding buddy had one back in the day. He loved it. I completed my first SaddleSore 1000 riding with him -- he on his GTS, me on my ZG1000. The route took us through Nevada and finished in Laughlin, NV -- 1024 miles in under 15 hours. Hard to believe that was 22 years ago!
Isn't this what the new Goldwings are utilizing? They're capable of handling much more weight than conventional forks.
The new Goldwings use a Hossack-design not unlike the BMW Duolever.