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All About The Yamaha Deltabox Frame

Last Update: 28 October 2021

All About The Yamaha Deltabox Frame - MOTORESS
All About The Yamaha Deltabox Frame

The Yamaha Deltabox frame is a patented motorcycle chassis produced by Yamaha Motor Company of Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan. The first road version of the Deltabox Frame, for general public appeared in 1987 on the Yamaha FZR1000. It then began to be featured on more and more of Yamaha’s sport bikes from the late 1980’s through to today.

Deltabox Frame Offers Four Times The Rigidity

In 1982, the Yamaha YZR500 OW61 racing motorcycle introduced a number of initiatives: the first V4 engine in a 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle; a new frame structure, developed by Spanish engineer Antonio Cobas, that was the basis for the Deltabox frame. Used by Maserati in the Tipo 61 “Birdcage”, the Deltabox Frame is based on the theory that a triangle (delta), is more rigid than a square. By using a diagonal from the steering head down to the swinging arm pivot, the frame is triangular versus a rectangular box like a backbone frame. The design allows the engine to hang from the frame over being cradled, and hence be positioned as low in the chassis as possible.

Deltabox Frame on MOTORESS
Yamaha Deltabox II Frame

By using controlled Flow die-casting, a hi-tech process that introduces alloy under high pressure into a vacuum held die. This limits air bubbles and allows the casting to be made extremely thin where strength is not required and thicker at the stress points. The end result is a component that is lighter, stronger and consistently exact when compared to any other method of casting or welding. The Deltabox frame using this process offers up to four times the rigidity (less flex) than other designs.

Where is the “Delta” in the Deltabox frame?

There are many different kinds of motorcycle frames and they have different names depending on their shape or construction. For example, a cradle frame “cradles” around the engine while a diamond frame (shaped like a diamond) or backbone frame (like a spine) suspends the engine from the frame. You can typically find the frame type listed on the bike’s specification sheet.

All About The Yamaha Deltabox Frame - MOTORESS
Yamaha’s Deltabox frame design can be classified as a diamond frame.

Yamaha’s Deltabox frame design can be classified as a diamond frame, but Yamaha called it Deltabox because it embodies a unique Yamaha design philosophy.  The frame achieves excellent torsional rigidity by making the lines connecting the top and bottom of the head pipe*1 to the rear swingarm pivot*2 as straight as possible.

The frame was developed based on the idea that the key to good motorcycle performance lay in the balance of the forces concentrated at the head pipe (the front end of the frame), which bears the forces from the front wheel, and the swingarm pivot (the rear end of the frame), which bears the drive force from the rear wheel.

It uses a long head pipe, so when seen from the side, the lines form a triangular delta shape andthe cross-section is box-shaped, hence “Deltabox.” The engine is mountedwith a high degree of rigidity, and results in a well-balanced chassis that delivers a ride with responsive handling and greatstability. The frame also has a delta shape when seen from above.

Since 1985, the Yamaha Deltabox frame design has been used on Yamaha supersport models—regardless of engine displacement—and continually refined over the years. The initial inspiration for the design came from the development of Yamaha’s YZR500 factory racer in the early 1980s for the premier class of the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix.
For more on the Deltabox frame, see Frame Technology Christened in Salzburg on the Seeds of Creation website.

There was a DeltaBox II and in 2002, Yamaha released the newly developed “Deltabox III” frame which, with its hydro formed construction, dramatically reduced the total number of frame welds. These changes improved the frame’s rigidity by 30 percent!

It now appears on many Yamaha products, including all snow mobiles.

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