Countersteering - Revision history

Bokonon at 03:10, 10 November 2009

2009-11-10T03:10:30Z

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Category:New Riders]]
 [[Category:Riding Techniques]]
-A motorcycle is turned by steering the front wheel into the curve until the forces of gravity and inertia balance out. Exactly how far you lean and how far you turn the front wheel are determined by both the radius of the corner and how fast you're moving. (Anybody who can ride a bicycle can do the above without even thinking about it. The hard part is using words to describe something that most of us do instinctively.) Which brings us to countersteering, which is how we all get into corners, but is a technique that almost nobody ever actually practices.
+__TOC__
-To see countersteering at work, simply proceed down a straight -and traffic free- stretch of road and steer ever so gently to the LEFT.... Yikes! The bike suddenly tried to turn right, didn't it! In fact, if you neglected the part about steering left ever so gently, you probably scared the shit out of yourself. So now you know how to get into corners: Overbalance the bike and steer it out from under you at the same time, only steering into the corner once the lean angle has been established. The trick is to do this quickly, precisely, consistently, and above all, smoothly. And the way to gain that ability is to practice it over and over and over again until it happens without thinking.
+====What is countersteering anyway?====
-But start out by practicing and thinking about what you're doing at the same time, preferably in an empty parking lot. Set up a slow, wide turn, and practice tightening it by steering slightly to the outside, to drop more of your weight on the inside of the corner; you will find that you can then steer further to the inside and turn more tightly.
+This is such a common question, and one which raises so much contentious argument, that it seemed worth offering my well-reasoned opinion on the subject. Of course, it is all just opinion, as I haven't performed the repeatable experiments necessary to prove what I'm about to write. Note that this article is equally applicable to motorcycles or bicycles, although it's harder to be conscious of countersteering a bicycle due to its relatively light weight.
-Things like weighting the footpegs and hanging off the bike to maintain a better contact patch are techniques that must wait until you can get into and out of corners consistently, safely, and again, smoothly, every time.
+That said, here's the basic idea of countersteering, on anything with two wheels: when you're going in a straight line, the handlebars are centered; when you want to turn, you actually have to turn the handlebars in the wrong direction first, to lean the bike over, then you steer into the turn to keep the bike from flopping completely over. The part where you steer in the wrong direction to make the bike lean over is called "countersteering."
-IanJ produced [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C848R9xWrjc a short video] which helps to explain countersteering for the visual learner.
+Why is countersteering important? Because it's the only way to turn a moving, two-wheeled vehicle. If you're doing it unconsciously, by thinking "steer left" or shifting your weight, or putting more pressure on one peg/pedal or the other, that's not very efficient. If you do it consciously, you can steer your bike with amazing speed and accuracy, which could very easily save your life one day.

Bokonon at 11:44, 19 August 2009

2009-08-19T11:44:39Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:44, 19 August 2009
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	A motorcycle is turned by steering the front wheel into the curve until the forces of gravity and inertia balance out. Exactly how far you lean and how far you turn the front wheel are determined by both the radius of the corner and how fast you're moving. (Anybody who can ride a bicycle can do the above without even thinking about it. The hard part is using words to describe something that most of us do instinctively.) Which brings us to countersteering, which is how we all get into corners, but is a technique that almost nobody ever actually practices.		A motorcycle is turned by steering the front wheel into the curve until the forces of gravity and inertia balance out. Exactly how far you lean and how far you turn the front wheel are determined by both the radius of the corner and how fast you're moving. (Anybody who can ride a bicycle can do the above without even thinking about it. The hard part is using words to describe something that most of us do instinctively.) Which brings us to countersteering, which is how we all get into corners, but is a technique that almost nobody ever actually practices.

	To see countersteering at work, simply proceed down a straight -and traffic free- stretch of road and steer ever so gently to the LEFT....Yikes! The bike suddenly tried to turn right, didn't it! In fact, if you neglected the part about steering left ever so gently, you probably scared the shit out of yourself. So now you know how we get into corners: ~~We overbalance~~ the bike and steer it out from under us at the same time; only steering into the corner once the lean angle has been established. The trick is to do this quickly, precisely, consistently, and, above all, smoothly. And the way we gain that ability is to practice it over and over and over again until it happens without thinking.		To see countersteering at work, simply proceed down a straight -and traffic free- stretch of road and steer ever so gently to the LEFT.... Yikes! The bike suddenly tried to turn right, didn't it! In fact, if you neglected the part about steering left ever so gently, you probably scared the shit out of yourself. So now you know how to get into corners: Overbalance the bike and steer it out from under you at the same time, only steering into the corner once the lean angle has been established. The trick is to do this quickly, precisely, consistently, and above all, smoothly. And the way to gain that ability is to practice it over and over and over again until it happens without thinking.

	But start out by practicing and thinking about what you're doing at the same time, preferably in an empty parking lot. Set up a slow wide turn, and practice tightening it by steering slightly to the outside to drop more of your weight on the inside of the corner; you will find that you can then steer further to the inside and turn more tightly. ~~(And you'd better know how to tighten up a corner before you get into a decreasing radius curve on a two lane highway at a high rate of knots. You would have a limited future as a hood ornament.)~~		But start out by practicing and thinking about what you're doing at the same time, preferably in an empty parking lot. Set up a slow, wide turn, and practice tightening it by steering slightly to the outside, to drop more of your weight on the inside of the corner; you will find that you can then steer further to the inside and turn more tightly.

	Things like weighting the footpegs and hanging off the bike to maintain a better contact patch are techniques that must wait until you can get into and out of corners consistently, safely, and again, smoothly, every time.		Things like weighting the footpegs and hanging off the bike to maintain a better contact patch are techniques that must wait until you can get into and out of corners consistently, safely, and again, smoothly, every time.

	IanJ produced [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C848R9xWrjc a short video] which helps to explain countersteering for the visual learner.		IanJ produced [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C848R9xWrjc a short video] which helps to explain countersteering for the visual learner.

IanJ at 21:08, 26 March 2008

2008-03-26T21:08:18Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:08, 26 March 2008
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	Things like weighting the footpegs and hanging off the bike to maintain a better contact patch are techniques that must wait until you can get into and out of corners consistently, safely, and again, smoothly, every time.		Things like weighting the footpegs and hanging off the bike to maintain a better contact patch are techniques that must wait until you can get into and out of corners consistently, safely, and again, smoothly, every time.

			IanJ produced [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C848R9xWrjc a short video] which helps to explain countersteering for the visual learner.

Bokonon at 06:21, 8 April 2007

2007-04-08T06:21:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:21, 8 April 2007
Line 1:		Line 1:
	[[Category:New Riders]]		[[Category:New Riders]]
			[[Category:Riding Techniques]]
	A motorcycle is turned by steering the front wheel into the curve until the forces of gravity and inertia balance out. Exactly how far you lean and how far you turn the front wheel are determined by both the radius of the corner and how fast you're moving. (Anybody who can ride a bicycle can do the above without even thinking about it. The hard part is using words to describe something that most of us do instinctively.) Which brings us to countersteering, which is how we all get into corners, but is a technique that almost nobody ever actually practices.		A motorcycle is turned by steering the front wheel into the curve until the forces of gravity and inertia balance out. Exactly how far you lean and how far you turn the front wheel are determined by both the radius of the corner and how fast you're moving. (Anybody who can ride a bicycle can do the above without even thinking about it. The hard part is using words to describe something that most of us do instinctively.) Which brings us to countersteering, which is how we all get into corners, but is a technique that almost nobody ever actually practices.

	To see countersteering at work, simply proceed down a straight -and traffic free- stretch of road and steer ever so gently to the LEFT....Yikes! The bike suddenly tried to turn right, didn't it! In fact, if you neglected the part about steering left ever so gently, you probably scared the shit out of yourself. So now you know how we get into corners: We overbalance the bike and steer it out from under us at the same time; only steering into the corner once the lean angle has been established. The trick is to do this quickly, precisely, ~~consistantly~~, and, above all, smoothly. And the way we gain that ability is to ~~practise~~ it over and over and over again until it happens without thinking.		To see countersteering at work, simply proceed down a straight -and traffic free- stretch of road and steer ever so gently to the LEFT....Yikes! The bike suddenly tried to turn right, didn't it! In fact, if you neglected the part about steering left ever so gently, you probably scared the shit out of yourself. So now you know how we get into corners: We overbalance the bike and steer it out from under us at the same time; only steering into the corner once the lean angle has been established. The trick is to do this quickly, precisely, consistently, and, above all, smoothly. And the way we gain that ability is to practice it over and over and over again until it happens without thinking.

	But start out by practicing and thinking about what you're doing at the same time, preferably in an empty parking lot. Set up a slow wide turn, and practice tightening it by steering slightly to the outside to drop more of your weight on the inside of the corner; you will find that you can then steer further to the inside and turn more tightly. (And you'd better know how to tighten up a corner before you get into a decreasing radius curve on a two lane highway at a high rate of knots. You would have a limited future as a hood ornament.)		But start out by practicing and thinking about what you're doing at the same time, preferably in an empty parking lot. Set up a slow wide turn, and practice tightening it by steering slightly to the outside to drop more of your weight on the inside of the corner; you will find that you can then steer further to the inside and turn more tightly. (And you'd better know how to tighten up a corner before you get into a decreasing radius curve on a two lane highway at a high rate of knots. You would have a limited future as a hood ornament.)

	Things like weighting the footpegs and hanging off the bike to maintain a better contact patch are techniques that must wait until you can get into and out of corners consistently, safely, and again, smoothly, every time.		Things like weighting the footpegs and hanging off the bike to maintain a better contact patch are techniques that must wait until you can get into and out of corners consistently, safely, and again, smoothly, every time.

Bokonon at 13:39, 4 June 2006

2006-06-04T13:39:14Z

New page

[[Category:New Riders]]
A motorcycle is turned by steering the front wheel into the curve until the forces of gravity and inertia balance out. Exactly how far you lean and how far you turn the front wheel are determined by both the radius of the corner and how fast you're moving. (Anybody who can ride a bicycle can do the above without even thinking about it. The hard part is using words to describe something that most of us do instinctively.) Which brings us to countersteering, which is how we all get into corners, but is a technique that almost nobody ever actually practices.

To see countersteering at work, simply proceed down a straight -and traffic free- stretch of road and steer ever so gently to the LEFT....Yikes! The bike suddenly tried to turn right, didn't it! In fact, if you neglected the part about steering left ever so gently, you probably scared the shit out of yourself. So now you know how we get into corners: We overbalance the bike and steer it out from under us at the same time; only steering into the corner once the lean angle has been established. The trick is to do this quickly, precisely, consistantly, and, above all, smoothly. And the way we gain that ability is to practise it over and over and over again until it happens without thinking.

But start out by practicing and thinking about what you're doing at the same time, preferably in an empty parking lot. Set up a slow wide turn, and practice tightening it by steering slightly to the outside to drop more of your weight on the inside of the corner; you will find that you can then steer further to the inside and turn more tightly. (And you'd better know how to tighten up a corner before you get into a decreasing radius curve on a two lane highway at a high rate of knots. You would have a limited future as a hood ornament.)

Things like weighting the footpegs and hanging off the bike to maintain a better contact patch are techniques that must wait until you can get into and out of corners consistently, safely, and again, smoothly, every time.