Do you steer a motorcycle?

[v65infla]

This is a hot topic elsewhere that I surf.  It is always good for an argument or two but it just may save your life. 

So the question is do you "Steer" a motorcycle??

The answer of course is NO!  A motorcycle is counter-steered and practicing counter-steering until it becomes automatic may just save your life.

Have you ever heard some one say that they just couldn't make the corner?  They entered too hot or no matter what they did they bike just would not go where they wanted.  The act of counter-steering is best described as pushing down on the handle bar on the side of the direction you want to go.  If you want to turn right, push on the the right bar.  I personally like to think of it as a rudder system in an airplane, although I don't fly.  I push towards the while pulling with the opposite side.  You will be absolutely amazed how much quicker your bike will dive into a turn.  A lot of you know this but I guarantee you there are some here that don't understand it.  Try it, practice it and it just may save your life. 

[dt]

I’m not going to debate, and I’m not afraid or embarrassed to say that I practice. What’s wrong with practice? He’s right…it may save your life, but it’s also kind of cool when you tighten your figure eight or accomplish something else. Try it, it’s not at all boring. I even have a great weekend spot where there’s no traffic to get in the way. It’s an enormous trucking terminal right at the end of Fowler where it dead ends into US 301 (Tampa). I may go in there before or after a ride and just work on all kinds of stuff. Find your place and try it.

Anyway, on counter steer, I think that’s mostly the act of fighting a motorcycle’s basic tendency to stand straight up (at motion, obviously) in turns because it’s designed to and centrifugal force is working against you in a turn. If there’s debate, it’s probably because everyone has their own way to do it…their own style. What works for me may not work for you all and visa versa. What works for my specific motorcycle may not work for yours.

What works for me, on a 580 pound standard, is back off throttle, slightly "passing" the apex and then countering hard by putting my knee into the tank, physically shifting my weight and pressing the bar…then throttling out. Zooom.

[danh600]

When I went to the motorcycle class all this counter steering, pushing down, etc. Just kind of sounded strange to me during the lectures. Then when I would get on the bike it would all just kind of click naturally. Like riding a bicycle.

The only thing I had to work on a bit was throttling in the curves. From being on a bicycle so long speeding up in a tight curve felt strange. With a bicycle you generally don't have enough ground clearance to peddle hard and speed up in a curve.

I still like to practice. I go to big trucking area that's normally closed on the weekend. It has a nice 90 degree turn at one point. I practice hard bracking, slow speed manuvers and going through the curves smooth. When we first got the bikes we would go there first before going for a ride.

As for terminology, I think of a bike like a horse. You don't steer or drive a horse. You ride one.

[v65infla]

A Twist of the Wrist II on DVD

[dt]

Target fixation…so true, you go where you look.