On Fri, 14 Feb 2014 09:23:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/14/2014 8:50 AM, amdx wrote:
On 2/14/2014 6:59 AM, Poco Loco wrote:


OK, here's the real poop. Steering a motorcycle at more that 'parking
lot' speeds is done using a
technique called counter steering. The technique is called 'counter
steering' because it is
'counter' to the way we learned how to turn a tricycle. On a
motorcycle, we push left to go left,
and push right to go right, as was explained in numerous videos,
Wikipedia, and over a million hits
in Google if you plug in 'counter steering a motorcycle'.

Here are some nice pictures explaining the technique:

http://www.motorcycletraining.com/wo...eering-pic.jpg


http://xbhp.com/ridesafe/images/coun...ersteering.jpg

The process through a curve::

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...cornerbike.gif


To really see what counter steering is doing, use the technique
*without* letting your body lean.
Just keep your upper body vertical, push the left bar, and the bike
will lean left and turn
*without* a body lean. Getting good at this will let you quickly
swerve to miss an obstacle in your
lane, and swerve back so you stay in your lane.

Interesting, I see it, I understand it, but I don't recall from forty
years ago when I had a dirt bike if I did that instinctively.
I sure had a lot of fun back in the gravel pits near my house!

btw, before my dirt bike, I had a 3 wheel Honda with the balloon tires.
This was early 70s, it was a trick turning that, you leaned right to
turn left. I think that's why you don't see them anymore.
Mikek




Every kid that rides a bicycle learns to intuitively counter-steer, even
if they don't know what it is, why they are doing it or even *knowing*
that they are doing it. If they don't, they crash until they learn.


I wonder sometimes if tricycle operation isn't what makes it hard for kids to learn bicycle
operation. They've spent their whole lives pushing left to go right, and now we're trying to get
them to do the opposite.