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Best compliment ever....

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SCgurl
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Best compliment ever....

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#1 Post by SCgurl » Sat Sep 12, 2009 2:20 am

The backstory...

When I first started riding, right after I passed the first MSF course, a good friend of mine rode into town to encourage me, get me out into traffic, get through a lot of jitters, etc. He's been riding for about 20 years. Well, one day we were playing around in a parking lot and I started talking about counter-steering. He had never heard the term, so I explained it to him, demonstrated what happens when you press, etc.

I took him up to the MSF course and showed him the 135 degree turn and ran him through the drill from the MSF. The only way he remembered it was me saying "push the OPPOSITE side"-he just couldn't remember "push left, turn left". I also told him that our instructor had said in certain situations, you are just going to have to really, really want to make that turn if you come into the turn just a little too hot. He said the key was to not panic and not underestimate the bike, but don't make that a habit.

On to last night...
Last night, my friend came into town. When I pulled up from work, he came up to me and gave me a huge bear hug. He said, "You saved my life". Apparently, he was riding in the mountains in NC and came up on a turn. He thought it was a 90 degree turn, but in reality, it was a switchback. He went into it too fast for what it was, and started to panic. He said, "...and I heard your voice in my head saying, 'Push the OPPOSITE side'. I did it, and the bike immediately dropped into the turn and I made it through. Scared and shaken, but I made it. You saved my life."

He decided after that incident to go take the MSF course. He didn't want to tell me until he saw me so he could thank me. That was the best compliment I've ever gotten. :)
2008 Suzuki S40-for sale
2007 Road King-waiting until mid-May
[url=http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/Jeni1090/?action=view&current=IMG_0051.jpg][img]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/Jeni1090/th_IMG_0051.jpg[/img][/url]
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king robb
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#2 Post by king robb » Sat Sep 12, 2009 2:26 am

very nice.
2 wheels on the ground
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fireguzzi
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#3 Post by fireguzzi » Sat Sep 12, 2009 2:36 am

Thats awesome. Glad your friend came out of a hairy situation.
I know when i first learned about counter steering and tried it, it opened up a whole new level of comfort and ability.

I was just like your friend, I just didn't get it when my msf instructor told us push left turn left. I thought I was doing that already. But I was just pushing DOWN on the bars and pegs and leaning my body and I didn't realize it but I was fighting the bars against what they really wanted to do, which was turn the opposite way. The first time I actually turned the bars the opposite way, which was after reading a long thread here on TMW about it, the bike just fell right into the turn. Every thing was so much better after that.

So yeah I can understand your friend when he said he didn't quite get push left turn left. So good on ya for not only saving him from a bad situation but maybe for making him have more fun and confidence in everyday riding.
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paul246
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#4 Post by paul246 » Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:17 am

Way to go!
There is no such thing as a bad motorcycle.

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RhadamYgg
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#5 Post by RhadamYgg » Sun Sep 13, 2009 3:45 am

Probably applies to my thread about lean angle. Great story. I could only imagine finding out a 90 degree turn is a switchback.

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RhadamYgg / Skydiver / Motorbike Rider / Mountain Climber
FZ6/11302 mi|Suzuki B-King/5178 mi|Ninja 250cc/5300 mi| (rented)ST1300 850 mi
Hoping my kids don't hate me too much in the future.
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SCgurl
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#6 Post by SCgurl » Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:06 am

RhadamYgg wrote:Probably applies to my thread about lean angle. Great story. I could only imagine finding out a 90 degree turn is a switchback.

RhadamYgg
I just finished reading your thread...you're way overthinking it. You have more lean available to you than you'll ever need on the street. Unless you ride in the mountains a lot.

My buddy and I both ride Road Kings-much less available lean angle than yours, but he still pulled off that turn (folded up his footboard, but it happens). If we can lean those big-arse bikes to that extent, you can, too :wink: I'll comment further in your thread.
2008 Suzuki S40-for sale
2007 Road King-waiting until mid-May
[url=http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/Jeni1090/?action=view&current=IMG_0051.jpg][img]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u94/Jeni1090/th_IMG_0051.jpg[/img][/url]
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redwing
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#7 Post by redwing » Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:05 am

Great story about counter steering ... real information ... real power

Your friend might tell about his experience with counter steering to his friends. With twenty years riding he probably knows alot of motorcyclist.

Thanks for the post SCgurl ...

Robert
2008 BMW R1200R and is it sweet...
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blues2cruise
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#8 Post by blues2cruise » Sun Sep 13, 2009 5:48 pm

:clapping:
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Grey Thumper
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#9 Post by Grey Thumper » Sun Sep 13, 2009 11:37 pm

Your friend sounds really cool. Considering he's been riding for two decades, it's good he didn't have a "know it all" attitude and was willing (and even grateful) to get advice and a fresh perspective from someone less experienced. His open-mindedness and willingness to learn something new quite likely, as he said, saved his life.
"If you ride like there's no tomorrow, there won't be."
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sapaul
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#10 Post by sapaul » Mon Sep 14, 2009 1:40 am

That's really cool :D

Trying to get some one to understand that you have to push and open the throttle is really hard. Goes against all the survival instincts of brake and get upright.

Goo for you.
I spent my therapy money an a K1200S
The therapy worked, I got a GS now
A touch of insanity crept back in the shape of an R1200R
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