Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Just ride it. Counter-steering just happens. Its the only way the bike goes around corners (at speed).

pinger05 wrote:

DieMonkeys wrote:If you have a bicycle you can practice countersteering on that rather than crashing your motorcycle if something goes horribly wrong.

So far I have only gotten my bike (pedal powered) to counter steer once. That was downhill with a hungry bobcat chasing me. Wouldnt wan anything to go wrong during those circumstances.

those Ohio players can run eh?

I dont know what was going on. I was moving at 20 mph in a large parking lot and I tried pushing on the left bar really slow. The bike snapped to the left very quick and it scared me. The thing that I dont understand is how can i turn at 60 mph and it is smoothe but when i try to conciously counter steer it is really snappy.

I'm getting into consciously counter-steering on my new bike, which has a lot more weight than the RD125LC I had before! I had gotten comfortable with throwing that around corners, but the VFR needs a little more thought (and the whole getting used to a new bike, of course).

I find that actual countersteering, as opposed to just pushing on the bars, is a far more effective and responsive way to get round corners - in fact its throwing new light on the handling of this bike, which is reknowned for its cornering capabilities..!

Henriettaah wrote:I find that actual countersteering, as opposed to just pushing on the bars, is a far more effective and responsive way to get round corners

How is "actual countersteering" different than "just pushing on the bars"?

The Grinch wrote:

Henriettaah wrote:I find that actual countersteering, as opposed to just pushing on the bars, is a far more effective and responsive way to get round corners

How is "actual countersteering" different than "just pushing on the bars"?

Ok, to clarify 'actual countersteering' for me is to consciously turn the bars away from the direction you want to go. 'Pushing the bars' would be leaning down on the side you wish to go towards.

m1a1dvr wrote:I dont know what was going on. I was moving at 20 mph in a large parking lot and I tried pushing on the left bar really slow. The bike snapped to the left very quick and it scared me. The thing that I dont understand is how can i turn at 60 mph and it is smoothe but when i try to conciously counter steer it is really snappy.

You're probably just pushing too hard. Rather than actually giving the bar a push, just smoothly apply presure to the bar. Not turning hard enough? Smoothly apply a little more pressure. Turning too hard, just relax a little pressure. It's all a matter of degrees (and a bit of practice).

You have to be very light with countersteering. You are not trying to turn the wheel in the opposite direction to the direction you want to go. When countersteering, the wheel remains pointing in the direction you are travelling. All you are doing is shifting it back to the centre line very slightly. That drops the contact patch at the wheel forward and increases the effect of the steer. I suspect you were trying to 'steer' in the opposite direction rather than 'countersteer'.

When consciously countersteering, many riders waste a lot of effort by pushing down onto the bars instead of using all their effort to push them horizontally. You can countersteer much more effectively and gain much more control of your turn if you lower your arms and direct all your effort horizontally to the bar.

On a road bike(pedal powered) at least, at most cruising speeds countersteering definitely works. It doesnt take much at all to lean the bike over

sv that is what i was trying to do. i was thinking that the wheel was turned in the opposite way of the turn. so i think that i was pushing to hard trying to turn the wheel. when i get out tomorrow i will try the pushing horizontally and will not try to turn the wheel.