Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Aggie84 wrote:Yes, I've riden a bicycle for many years. Is push steering where you push the left bar to the right to turn right?

It is only difficult if you think about it. You will be taught steering at your MSF course. Just realize that on the class day it may be difficult to comprehend. On riding day you wont even think about it. Think about where you want to go, turn your head and you will go that way. Pretty much guaranteed.

Aggie84 wrote:I've heard something about the dreaded right hand turn? I was just wondering why it's called that. Is a right hand turn harder to make than a left?

This is new to me... The only difficult right hand turn I know of is trying to make the right on Academy from the I-25. Or maybe trying to make the right hand turn into my parking spot...it is a tight downhill U turn and the parking lot still has sand on it from the snow storms.

Thanks Tenku. Thats kinda why I thought it was called the dreaded turn, I just wasn't sure. Now that I think about it, it makes since, a right turn is tighter. Hopefully I'll be able to get it down. Also, at slow speeds would you turn by steering the actual in the direction you want to go? Thanks! And sorry for all the newbie questions! lol

Heya! Well, first off I don't think with your legs you'll be able to ride a 250... I'm 6'2" and my knees get bruised just sitting one of those things!
As for a bike your size, with your height, you're looking at least at a 750... My Volusia, aka the Boulevard C50, was just about perfect for me, and it's the largest/longest bike in it's class.
As for the right hand turn, I don't think they're too bad, but I'm also one for scraping pegs and making all kinds of sparks fly in the corners...
Wrider

The first bit of advice is take the MSF Basic Rider Course before you do any serious bike shopping.

Aggie84 wrote:For my first bike I'm looking at something like the Honda Rebel 250 or the V-Star 250 . . . The only thing is I'm about 6'4"-6'5" . . .

Second, unless you've got VERY short legs for your height I don't think you'll be comfortable on a Rebel. I've got a 33" inseam, and was extremely uncomfortable on the Rebel. I haven't been on the V-star 250 (aka Virago 250), so I can't comment on that bike.

Like you, I initially thought I needed to get a 250-500cc bike to start with, but my instructor at the MSF course actually recommended I look at bigger bikes. I ended up with a V-star 650, but if I had more money I would have gotten something just a little bigger still. My instructor actually suggested I look at cruisers around 800cc.

Aggie84 wrote:Yes, I've riden a bicycle for many years. Is push steering where you push the left bar to the right to turn right?

Whoa! Stop right there!

I have ridden bicycles all my life and I had the same attitude when I began motorcycling. As a fellow bicyclist, let me tell you - I WAS DEAD WRONG!

Never, never, never, never think a motorcycle is like a bicycle!

They are NOT the same at all. The physics of moving around a 350-pound motorcycle at 40MPH does not compare to moving a 20-pound bicycle at 15MPH. They do not move the same. They are not controlled the same. Get it out of your head that it's like a bicycle.

Take it from someone who knows.

My first crash on my motorcycle was in gravel that I could have blown through like NOTHING on a BMX or mountain bike. Unfortunately, my Ninja 250 didn't have the same handling characteristics and I paid the price by flying over the handlebars at 40MPH.

Dragonhawk wrote:

Aggie84 wrote:Yes, I've riden a bicycle for many years. Is push steering where you push the left bar to the right to turn right?

Whoa! Stop right there!

I have ridden bicycles all my life and I had the same attitude when I began motorcycling. As a fellow bicyclist, let me tell you - I WAS DEAD WRONG!

Never, never, never, never think a motorcycle is like a bicycle!

They are NOT the same at all. The physics of moving around a 350-pound motorcycle at 40MPH does not compare to moving a 20-pound bicycle at 15MPH. They do not move the same. They are not controlled the same. Get it out of your head that it's like a bicycle.

Take it from someone who knows.

My first crash on my motorcycle was in gravel that I could have blown through like NOTHING on a BMX or mountain bike. Unfortunately, my Ninja 250 didn't have the same handling characteristics and I paid the price by flying over the handlebars at 40MPH.

I believe he meant countersteering works on both a bicycle and a motorcycle, which is true.

Skier wrote:

Dragonhawk wrote:

Aggie84 wrote:Yes, I've riden a bicycle for many years. Is push steering where you push the left bar to the right to turn right?

Whoa! Stop right there!

I have ridden bicycles all my life and I had the same attitude when I began motorcycling. As a fellow bicyclist, let me tell you - I WAS DEAD WRONG!

Never, never, never, never think a motorcycle is like a bicycle!

They are NOT the same at all. The physics of moving around a 350-pound motorcycle at 40MPH does not compare to moving a 20-pound bicycle at 15MPH. They do not move the same. They are not controlled the same. Get it out of your head that it's like a bicycle.

Take it from someone who knows.

My first crash on my motorcycle was in gravel that I could have blown through like NOTHING on a BMX or mountain bike. Unfortunately, my Ninja 250 didn't have the same handling characteristics and I paid the price by flying over the handlebars at 40MPH.

I believe he meant countersteering works on both a bicycle and a motorcycle, which is true.

Yes, but it's not a bad piece of advice anyway. The only useful skills you pick up from riding a bicycle that transfer to a motorcycle are road skills - getting the confidence to ride in traffic.

But Aggie asked, "Is push steering where you push the left bar to the right to turn right?" The answer is, no it isn't, and it isn't even what you do on a bicycle - at least it isn't if the bicycle is going anything other than very slowly.

Aggie, did you mean to say this? If not, then just for info you should know that on a motorcycle (or a bicycle) which is going more than a few miles an hour, you (gently) push the right bar to the left to turn right.

If you have not been told this before then it probably sounds crazy, but it's true. People ride motorcycles and bicycles all their lives without ever realising it. It is all down to the complex forces associated with the steering geometry of the bike - the way the wheels and forks are related to the frame and the way the front wheel lies on the road.

It is called counter-steering. You don't have to concern yourself with it right now. If you've been riding a bicycle then you'll be doing it naturally and will continue to do it on a motorcycle.

Tenku wrote:I've heard something about the dreaded right hand turn? I was just wondering why it's called that. Is a right hand turn harder to make than a left?
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Well a right hand turn is a tighter turn than a left hand turn...
When I first started riding, I was like the poster child for bad right hand turns!
Thankfully, I've gotten lots better!

For my MSF class when we did the Figure 8 test the you go into the box on the right side and then turn left. Everyone usually made the first turn, but when you had to make the right turn to start going in the other direction that's when people go outside the box.

As for the V-Star 250 (aka Virago), I have one and have ridden it about 45 miles everyday for the last 7 months. It will easily do 70-80 mph depending on wind conditions (we have strong winds most days). At first I felt a little bit cramped but after a few days it became very comfortable. I am not as tall as you (5'10" with a 32" inseam), but just make sure you are comforable.

I get 75 mpg and with a 2.5 gallon tank, I refill at about 100-120 miles and usually only put in about 1.5- 1.7 gallons per fill up. I could probably go more, but I've run out of gas in the middle of nowhere and don't want that to happen again.