Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I am getting ready to get my temps and take my first MSF course. I have a couple questions...

Counter steering- You just use this when you want to make extremely quick menuvors like moving out of the way of a big rock on the road right?

DO you counter steer when turning from one street to anouther? Or do you just lean? (like at a 4 way stop or something lets say you are coming to a stop and then are going to turn....to the right)

And when riding on the highway/freeway and going around banks or the slight curves of the road do you just lean into the turn a bit?

I know after like 2 times on a bike I will learn all of this, but I was just wondering...Thanks!

Since i'm utter crap at explaining stuff like this, i'd tell you to ask the MSF folks. you're going to be up to your eyeballs in new information and experiences.

but please...dont hop on your bike after the first msf day and go balls out down the freeway.

well dont go balls out in public anywhere if you can help it. people look at you weird.

Counter-steering is typically used at slow speeds while performing tight turns. It's hard for me to relate in words to you, but if you have a small bicycle - bust it out and head for an empty parking lot. Get a little bit of speed on the bicycle and counter steer without pedaling. It's exactly the same concept on a motorcycle.

NEWBIE51 wrote:Counter steering- You just use this when you want to make extremely quick menuvors like moving out of the way of a big rock on the road right?

No. Countersteering can be used for all direction changes. Threshold effective speed varies by model of bike, but is generally stated as anything over 15 mph.

NEWBIE51 wrote:DO you counter steer when turning from one street to anouther? Or do you just lean?

Sure. For example, I turn into my home street at 20-25 mph. Faster if I'm feeling good. Need to lean the bike to do that. Countersteering is the most effective way to lean a bike.

NEWBIE51 wrote:(like at a 4 way stop or something lets say you are coming to a stop and then are going to turn....to the right)

When starting and turning from a stop, I actually get the bike rolling straight for an instant before I initiate a lean.

NEWBIE51 wrote:And when riding on the highway/freeway and going around banks or the slight curves of the road do you just lean into the turn a bit?

To change directions, the bike must lean. Countersteering is most effective at leaning the bike. On a slight bend, your steering input will also be very small. Almost like you're just "thinking" the lean.

For a hard turn at speed, (e.g. to the left) I push on the left handlebar, put some leftward pressure on the right side of the tank with my right leg, and some downward pressure on the left peg with my left foot. Some folks also prefer to pull a little on the right handlebar. Different kinds of bikes may require modification of the technique, my experiences are on a mid-size standard.

Ooo ok I think I got it....

so the counter steering is just a way to initate a lean of the bike....

and is a real quick "push" on the oposite handle bar....and then once you get the lean, you then steer the handle bars in the direction of the turn right? and then when coming out of the turn just ease the pressure off the handle bars and the bike will up right itself right?

But did most of you notice once you ogt on a bike this all came to you rather quickly...maybe I am just over thinking all of this stuff?

You are over-thinking it.

I assume you've ridden a bicycle? If so, for mild turning, your body will automatically "know" what to do and do it to keep the motorcycle headed in the right direction.

Only in more extreme cornering do you need to learn a "technique" which you'll have to think about at first. Otherwise you'll target-fixate, tense up, and go straight off the road.

re: attitude of handlebars once the lean is initiated..... I've seen people debate this topic endlessly on internet forums. You may get a lot of different answers on this point.....

I am sure once I get on one at the MSF course I will be good to go. Thanks for the help guys!

One of the all-time best explanations of all this is in David Hough's book, "Proficient Motorcycling." Strongly recommended, worth every penny (and it's not all that expensive.)

Bachstrad37 wrote:Counter-steering is typically used at slow speeds while performing tight turns. It's hard for me to relate in words to you, but if you have a small bicycle - bust it out and head for an empty parking lot. Get a little bit of speed on the bicycle and counter steer without pedaling. It's exactly the same concept on a motorcycle.

This is actually completely wrong, the faster you are moving the more important it is to countersteer. At slow speeds you steer regularly, at high speeds you need counter steer.

Counter steering application depends on the situation, if you need to turn very quickly a quick solid shove while you look where you want to go will get you there. If you are approaching a long sweeper then you push the handlebar out smoothly and surely. The key is to just be smooth with the bars and push them as you need to.

an interesting bit of reading about how motorcycles steer

http://www.superbikeschool.com/machiner ... achine.php

**sorry, took me a while to find the link heh