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Last week I was going around a wide sweeping left turn of about a 100 foot radius. I entered the turn at a moderate speed and discovered I had not turned sharp enough. I used counter steering to sharpen my turn. I gently pushed the left hand side of the handelbar foward and the bike sharpened its' turn.
1) That seemed to be the right thing to do.???
2) If one is in a left turn and wants to change direction to straight or a right, should the right hand handel bar be used or pushed to move the bike into the other direction?

Should counter steering be used to bring a bike out of a turn?

I don't think it is push forward as it is push down, but I could be wrong. For the most part I just 'do' it and I need to work on my level of awareness in declining radius turns.

RhadamYgg

redwing wrote:Last week I was going around a wide sweeping left turn of about a 100 foot radius. I entered the turn at a moderate speed and discovered I had not turned sharp enough. I used counter steering to sharpen my turn. I gently pushed the left hand side of the handelbar foward and the bike sharpened its' turn.
1) That seemed to be the right thing to do.???

Yup.

redwing wrote:2) If one is in a left turn and wants to change direction to straight or a right, should the right hand handel bar be used or pushed to move the bike into the other direction?

I do this unconciously so I've got to stop and think. I believe I simply relax the pressure on the left bar and add a little throttle - the bike stands right up, which means it will go straight. Only push the right bar if you need to immediately transition into a right turn.

redwing wrote:Should counter steering be used to bring a bike out of a turn?

Generally no, see above.

I recommend you buy yourself a copy of David Hough's book "Proficient Motorcycling". It is an excellent presentation of all the basics of controlling a motorcycle. Even veteran riders can usually get useful tips from this book. I re-read my copy about once a year.

RhadamYgg wrote:I don't think it is push forward as it is push down, but I could be wrong. For the most part I just 'do' it and I need to work on my level of awareness in declining radius turns.

RhadamYgg

It's a push forward, not down. I believe it was Larry Grodsky who said you could probably stand on the handgrip at highway speeds and the bike wouldn't turn.

He requested you send him a video if you do try this.

You can also steer by "pushing" on the pegs as well. On a fast paced twisties, the ball of your foot should be on the pegs and you steer using your whole body including counter steering as well as peg steering.

Thanks for everybodies interest. I got good advice. I bought David Hough's book in November of last year. I read most of his book and remembered reading about counter steering but missed or it didn't register the 2 or 3 paragraphs about counter steering in a turn.

Also squeezing the tanks with your knees and applying weight to the pegs is another good tip.

These machines are a real puzzle, but fun

Thanks Again .... Really Good Advice

Skier wrote:

RhadamYgg wrote:I don't think it is push forward as it is push down, but I could be wrong. For the most part I just 'do' it and I need to work on my level of awareness in declining radius turns.

RhadamYgg

It's a push forward, not down. I believe it was Larry Grodsky who said you could probably stand on the handgrip at highway speeds and the bike wouldn't turn.

He requested you send him a video if you do try this.

And yet almost all of us push down to some degree or other, until we learn to discipline ourselves not to. It took me a fair while to register this. Every effort you put into pushing down on the bars is an effort wasted. The more you direct your effort horizontally against the bar (the plane in which it turns), the more effective your counter-steering becomes and the less energy you waste.

redwing wrote:Thanks for everybodies interest. I got good advice. I bought David Hough's book in November of last year. I read most of his book and remembered reading about counter steering but missed or it didn't register the 2 or 3 paragraphs about counter steering in a turn.

Also squeezing the tanks with your knees and applying weight to the pegs is another good tip.

These machines are a real puzzle, but fun

Thanks Again .... Really Good Advice

When I was learning to ride last summer I read Hough's book and then went out and tried to learn to countersteer. It was a disaster and I almost dropped the bike. So I just forgot about it. About 8 months later--when I had more than 10,000 miles under my belt--I started thinking about it again. I didn't do anything I wasn't already doing but just started paying attention to what my hands were doing in turns and curves. Darned if I wasn't countersteering. So if I ever try to teach someone to ride, my advice on countersteering is going to be, "fagedda bout it. It will happen."

Once you realise it is automatic and start to do it conciously you will have much more control in bends with less "threepenny bitting" as we say in the UK, that is picking it up and putting it down several times in the corners.

Have you taken the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class yet? I ask because you seem to have a few very basic questions that they would have answered in the class. I'd hate to hear about you and your BMW splattered across the pavement because you hadn't had the basic education.