Left vs righthand corners?

**ellipsis** · 31st March 2011, 23:43

...it's all in the head...

**Elysium** · 1st April 2011, 04:45

Originally Posted by schrodingers cat

When I returned to riding I bought a second hand sports bike off a guy who rode pretty upright all the time.
Initially I thought that the uncomfortable feeling I was getting in right handers was totally me. Something I was or wasn't doing.

I fitted fresh tyres and the problem went away.

Something about how the last bloke rode caused scalloping in behind the sipe on the RHS (only) of the front tyre.

It was spooky as hell

Scalloping is where you get a flat area in the centre of the tyre? Think my rear has this issue when I got my bike. Front tyre is also Shinko which seems to feel like it it's sliding slightly when I do tight cornering at speed.

**LBD** · 1st April 2011, 04:47

The gyroscopic effect of the rotating masses....wheels in particular....means the bike prefers a left turn.

Get a bicycle front wheel and hold the axle in your left hand. With your right hand, spin the wheel in what would be the forward direction and the wheel will want to turn to the left

**slofox** · 1st April 2011, 04:51

Originally Posted by sil3ntwar

I bet those who drive on the right hand side of the road hate left handers!

I have read on Amerikan forums that this is the case...

Originally Posted by wanpo

I've heard it's common to be less confident on the direction you had your first off.

In that case, I should be less confident in a straight line...

Originally Posted by Maha

Are you right or left handed?

Yeah - I wonder about lateral dominance as well...

I seem to have overcome this difference - to some extent anyway. More confident than I was in the right handers.

My just swapped out front tyre was much more worn on the right side than the left...makes no sense to me. But then nothing makes sense to me anyway...

**slofox** · 1st April 2011, 06:06

Originally Posted by Elysium

Scalloping is where you get a flat area in the centre of the tyre? Think my rear has this issue when I got my bike. Front tyre is also Shinko which seems to feel like it it's sliding slightly when I do tight cornering at speed.

Flat area on the shoulder - not in the centre.

**boman** · 1st April 2011, 06:08

Originally Posted by slofox

My just swapped out front tyre was much more worn on the right side than the left...makes no sense to me. But then nothing makes sense to me anyway...

The Road camber causes this. I was told.

I found that by relaxing my left arm, sorta pretend you have a throttle in it, look through the corner, pick your mark and my right hand cornering improved a shite load almost straight away.

**javawocky** · 1st April 2011, 08:03

Yeah, next time you are on the road take note of which way its slopping.

I remember way back in the day when I started MX that I had this favorite left or right corner thing. For the life of my now I can't remember which side it was because after a few race meetings you become equally comfortable with either side.

To overcome this problem try the following. Go to your local Park and Ride or what ever parking lot doesn't have many cars around. Put some cones or something on the ground and make a figure 8 and start practicing corners. Work on all aspects of the corner, throttle application, body position etc then start gradually leaning over more and putting the gas on a little harder and sooner.

Thought it was time to stop when I saw 80kph on the speed

**SILVER SUZI** · 1st April 2011, 08:51

Go do a few track days. If you are pushing it, you will be concerntrating on so much other stuff that you will forget you "handedness". Depending on where you go you may also get some great advise from instructors.

**george formby** · 1st April 2011, 09:54

Lots of pertinent opinions here.

I know I bang on about it but visibility is the key for me. I approach a right hander hard to the left of my lane, not in the kerb though, to maximise my visibility through the corner. Once I can see through the corner or the vanishing point starts to move away, I can aim for an apex to take me through the corner safely & usually quickly or stay wide to avoid the camper van / logging truck / myopic pensioner using my bit of road.

Perhaps the biggest thing with left / right corner preferences is planning before the corner rather than in it.

**CookMySock** · 1st April 2011, 10:05

Originally Posted by boman

I found that by relaxing my left arm, sorta pretend you have a throttle in it, look through the corner, pick your mark and my right hand cornering improved a shite load almost straight away.

Yeah this really important. It's critical to not lean on the bars, but just steer by linearly applying a little forward bar-force (not displacement) to gently adjust your line. If you haven't forced yourself to do this from day one it can be nearly impossible for it to be automatic later on, and that can take years and years to fix, if it's fixable at all.

**schrodingers cat** · 2nd April 2011, 06:43

Originally Posted by Elysium

Scalloping is where you get a flat area in the centre of the tyre? Think my rear has this issue when I got my bike. Front tyre is also Shinko which seems to feel like it it's sliding slightly when I do tight cornering at speed.

No. Scalloping is a slight hollow in the rubber. If was off center on the right hand side and behind the water channel (sipe) moulded into the tyre.

The front tyre was still fairly triangular.

The rear had a pronounced flat section in the center. This certainly made the bike feel unstable in transitions as the contact patch width became very thin as the bike tipped in. Once heeled over the grip increased again.
This sensation however was the same turning left or right.
I reshaped the rear with a surform file as a short term 'band aid'. It helped a bit but nothing like the feeling of a new tyre with good profile

**scracha** · 2nd April 2011, 08:32

Funny, I'm far more confident throwing it over into a right hander. I'm more worried about losing it on a left and going splat into oncoming traffic.

**Woodman** · 2nd April 2011, 08:41

i have the same issue, but turning left is always harder for me. Talking mainly in an offroad/gravel situation but onroad it is there too. Dunno why and it bugs the hell outta me but its always been like that.
Maybe we could stereotype people depending on which way they prefer to turn.

**Metastable** · 2nd April 2011, 09:05

I agree with the comment that said it is all in the head. Assuming there isn't something wrong with the bike. A good way to see if it is the bike ......is to go on an even stretch of road (no slope) and let go of the bars. Does it pull to either side? If no, then you should be OK as long as the tires aren't messed up.

So, cure = track school. Trackdays are great, but if you are doing something wrong and don't know about it, then you might keep on doing the same thing. People often have a different body position depending which way they are turning. At a school, you can get help from riders who know what they are talking about and they can get you out of bad habits. After that, go do some trackdays to polish things off a bit more. Then street riding should feel very natural and you won't even think about things like that anymore.

FYI as far as the bike being the problem it could be:
- front to rear wheel alignment as mentioned before
- your front fork pinch bolts could possibly be holding the lower pars of your forks in a slightly twisted manner. Loosen the pinch bolts and bounce the front by grabbing on the front brakes and (engine not on) rocking the bike.... then tighten them back up.
- forks could be twisted... something twisted with frame/triple tree or swingarm, I don't know if you guys have a http://gmd-computrack.com/ location in NZ or something similar... they can check for straightness.