left or right

**Motu** · 1st April 2004, 22:59

Well,it does lift the bike,but it bends in the middle,giving the impression of the bike rising.The driveshaft is rotating around the rear axle making the driveshaft go up,also on another plane the crownwheel is trying to rotate around the pinion,lots of things happening back there.

First time I got on a Guzzi...I went down a quiet back street and popped a full on tyre smoking start,feet on the pegs as I started to move...then I felt the whole bike start to rotate anticlockwise,the front wheel was in the air,the back tyre spinning,so I had no way to control it.If I hadn't a got some traction I felt it would of just rolled onto it's side!

**bungbung** · 2nd April 2004, 08:53

Going back to the cornering,

Most people seem to have a preference for one direction over the other. For myself, left handers feel more comfy.

Question - do your chicken strips back this up?

On my front tyre the strips are identical. I can't say for sure on the back, its a bit messy

**Posh Tourer :P** · 2nd April 2004, 13:07

Gravel makes your chicken strips unreadable sometimes....They ought to back it up, but you may be preferring one side, and pushing yourself harder on the other, if you see what I mean... Ie you dont like the right, but feel like you are going further when you really arent

**dangerous** · 2nd April 2004, 18:58

Originally Posted by Motu

First time I got on a Guzzi...I went down a quiet back street and popped a full on tyre smoking start,feet on the pegs as I started to move...then I felt the whole bike start to rotate anticlockwise,the front wheel was in the air,the back tyre spinning,so I had no way to control it.If I hadn't a got some traction I felt it would of just rolled onto it's side!

going back to Guzzi

Weeeeheeeee ya gota love em, they are one of a kind

**Skyryder** · 2nd April 2004, 21:25

Well it looks like the lefties won. Same as the States and they drive on the other side than us. So it has nothing to do with the camber. Seem to recall some lefthanders both here and in the states prefering the left hand turn so being left or right handed does not appear to be the reason. I tend it to think that it has to do with the throttle and the stability of the hand grips. But having said that................there my well be another reason. I am a little intrigued by this. Still would love to know what the woman prefer. I have a sneaky suspician that they may well prefer the opposite from the guys.

Skyryder

**Big Dog** · 2nd April 2004, 22:25

My right is 1 inch narrower. And the tread is shallower. This could be becuase there are lots of big rights going to and from work with only one left in each direction worth mentioning. All the rest of the lefts are cambered all wrong.

**wkid_one** · 2nd April 2004, 22:42

Originally Posted by Big Dog

My right is 1 inch narrower. And the tread is shallower. This could be becuase there are lots of big rights going to and from work with only one left in each direction worth mentioning. All the rest of the lefts are cambered all wrong.

It was weird for me....I hated right hand corners - yet my tyres indicated I leant the bike further on the right hand side. I got used to liking RH corners after many stints and Puke - where if you don't like RHers don't bother going.

**pete376403** · 4th April 2004, 17:57

Normal road camber will wear the right side of the tyres more then the left, even when running in a straight line. Turning left you use the camber to your advantage, even tho the bike is leaning, relative to the road surface the tyre is not far off vertical . In a right turn the camber works against you, so the chicken strips indicate you were way over, but you might not have been.
(this was so easy to sketch on paper, and so hard to explain in words)

**Hitcher** · 4th April 2004, 18:13

I was a bit apprehensive of right-handers for a few thousand km after losing the Zrex on the 'takas. However my mojo returned on the Milford road!

**wkid_one** · 4th April 2004, 18:30

Originally Posted by pete376403

Normal road camber will wear the right side of the tyres more then the left, even when running in a straight line. Turning left you use the camber to your advantage, even tho the bike is leaning, relative to the road surface the tyre is not far off vertical . In a right turn the camber works against you, so the chicken strips indicate you were way over, but you might not have been.
(this was so easy to sketch on paper, and so hard to explain in words)

Sorry I was referring to the race track as per my post- which is usually camber neutral or positive - where I got over further on the right hand side than the left even tho right felt more 'uncomfortable' - however interestly enuf - even with the weird feeling - it was easy to knee down to the right

Yes - roads are cambered from the centre out to allow rain run off....I wouldn't bother looking at my road chicken strips for this reason.

**Posh Tourer :P** · 4th April 2004, 20:41

Originally Posted by wkid_one

Yes - roads are cambered from the centre out to allow rain run off....I wouldn't bother looking at my road chicken strips for this reason.

Why not? You are still pushing the bike relative to the road surface.... If you go further on one side according to chicken strips while riding on the road, it is a lesson to get you to push a bit harder on the other cos you obviously are able to and just dont want to.

**wkid_one** · 5th April 2004, 07:34

Originally Posted by Posh Tourer :P

Why not? You are still pushing the bike relative to the road surface.... If you go further on one side according to chicken strips while riding on the road, it is a lesson to get you to push a bit harder on the other cos you obviously are able to and just dont want to.

Because it will always show you corner harder to the right - where in actual fact you don't due to the camber of the road.

If you are pushing the bike you won't have chicken strips anyway - I only had them on the front - which I wasn't to concerned about given it is the rear wheel, I used them as a gauge as to how I was turning in to corners. Given that the rear steers the bike mid corner anyway (don't argue this point please - have you ever pulled a mid corner wheelie and still stayed on line), no chicken strips on the rear I was happy I was using the whole footprint of the tyre.

**wkid_one** · 5th April 2004, 07:37

RIght handers are apparently a common side to be tentative about - I have read it is due to the fact that when cornering to the left - it appears as if you have a whole lot more road to play with (ie: the other lane) - whereas when cornering to the right - if you fuck it up, you end up in the marbles or worse. In the States on R1-Forum it seems to be the other way around.

**Posh Tourer :P** · 5th April 2004, 19:03

Originally Posted by wkid_one

Because it will always show you corner harder to the right - where in actual fact you don't due to the camber of the road.

Doesnt how hard you push a bike rely on how much grip your tyres have? therefore the relevant measure ie what chicken strips measure is how leaned over your tyres are relative to the road ie the bit directly under the tyres (camber is irrelevant here)? I agree that you may be naturally inclined to lean further relative to the immediate road surface on the right as it appears to be not so bad when you look at the bigger picture, but how far your tyres show is the ultimate indicator of how fast you can go. So if you go further over on your tyres on one side, then you can reasonably expect to be able to push it that far on the other side.
(On another note, I do note that a cambered road will wear you tyres with a slight bias when you go in a straight line, but cornering need not be so. With the camber you can go faster in terms of road speed round a leftie cos it is cambered advantageously. You shouldnt be able to lean further one way the the other though.)

**dangerous** · 5th April 2004, 19:04

Originally Posted by wkid_one

RIght handers are apparently a common side to be tentative about - I have read it is due to the fact that when cornering to the left - it appears as if you have a whole lot more road to play with (ie: the other lane) - whereas when cornering to the right - if you fuck it up, you end up in the marbles or worse. In the States on R1-Forum it seems to be the other way around.

Agree to disagree there fella, Cos like Skyryder and I said, on a US Guzzi site (a bunch of oll farts anyway) the results were the same as here in a poll on this subject

Ps: don't argue this point please - have you ever pulled a mid corner wheelie and still stayed on line