Left Right?

[Redstar]

I don't have a preference and I am ambidextrous left handed writer but right handed (never mind!) find a figure 8 double roundabout (Silverdale off ramp) northern Motorway and go figure 8 lots of times train your brain its all in the mind.

[speedpro]

I'm perfectly good at crashing in either direction.

[Milky]

I have noticed that I find it easier to go round right hand corners. I think this is because i tend to stick too close to the edge of the road on lefties, and i cant see as much - hence not as confident. It could also be the bar on me bike which seems to be bent foward a bit on the left hand side. Will try to remedy that tomorrow and see if it makes any difference. At the moment it is particularly noticable when riding in a straight line and then weaving from side to side... I can drop the bike very easily into a rightie, but it takes longer for me to get it into a leftie. Maybe something to do with confidence, or technique with my legs/arms/shoulders... I dunno...

[Deano]

I have noticed that I find it easier to go round right hand corners. I think this is because i tend to stick too close to the edge of the road on lefties, and i cant see as much - hence not as confident. It could also be the bar on me bike which seems to be bent foward a bit on the left hand side. Will try to remedy that tomorrow and see if it makes any difference. At the moment it is particularly noticable when riding in a straight line and then weaving from side to side... I can drop the bike very easily into a rightie, but it takes longer for me to get it into a leftie. Maybe something to do with confidence, or technique with my legs/arms/shoulders... I dunno...

Milky,

you should also check that your rear wheel is aligned with the front when dead straight, using a string line. If the rear is at an angle to the front it is likely to tip in easier one way than the other.

[Posh Tourer :P]

No, I don't know what you are riding, but engine shapes, positioning of footpegs because of that, frame tube positions etc can be quite different on some bikes and sometimes only a few mm makes a difference as to how they feel, that's all - I wasn't taking the piss or even joking.

The beemer has a difference of as much as 30mm I guess (I havent measured it) in footpeg positioning. That is because the cylinders are slightly offset, and so are the carbs and therefore the pegs are too, to make it fit and look good.... (no motu thats not a contradiction)

[SPman]

I think there was a simular thread a few months ago about the preference of left to right handed turns.
Skyryder

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=2452

[dangerous]

No, I don't know what you are riding, but engine shapes, positioning of footpegs because of that, frame tube positions etc can be quite different on some bikes and sometimes only a few mm makes a difference as to how they feel, that's all - I wasn't taking the piss or even joking.

A good example of this is the Guzzi, while one cyl is touching your knee the other is 80mm away from the other knee... cos of a transverse V2 and the heavy flywheels on these bikes make the bike twist one way as does drive shaft bikes.

This subject came up on an American forum 'that I occasionaly post on and even though the yanks ride on the 'other' side of the road they too prefer the left.
There is as far as I know no irrefutable evidence of why the left is preferred over the right.
Someone on the American formum suggested that instability of the right hand grip, (throttle roll) where there is additional pressure in the turn, may produce an element of caution during the turn. I tend to think that this theory is as good as any.
Skyryder

I agree, mind you I too watched that US forum (Guzzi BTW) but as I just said above these are bikes with a difference, so put that aside and use a jap 4 as an example and you still find that lefts are prefured...... so this is why I recon its all in 'your head' and the fact that the throtle plays a big part in this topic as it dosent matter weather you drive on the left of the rd or the right or weather your eyes aye weird or what ever the common facter is the throtle grip position.

[750Y]

Thanks for the link SPman,
There seems to be quite a few different things going on here but I did come across a couple posts which made the most sense for me.
Just to clarify, I don't prefer either direction & definitely don't need to do figure 8s to sort it out(thanks anyway Red). i was just noticing that there is a difference in the effort required steering wise to clear 'seemingly similar' degree bends (left vs right).
The two things that seemed to provide the answer i was seeking were from

Left handers are tighter.
Think about it, we drive on the left hand side of the road so all left handers are tighter than the other side of the road as it is the inner circumference. This means you are used to cranking it in to LHrs & they are tighter so you lean more.

&

You 'appear' to lean the bike further to the right - as the angle between the bike and the road is already less than 90deg due to the camber....therefore it actually takes less lean

now that it is in perspective for me I can now let it go and get on with it.
cheers all for the help, i thought i was going nuts & riding lopsided 8-) phew...