Countersteering

[pritch]

007 its kinda like karate kid--wax on wax off.
Isolate individual things then put them together as a package

That's good.

I am looking at another skill, a non-biker one, which I need to re-learn. The advice is to start slow, concentrate on correct form one element at a time at first. Learn to be smooth then gradually up the pace.

That works just as well for riding.

It's possible that everybody who ever rode a motorbike countersteered but until relatively recent years (and the advent of high speed photography?) nobody knew. What we specifically practice now is a mildly exaggerated form which happens to be the fastest way to change direction, short of ricocheting off a solid object.

There are other ways of steering, eg you can steer just by varying your weight on the pedals. The alternatives may not be as quick or as precise but they all have their place.

[MacD]

Oh, yeah.

You know you're a biker if:

- Your propensity to get dragged into debates on the physics of countersteering causes you to miss a short time window of opportunity to shag your girlfriend before you have to go out for the evening!

God damn it.

Or maybe that's just how you know if you're a geek.

Well I'm married so that's no longer an issue , and I know I'm a geek so...

Here's an article on countersteering, but its written by an academic so nobody will believe a word of it!

Countersteering is used to initiate turns and is best thought of as a lean adjustment tool. Once leaned over the steering head rotates back towards the expected direction for the turn (ie. right for a right turn). During a turn you can use countersteering to either increase or decrease the lean angle and hence the turn radius.

Another interesting point in the article is a discussion of how "no hands" steering occurs, by using a weight shift to induce a countersteering action.

Also the engineers on KB might like a job at Imperial College, London!

[jrandom]

Cool paper! Makes good intuitive sense.

So, centrifugal force, not gyroscopic, eh?

I can live with that.

I did leave the office with a niggling feeling that I should probably have done some back-of-envelope checking on my strident assertions vis-a-vis the importance of the spinning masses involved.

Sometimes the simplest explanation really is the correct one.

[Deano]

yourself...and I...will get together...and methodically do an experiment or 20...I will provide the bike...and we will approch all this from every angle we can..and then do a theasis and post it on KB...along with how every test was conducted.

keen?

Countersteering is a myth perpetuated by half wits, trying to pull the chain of the uninformed. Don't believe it - you'll crash.

Conversely, when the front end is shaking it's head off through the undulating twisties, it pays to be leaning over the front wheel while countersteering or you might get a nasty case of the slappers.

[Deano]

That's BS - a Suzuki Centrifuge could never crush James Bond.

[Deano]

to put it very very basically he goes left on lefts, right on rights

What about straights ? Do they go down or does that depend on their sexual orientation ?

[justsomeguy]

Best countersteering moment - pushing and pulling with both hands at the kink on the back straight of Puke All the other corners are lean angle moments......

Just ride the damn bike and it will come to ya. Or go to the RRRS course - search the site to find what that means.

[justsomeguy]

What about straights ? Do they go down or does that depend on their sexual orientation ?

Look at us sad fecks talking about countersteering on a Fri night.....

[Deano]

Best countersteering moment - pushing and pulling with both hands at the kink on the back straight of Puke All the other corners are lean angle moments......
.

Did you miss the apex or run wide ? Or were you doing 400KPH ?

Two hand steering is for the Taka's bro. (or tighter corners than 'the kink')

[Deano]

Look at us sad fecks talking about countersteering on a Fri night.....

So sad I had to take the piss...lol

[Patch]

. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . . .. . . . .. . and "contact patch".

why?? don't bring me into this lame cock contest. Good ole Frosty had good intentions but you sad fukkers had to turn it into sumthin else didn't ya,




pack of sad littl' fukkers

[MacD]

So, centrifugal force, not gyroscopic, eh?

Excellent cartoon, I was wondering if anybody was going to question the centrifugal force aspect!?

Anyhow, Frosty's original point is a good one. Even if people intuitively use passive countersteering to turn, practicing it helps reinforce it as an active technique for getting around those "oh crap" corners and for avoiding objects on the road.

why?? don't bring me into this lame cock contest. Good ole Frosty had good intentions but you sad fukkers had to turn it into sumthin else didn't ya,

Some people like to understand why things work, rather than just accepting dogma, sorry if that offends.

[cowpoos]

So sad I had to take the piss...lol

hows the hangover this morning? lol

[justsomeguy]

Did you miss the apex or run wide ? Or were you doing 400KPH ?

Two hand steering is for the Taka's bro. (or tighter corners than 'the kink')

270 indicated - never got out of Castrol nicely enough to get any more speed and 270+ on a 600 is tough without more room. Use two hands as it makes the bike feel more stable to me, I must be doing something wrong then as I've only every used two hands for higher speeds, pushing with one hand has been enough all around Taupo....only been on the Takas once and they are scary

[MSTRS:Me]

....only been on the Takas once and they are scary

That depends on the weather. And whether you can countersteer well. Or not.
In the case of the 'Takas, countersteering refers to the necessity of steering counter to the wind in order to stay on the tarry stuff.