Doh!! Countersteering made simple!!!!

[Vicken]

I like this video better
YouTube - 3-24-07 - countersteering is simple and easy
Skip to 1:20 if you just wanna see the demonstration.

[cruiserone]

Originally Posted by 95 Zx6R 2 GsXr

What is countersteering?
Hopefully this will hellp alot of people here become safer riders, maybe a Mod could sticky if the subject hasnt already been explained here in a video with a good demonstration.

Really good !!! I am back to riding after 25 years and nobody told me something about countersteering those days when I did my licence 31 years ago ! But after reading + talking I found out what it is and how to use it.
These video clips will help lots of ( young and ) unexperienced riders.
It has to be STICKY !!! So mods - do your business !

Thanks for sharing

Cheers from downunder

[Guitar7272]

Originally Posted by 95 Zx6R 2 GsXr

when you push on the bar, your pushing it down not forward right? pushing it down increases lean angle correct? and the bike naturally wants to stand up if its moving at speed correct??? So if you push down on the right and the bike goes to the right, how is that counter anything

No, you aren't pushing down vertically (ie towards the ground) - you are pushing the bars horizontally away from you. The way they taught it in my MSF class to turn right was "look right, push right, go right". To go left you would "look left, push left, go left". Other people will tell you to pull on the opposite handlebar, ie "look right, pull left, go right"... whether you're pulling on the opposite side or pushing on the same side, the handlebar does the same exact thing. The counter part comes from the fact that you are turning the wheel in the opposite direction of your turn (in a right turn you're pushing the right bar forward which causes the front wheel to turn left).

It sounds counter intuitive but it works.

[stefano]

My only input into this conversation is to KEEP THINGS SIMPLE.

Lots of times I read and hear people who try to learn new techniques - in any sport - and just overcomplicate matters to the extent that they can't even put them into practice because when they try... they are thinking about 20 different things instead of just one!!!

I also "learned" countersteering by reading up about it on the net and put it into practice all by myself. It only takes one go to realise how it works. Making it second nature will take time, but it really isn't complicated.

All you have to do is just ride in a straight line, at about 25 m/h (fast enough to feel the effect, slow enough to remain within your comfort zone), and consciously turn the handlebar one way or the other. You will INSTANTLY feel that the bike dips in the OPPOSITE direction. Don't worry about the rest. Don't worry about re-correcting the handlebar, or keeping it pushed, or whatever... you will straighten the bike up again naturally. Trust me.

Once you get the basics down start applying it into turns. That's all there is to it.

Good luck and enjoy it - countersteering is the single technique that has most changed and improved my riding skills

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by stefano

I also "learned" countersteering by reading up about it on the net and put it into practice all by myself. It only takes one go to realise how it works. Making it second nature will take time, but it really isn't complicated.

You didn't "learn it", and it's already 2nd nature for anyone who has ridden a bicycle.

You simply became AWARE of what you have always been doing in turns at speed, and that awareness made you a better, more confident rider because you knew exactly what to do when you turn radius decreased on you or you had to make some other type of correction.

A 2-WHEELED VEHICLE WILL NOT TURN WITHOUT COUNTERSTEERING.

Everyone "does" it... they simply may not know what they are doing.

[ZeroPunch]

Rich it's a zen thing you must be one with the bike.

I got the Weaving Wonder Award in my MSF class for doing the cones so well and that is just at 15-20 mi all counter steering and looking ahead past the next cone. Every time I take the bike out I hit the industrial park next to my sub-division and do a run through of the basics including a little weaving at 20-25 mph and it's all push and lean, push and lean, push and lean. There are a few swooping S curves, we have a fancy industrial park, with a 35 mph limit I push all the way through right on right left on left just a loose hand on the opposite grip I actually in the short time I've been riding I feel more confident on the counter steering than I do on slow speed turns at intersections. Just look through push and lean and I come out where I looked.

I think what confuses people is that the pivot point changes with the lean and so they think the tire is pointed in another direction if their pushing but that's all that technical physics stuff that they really don't need to understand and would give most of them a headache trying to.

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by ZeroPunch

Rich it's a zen thing you must be one with the bike.

Bingo.
A lot of people get screwed up because they try to over-think something that truly is natural.

As long as you remember "head and eyes", everything else will follow.

[AZ250Rider]

I gotta go with Rich on this one. Although I have been riding for over 30 years I still think too much is put into riding a bike. We had a rider go off the road into the dirt on a corner at a speed of 45 MPH. He said the bike wouldn't turn. I say the bike wouldn't turn cause he was looking were he was going and not were he wanted to go, which was through the corner. I have road the same road, same corner at 65+ and my bike always went were I wanted it to go as that's were I look. Do I counter steer. I guess I do, never gave it much thought. Too busy having a great ride. Want to get to know what your bike will or will not do? Find a vacant lot and practice some turns. Ride safe, have fun and most of all, don't make this any harder than it has to be LOL

[Sabre2007/900]

People we were doing it when we rode our bicycles as children. It is the natural laws of physics, action and reaction. No need to get technical about it. Do what your eyes and head tell you comes naturally. If you had to think about it to do it we would be in deep crap. There simply isn't time to think about it in an emergency situation. Reviewing the ones I've personally experienced this natural reaction was the saving grace. Just looking between moving vehicles with no concious thought got my fanny into the safe zone. The steering thing was all subconcious, no cognitive thought at all. Face the facts, if you have to think about it, it will be to late in an emergency. Ride safe everyone.

[Army_of_Ninja]

just whatever you do dont hit the brakes on a steep angle curve because you see a patch of gravel on the road. Trust me. lol

[Sivad87]

Rich is completely right, basically all you are doing is acting against the forces trying to highside you providing you the balance to go through the corner.

The way i figured this out is go through a normal corner at a speed you normally take it let say a left hander at 40mph. if you give the bars just a little bit of input to the right what do you notice? your lean angle increases and such your turn gets tighter. lessen the input and your turn gets wider and lean angle gets smaller. Just be a little bit more aware of what you are doing naturally and it all comes to you.

[95 Zx6R 2 GsXr]

Well we've all heard it but this is the worst example ive seen so far
Female Racer Crashes into Another Wrecked Motorcycle - NothingToxic.com
sorry ladies, i didnt film nor post the vid, please dont flame me

[RichLockyer]

Perfect example of "where you look is where you go"
She was doing perfect, and as the bike slid out and off the road, you could perfectly see her bike straighten up and track it.

[Seadog1967]

Well even though it's below freezing today I couldn't take it and went for a ride. It was late morning and not much traffic on the side roads. The roads were clear of ice and water run off so while out I started to think about all this counter steering talk. Never really paid attention to how I was doing my curves really. Just did them. Sooo while I had the road to myself I applied what you all have been discussing here. Low and behold I was counter steering. Have been doing it but didn't realize it. Just something we usually do subconsciously. It's great when you learn a new/old thing.

[maximum_babe]

Countersteering came naturally to me, i guess from those teenage years of watching Freddie Spencer and all...
It became obvious to me when i started riding. I had no idea how to slow down properly at a very tight U-turn, and ended up doing an S-turn instead to avoid slamming straight into a gas station. Phew! I don't think i've managed to lean that low again since then.

What i'd like to know is....
I've been told that with cruisers, you need to apply pressure on the left foot when leaning right to go right. It seems that only applies on cruisers in order to avoid lowsiding. Anyone know anything about that?

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by maximum_babe

I've been told that with cruisers, you need to apply pressure on the left foot when leaning right to go right. It seems that only applies on cruisers in order to avoid lowsiding. Anyone know anything about that?

Never heard that one.
"Pressing" on the pegs does nothing unless you are also shifting your a$$ in the seat... and then the same physics apply that apply to a sportbike or any other bike.

On a dirtbike, you tend to want to "weight" the outside peg, but it's a little different because you are normally not actually seated, so you and the bike are two separate balance "systems" connected by the pegs and, to a much lesser degree, the grips.