Riding tip of the week.

[Nelly]

Quite simply, i love this thread. Thanks Mark.

[8_ball]

Ive found myself moving my head more, not just turning it but also whilst in the bend tilting my head too (almost like there is a spirt level on my forehead) bizare as it may seem it does make a more stable bend and at higher speeds too.. 8-)
however I do find it really hard to relax and do this when cold, I find myself saying to myself ' except the cold and relax' and your body seems to shudder and then warm !!!!
wierd as it sounds I know

PS cheers Mark for this thread, the tips are brill

[ozzie]

just found this thread mark and has given me a idea. what about an eve or sat/ sun giving a open chat by yourself about all these riding skills, if theres enought interested. of course at the school and a small fee, say £5-or so from all to cover your time. might even be able to do bbq as well. anyone think this a good idea or not.

[8_ball]

just found this thread mark and has given me a idea. what about an eve or sat/ sun giving a open chat by yourself about all these riding skills, if theres enought interested. of course at the school and a small fee, say £5-or so from all to cover your time. might even be able to do bbq as well. anyone think this a good idea or not.

now thats a good idea 8-)

[evil_daddy]

did someone say countersteering

[Swanny]

Don't use just the front brake on wet grass

[Mark_Able]

21. Counter-steering. Here we go then (got my beer in hand, cos this will be a long one). We all counter-steer. You may not even know what counter-steering is, but you have used it. Fact: you cannot lean a bike to any degree without counter-steering. Without getting into the technical side, just try it. When you come to a left-hand bend, gently apply pressure (push forward) on the left handlebar. Result: the bike leans left. When you come to a right-hand bend, apply pressure to the right handlebar. Result: the bike leans right. The more pressure you apply, the more it leans. The quicker you apply the pressure, the quicker it leans. It doesn't matter if the bike is already leaning, apply more pressure and it'll lean more. Now this should be a 'forward' push on the bar, not a 'downward' push, so make sure your arms are flexed at the elbows, and you're not riding straight armed with your elbows locked.

a) You need to counter-steer to start the lean. You should choose the exact moment you want to lean, then push. Then, to keep the bike leaned over, you need to keep some pressure on the bar. As soon as you start to relax the pressure, the bike starts to right itself.
b) To lean quickly, push quickly. It feels a little scary at first, to feel the bike suddenly drop into a corner, but nothing bad is going to happen. You cannot make a bike lose grip by leaning too quickly. The top racers can reach the lean-angle limit in less than half a second. It's not because their bikes are better than ours, or that they possess some God-like force that allows them to do it. They have become comfortable with the bike leaning quickly, without getting into a panic. Try small pushes on the bars to begin with, so you get used to a more sudden change of direction. Then build up into a more dramatic lean as you get used to having the bike drop into the corner quicker.
c) Don't get caught out by a corner that tightens up. The normal reaction would be to slow down (not good in a bend), tense up on the bars (stopping you from steering), and look where you think you're going to go (which is not normally where you want to go). As the bend tightens, start increasing the pressure on the inside bar to get the bike leaning more, whilst keeping your focus on the vanishing point, and keeping a little power on. You've got a greatly increased chance of getting around that bend. To practice, on an easy bend that you know well, try not leaning enough to begin with, then tighten the turn by pushing more on the bar. Once you've done it once, you'll realise you can alter your lean-angle mid-corner, without upsetting the bike. If ever you get caught out by a tightening (decreasing radius) bend, you may find yourself reacting in the right manner.
d) Changing direction just takes a nudge on the opposite bar. It doesn't matter which way the bike is leaning, if you push on the opposite handlebar, the bike will instantly pick itself up and lean the opposite way. So for example, if the bike is leaning to the right, if you push on the left bar, it will stand up and lean over to the left, and vice versa. The racers change direction so quickly through a chicane, all done by pushing on one bar, then the other, then the other.
e) It takes more effort, the faster you go. A bike stays upright because the wheels act as gyroscopes. The faster you go, the more gyro affect there is, and the more stable the bike becomes. The slower you go, there's less gyro affect, and the bike becomes more and more difficult to keep upright. So leaning into slow corners takes very little effort on the handlebars. Whereas, leaning into high-speed bends can take an awful lot of effort to upset the gyros. I recall racing at Thruxton on my R1, entering 'Church' at such a speed, I'd have to push on the inside bar, and also pull the outside bar to get the bike to lean in. It takes a lot of effort to upset those gyros when they're spinning at 140mph!

Leaning your bodyweight off the side has very little affect on changing a bike's direction of travel. Neither does putting your weight on one footpeg or the other. Neither does sticking your knee out. You have to counter-steer.

The master of counter-steering is Keith Code, who runs the California Superbike School, and has written the 'Twist of the Wrist' books. If you're really fascinated by the subject, and want to learn more, get yourself 'Twist of the Wrist II' from Amazon.

Bring on the questions...

[goz1960]

Great write up again please keep up the good work.

[Snowy]

I must be backwards because I pull rather than push. Obviously on the other bar ;D Too old to change now

[8_ball]

when your comfy on your bike this does feel wierd. And I remember when you said about this in our lesson and trying to understand it. I think the bigger and heavier the bike the easier this is to feel and understand.
Brilliant explaination Mark and thanks