Ok, so I'm a little new to riding, when I'm going about 45 into a sharp turn, What I do is lean into the turn, but I put my body wieght on the opposite side, away from the apex of the turn, and with the handlebars I try to keep the straight and push on the side that the turn is on so the bike. So if the turn is left, I'm pushing on the left side of the bars forward. Is this how I'm supposed to be turning and balancing this turn or am I supposed to not counterwieght anything and just lean and turn the bars into the turn? I'm afraid if I do that, just go into the turn with all the weight the bike will slide out, like a lowside from the chicken strips on my bike? Please help me this is bothering me.

 

I'll post a more detailed reply tomorrow if no one has b/c I'm off work in 7 minutes and I wanan get outa here

Lets say you're taking a left hand turn, you're going to want to look through the turn. Push with your left hand which wil lean your bike in the turn. Transfer your weight to your feet (the inside foot more than the outside). Try and be light on the grips. When you're coming out of the turn, push with your right hand to straighten out and come on the accelerator.

Hope this helps!

 

So you mean to say, I push not pull? I push the left handlebar forward in the turn? Or do I pull the left bar on the left turn? I almost always have my wieght on my legs when I'm riding both sides of my feet. Is there a way I should be riding? Also when I turn I push my hip out into the turn and lean the opposite of the turn. So if its left I push my hip out left, and my wieght on my left leg, but I try to keep my head straight up but my upperbody is leaning away from the turn. Like you see in the Motogp pictures where they are taking a curve with the stripes on the floor.

 

Hi, i've been riding for just over 2 years now first on a cbr 125 for just over a year (covered 8000 miles on that), then I got my CBR600fy(restricted to 33bhp) in Jan this year (have done about 6000miles so far) and have been riding in icy/snowy/rainy conditions. I was taught about a few extra things like corners while learning for my test by my instructor who to me is a god for doing so. One of which is Counter steering, which is used by racers at all levels like moto gp. Counter steering comes into play around the 30mph mark, to counter steer all you have to do is gently push on the handle bar that is on the same side as you are going to corner i.e. right hand bend, right hand bar gets pushed forward. Though a thing to remember is that it doesn't require a lot of travel in the handle bars. Yes I know this seems really strange, but trust me it works. The best way to learn is to get on a quiet road and gently counter steer down the middle of the road using the white lines to go between starting off at going between every second break in the lines then shortening the weaves. You can also add into the equation the use of weight shifting, where as you are by the sounds of things climbing on top of the bike, you actually want to have your body shifted to the side of the bike that is on the inside of the bend, which seems more like you are leaning off the bike. So move to the left of the bike for a left bend. You can then put your weight into the right peg whilst cornering left and have your body shifted to the left, pushing your weight into your right foot, this feels much the same feeling as pushing down into the right peg. practice shifting weight between the pegs by going loose in the arms then lightly take a bit of your weight off one peg but still keeping in contact with the peg. Then push your weight into the other, much like standing on one leg, this will cause the bike to move to the side that you put you weight to. The best thing to do is to practice each bit individually and not going over the top on the first try, just take it easy and build up, then combine the techniques. So just hurtling into a corner at 45 and hoping for the best is well to be honest little short of crazy lol. Getting to be a bit of an essay here, but I hope this helps

 

P.s. to actively counter steer, do the same as said before with the pushing on the side that you wish to go i.e. push on the right bar to go right. Then also pull on the left bar. Though try just the pushing first, then when you're comfy with it add in the pulling with the other hand. So it should all add up to, for a right bend: push with the right hand and pull with the left. But do remember you have to be doing at least 30 mph roughly, so it's best to try starting off around the 35mph mark.

 

Thats exactly what I have been doing, I tried today to take a turn by pulling the bar in the direction I was going, the bike went into the turn and I started to lean in the direction, I think I'm finally getting rid of my c-strips. Your right though I was trying to climb ontop of the bike in the turns when I should have been feeling with my feet and got used to the weight transfer. I am good at balancing because of 14 years of Martial Arts experience. It's also let me learn very fast at new things. I have 3 days to practice turning, I have a little trouble with U-turns as well but I am going to practice hard. Is there anything I should expect, so there won't be any suprises and force me to dump the bike? THakns for all of your responses!

 

That's ok. Was just wondering though, you said you pulled the bar in the direction you were going, was that a miss type? Or did you mean to say that, as in you pulled the bar on the same side you were turning to? Because unless you were going too slowly you should be turning/leaning to the side on which you are pushing the bar away from your body on. Below about 30mph the bike will act like a normal push bike does, in that it will go where you steer it, but after about 30mph or a little more, the steering should in effect be reversed.

The martial arts is handy for the balancing stuff, it should help you in the u-turns too. Just expect the weight of the bike to want to drop the bike to the inside of the u-turn, as if it wants to fall over while you are doing slow speeds. The slower you go the easier it is for the bike to drop into the turn. To help counter act this you can shift your weight to the outside of the turn, using the bars to do the actual steering and your weight to keep the bike upright. Putting on a bit of power will also cause the bike to want to pick up and go straight, so practicing slow speed throttle and clutch control will help. The best place to practice this is in an empty car park. The slow speed control is also useful for when you're in traffic too e.g. filtering traffic.

 

I was going under 35 on the turn that I pulled the bars instead of opposite steering. I am confused on the inside and the outside. In the U-Turn say its a left (of course because we drive on the right side of the road in the U.S.) I am leaning into the turn? So essentially my body to bike geometry should make me and the bike look like a V with my upperbody(leaning) on the inside and the wieght on the outside? When I am studying these MotoGP guys they look like they are countersteering but I can't tell if they have their wieght on the outside of the turn or not, the angles they get at makes me think that they are using the bikes kinetic energy to keep it upright while they just countersteer left or right, push or pull but are light on their wieght, when I say light I mean that its not all in 1 place, its spread throughout most likely upperbody. ?

 

Don't try and model your street riding on MotoGP guys. That is the type of riding you use on a track, due to the speeds. At speeds we go on the street, your lower body weight will lean towards the turn, but your upper bodyweight leans away from the turn. You also push a little against the turn. This just eliminates the possibility of the front wheel turning hard into the corner, and the bike flipping over. So if you are making a left turn, you don't pull the handlebars to the left, the bike will turn on it's own due to the lean.

 

Ok from what I think you're saying about the u-turn you're right, but it's not a case of putting all your weight to the outside. It's a case of shifting more of it to the outside. So there is still some on the inside, but more on the outside to help keep it up. But yes you are leaning your body into the turn as well. I suppose the best I image i can conjour up without a pic is on a u-turn to the right it would be . /. with the forward slash being the bike and your body, whilst the full stop (or period as you call it in America) is your weight on the pegs, but more of your weight put onto the first period.
As for the counter steering you may have to increase the speed a little for it to come into play, but the point it occurs at varies with each rider and bike.
And to adam, we're talking about using counter steering for steering at speed. It does occur naturally, but you can also induce it by pushing away on the handle bar on the side you wish to turn to, so as to turn into a corner faster, rather than just leaning. This occurs at around the 30mph mark as I was told and I use this method for the majority of every ride along side weight shifting and leaning. So I know it works. Granted below the 30mph mark the whole steering thing is pretty much like riding a push bike, but we are looking at cornering at speed here, not street riding. but on the point about steering to the left that I made, it would be better if I described it as aiding the handle bars gently rather than pushing hard in a slow speed manouver.