Motorcyclist Magazine January 2009 – Code Break

Rocket Science – Keith Code

"Without a definition of terms, any argument is pointless. Debates tend to degenerate into generalities, opinions and hearsay. Debating generalities gives me a headache. In the old counter-steering vs. body-steering debate, it often stalemates into “My expert is better than yours.” Let’s forget “body” and “counter” for a moment and just define steering: To accurately and predictably place, guide and direct an object toward or away from a known location in space.

"With that definition in mind, let’s narrow the discussion down to two of the common body-steering claims that bikes will “steer” via footpeg-weighting or knee-against-the-tank pressure.

"How about consulting an indisputable expert? Sir Isaac Newton’s three Laws of Motion have stood the test of 300 years. His third law, often shortened to, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,” sheds light on this argument, but that law is often misunderstood. It sounds like an object being pushed upon, such as your footpeg or tank, will respond to the pressure and move an equal amount. That isn’t what the law means. It means force always comes in pairs: the force initiated and the resistance to that effort.

"Press on your desk with a force of 10 pounds and the desk pushes back with a force of 10 pounds. You can say that the desk resists your press, but in the end it is pressing back at you with an equal and opposite force; nothing moves.

"Try sitting in a rocking chair. If you press on one of the rocker tips with your foot, what happens? Absolutely nothing. Sit in your car and press on the dashboard. Does the car move forward? No. Pressing on your bike’s footpeg or tank has the same effect. The footpeg and tank will resist, in an equal and opposing direction, any force you can apply to them. The tank would cave in or the pegs would bend before the bike would steer.

"On the other hand, if you shift your body’s mass in a rocking chair, forward and back, the chair will begin to rock. You have created an imbalance of forces, and the chair—having less mass than you—cannot resist, so it moves. Throwing your body around on your bike would look and feel ridiculous. On the chair, if you move your body forward or back and stop, you change the balance point and the chair will tilt to compensate.

"Riding a bike with no hands is a similar phenomenon. By pressing on one peg or the other, an imbalance is created and the bike compensates by tilting slightly. The tire rolls over onto a smaller diameter and the bike will begin to arc, slightly. Does this fulfill our definition of steering? No.

"Peg-weighting and tank-pressing have virtually no effect without the counter-steering component. The bike won’t weave through cones at 15 mph, let alone carve precision lines at triple digits. It isn’t steering.

"Counter-steering isn’t rocket science; it is simple and obvious. Press the right bar and the bike quite nicely cooperates by leaning and turning right; vice versa for lefts. Press more and it leans more and turns more. Stop pressing and it leans no further. It is quick and easy to teach, works 100 percent of the time and performs brilliantly by our definition of steering. The Wright brothers, when they built bicycles, observed this phenomenon over 100 years ago. They were pretty smart guys, too.

"If body-steering doesn’t work, how do riders misread what is happening? Here is a similar misunderstanding many riders have: Ask 10 riders, “Does the throttle roll-on make the bike come up out of its lean at the corner’s exit?” Seven will say yes, two won’t commit to an answer and one will say no. What is the answer? Aside from a bike with dire mechanical problems, really badly worn tires and/or some cruiser and shaft-drive models, the answer is no—and definitely not on a modern sportbike. I’ve even nailed national champion roadracers on that one! While riders consciously steer their bikes into corners, most apparently counter-steer them back up quite unconsciously. Once an action is committed to so-called “muscle memory,” it is easy to overlook its effect. Could this be the reason for the misunderstanding?

"Newton’s laws and the Wright brothers’ observations are in direct conflict with the peg-weighting/tank-pressing theory, and by definition we cannot call it steering. What is known for sure is that without an understanding of both the simplicity and the complexity of Newton’s Third Law, bridges, houses and motorcycles could never have been built, nor could spaceships have been launched and accurately steered to Mars. Maybe it is rocket science after all. MC"

 

Great post.

 

gotta love Keith Code and MC....excellent explanation...the thing i really like is how it is more likely we don't know we counter-steer rather than don't count-steer...(for those of us that don't know about it that is)

in my opinion...the difference between a rider who was taught correctly (or learned correctly) and someone who just rides isn't that they DON'T counter-steer, but rather they don't KNOW they are counter-steering....

meaning...in a bad situation or if you are in a curve and need more or less lean angle...my brain tells me what to do because i KNOW how to affect the bike's position....rather, someone who just rides and is self-taught (incorrectly of course) will know that they need to either decrease or increase a lean angle, but could not actually tell you how they do it....

where this is important is in the critical situations...when you know what to do, you can do it instinctively, whereas if you only instinctively know what do rather than actually knowing, your reaction time when it counts isn't there because all you know is that you have done it before, rather than being able to do it on command...

just my .02...

 

Good read, I always thought a bike stood itself up while rolling on the throttle.

 

i will say that i believed and still believe that as well....not discounting what KC said, i think that throttle alone doesn't stand the bike up as fast as we think it does, but rather counter-steering is what helps stand it up and flick it over quick...i believe it's a combination of the two that gives us the response we get standing our bike up out of a corner that we are used to....if i am not mistaken, one of the books i have written by Keith i believe (or at least was in it) mentions using counter-steering in ADDITION to the throttle to get the bike up quickly and stably....so i am a firm believer that both things are in play...

that's just me though....

 

i still think it does, so long as you are not counter steering still keeping the bike down. however, the shift of you body back to normal riding position probably counter steers in the other direction effectively standing the bike back up. who knows, i just wanna go fast!

 

I have the Twist of the Wrist books and several others and re-read them all the time. A wealth of information to be sure.

 

My problem is, if I think about it I can't do it. If I'm in a turn and I start thinking, ok push more, or your not leaning enough. Suddenly the bike won't travel to where I want it to. But if I just keep a clear mind, and look to where I want to go. It travels flawlessly.
Is this just inexperiance? or is there something wrong with my riding?