There are three things you must practice to be safe. Countersteering, always make a deliberate concious effort to steer your bike when initiating a turn. This will build muscle memory so when a situation arises you will automatically steer away from danger. Dr Harry Hurt, (I know but that is his name) did a study of bike crashes and over half steered INTO the danger.
Brakes, practice till it hurts. When riding an empty straight road like on the way to the twisties look for spots in the road and try to stop before you get to them. (be sure there is nobody behind you lol) sneak up on the front lever like it was a trigger at first, As you get the hang of it you can get more aggressive.
Move around in your lane, when there is no oncoming traffic I ride the center but when traffic approaches I move to the fog line, they can't hit you if they can't catch you. Always give as much of your lane to the opposing traffic as you can, someday some jerk will be using it and you will be glad you weren't.

I told my son when he graduated from dirt to street," if you get in a wreck,
no matter what the cause, it is YOUR fault, it is up to you to avoid wrecking because it is YOU who will pay the price!"

 

Great advice. Its better to avoid the wreck then to have to say it was someone else's fault but I'm still messed up.

 

so not true that it is your fault for getting in a wreck(no matter what). there are so many different ways you can get in a wreck that are way out of your control only preventable by not getting on your bike to ride that day.

it is definately up to you to take necessry measures to lower the probability of you getting in an accident

 

yeah, I agree with you on that.

Also, the part of giving up as much of your lane is the exact opposite of what is reccomended. the reason being, cars will use your lane, to pass, to avoid things in their lane...ect. If your in your lane closer to the yellow line, cars are forced to pass in the other lane, and more times than not, will go way over in that lane if your closer to the yellow. The other bad part of giving up your lane is if someone is behind you, and there is another car behind that one, they can't see you. If they decide to pass the car behind you, you have a good chance of the passing car coming into your lane and not seeing you, and potentially running you off the road or hitting you.

So I would change the title to one thing ..... and that is how to countersteer.... But I wouldn't suggest aggressive coutersteering for aggressive riding. the last thing you want is a lot pressure on your handlebars and hit a bump mid corner... The a good way to dump the front end. The best approach is to countersteer subconsciously.... which is what we all do automatically. The best way to train yourself is to ride...

 

muscle memory. practice until you react correctly

 

do you always turn using countersteering? I'll be honest I don't. I usually only do it when i'm really into it.

 

Let me be clear, I do not give a crap about people passing me, my advice is for a twisty road. If you are being passed by cars on a twisty road you should be on a Harley. Head ons are the only thing I worry about on TWISTY roads (other than deer) and that is why I give up my lane to the oncoming traffic. It has saved my life more times than I can count.
As to countersteering, I always do this deliberately so that I can do it automatically when needed. if you do not then I hope you react correctly in an emergency. I have been riding fast bikes since the mid sixties and was just trying to share my expierience. take it or leave it.

 

They had fast bikes in the sixties??? jk.

Look, I wasnt trying to start anything. I fully understand that forums are based soley on opinions, and thats pretty much it. Your opinion varies greatly from mine. I was mearly adding my opinion to what you wrote. We have obviously grown up riding in different areas, as I said, your advice for my area and how I drive would not work so well. And believe it or not, I've been draggin my knee on the ground and have had cars want to pass me. Most performance cars will out corner any sportbike out there. Simply giving up your lane is not an option around here or people will use it. And most of the time, they over use. If the option isnt there for them to use it, they don't.

If you are talking about staying away from the centerline on curve, then I can understand it. But your original post didn't read that way to me.

So again, just a difference of opinion... thats all. No disrespect was intended.


I don't use it consciously. I know I use it. But for aggressive riding, I use my body position to initiate the turn. However, if I am on a changing radius curve, I will consciously use countersteering as the radius of the curve tightens up.

 

Nice thread, I know here in Northern New Jersey where I live, that on average there are more people condensed in a square mile then any other place in the US. Aside from that, the on road DMV test to get your license (whether be it basic automobile or motorcycle) is a joke. That being said, you really have to make a concerted effort to be conscious of the drivers around you. Here in this mosh pit known as New Jersey, nothing on the road is sacred (especially your lane).