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The Rider Risk Video Series


Dutchy

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Countersteering isn't something you can choose to do or not to do, you must do it or you will crash at the first corner you come to, most likely before. Countersteering is simply the principle upon which all bicycles and motorcycles operate. Even the slowest and widest turns can only be initiated by a countersteer.

Long gentle curve on the interstate, or quickly dodging around a pot hole, all done with varying degrees of counter steer.

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Countersteering isn't something you can choose to do or not to do, you must do it or you will crash at the first corner you come to, most likely before. Countersteering is simply the principle upon which all bicycles and motorcycles operate. Even the slowest and widest turns can only be initiated by a countersteer.

Long gentle curve on the interstate, or quickly dodging around a pot hole, all done with varying degrees of counter steer.

UH...OH .......... :excl:

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I've been practicing this, and it's a challenge to stay focused on the concept with so much going on around you. It's definitely not natural. Guess it will just take time to become a 'way of thinking'. I've conquered enough bad habits, so this good one should be doable.

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I've been practicing this, and it's a challenge to stay focused on the concept with so much going on around you. It's definitely not natural. Guess it will just take time to become a 'way of thinking'. I've conquered enough bad habits, so this good one should be doable.

I'll take this one......... CS is something that needs to be not only thought about, but done as a normal act of riding, if for no other reason than when the time comes to move out of the way, you don't want to have to think about it, or you'll steer into what you wanted to avoid.

People that ride and don't use CS but use leaning, will in a time of panic, will try to steer the mc like a car, there-by going the wrong way.

Yes I know we all CS, I'm talking about the action of doing it consciously.

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I've been practicing this, and it's a challenge to stay focused on the concept with so much going on around you. It's definitely not natural. Guess it will just take time to become a 'way of thinking'. I've conquered enough bad habits, so this good one should be doable.

I'll take this one......... CS is something that needs to be not only thought about, but done as a normal act of riding, if for no other reason than when the time comes to move out of the way, you don't want to have to think about it, or you'll steer into what you wanted to avoid.

People that ride and don't use CS but use leaning, will in a time of panic, will try to steer the mc like a car, there-by going the wrong way.

Yes I know we all CS, I'm talking about the action of doing it consciously.

I understand that we all CS....but it's one thing to consciously do it when everything is 'normal'.....and another thing to CS when coming into a turn too hot unexpectedly. This recently happened to me on an unfamiliar road, and I panicked. I didnt go down, but SR #s 1-7 kicked in. Counter steering never entered my mind.
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I've been practicing this, and it's a challenge to stay focused on the concept with so much going on around you. It's definitely not natural. Guess it will just take time to become a 'way of thinking'. I've conquered enough bad habits, so this good one should be doable.

I'll take this one......... CS is something that needs to be not only thought about, but done as a normal act of riding, if for no other reason than when the time comes to move out of the way, you don't want to have to think about it, or you'll steer into what you wanted to avoid.

People that ride and don't use CS but use leaning, will in a time of panic, will try to steer the mc like a car, there-by going the wrong way.

Yes I know we all CS, I'm talking about the action of doing it consciously.

I understand that we all CS....but it's one thing to consciously do it when everything is 'normal'.....and another thing to CS when coming into a turn too hot unexpectedly. This recently happened to me on an unfamiliar road, and I panicked. I didnt go down, but SR #s 1-7 kicked in. Counter steering never entered my mind.

That's why we need to practice doing it til it isn't something we have to think about. But to get to there, we do have to think about it.

It's like anything we do it will need work til it "is" natual.

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Back in the 80's they found in motorcycle crash investigations that over 75-80% of M/C riders "Turned Into the Object they were trying to avoid", in other words they did NOT Counter Steer and crashed!

CS is probably one of if not the single most important thing to learn as a rider and Has to be second nature to you as there's No time to think about what to do in an emergency for the most part.

These riders turned the bars away from the object they were trying to avoid(car) which resulted in turning right into that object!

There is No quicker way to get a m/c to change direction than C/S.

C/S only starts to take effect after a minimum speed/mph is achieved which is fairly low (10-20 mph?), but it is after whatever that speed is where the Gyro effect of the spinning front wheel comes into effect that C/S can take place .

Below that speed you would Counter Weight, not Counter Steer like in parking lot maneuvers.

IMO once you learn to look through a turn and apply C/S both your speed and confidence levels on a bike will doubled! :tour:

Thanks Monk, lots of great stuff in here!

BR

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I've been practicing this, and it's a challenge to stay focused on the concept with so much going on around you. It's definitely not natural. Guess it will just take time to become a 'way of thinking'. I've conquered enough bad habits, so this good one should be doable.

It's Very simple! Think PUSH Right, Go right. PUSH Left, Go Left! That's it!

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I've been practicing this, and it's a challenge to stay focused on the concept with so much going on around you. It's definitely not natural. Guess it will just take time to become a 'way of thinking'. I've conquered enough bad habits, so this good one should be doable.

It's Very simple! Think PUSH Right, Go right. PUSH Left, Go Left! That's it!

:tour: PUSH RIGHT....GO RIGHT.....PUSH LEFT....GO LEFT :fing02:
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Very usefull stuff. Thanks for share.

For some scenes, I need to replay as not so familiar with lefthand riding.

About cornering, I think the VFRDians should change our tire to Sport type, instead of the Sport-touring type, if you like to ride on the flat/twisty road rather than the rough surface road. The Sport tire makes the cornering more smoothly than the Sport-touring tire because of its lower profile.

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I've been practicing this, and it's a challenge to stay focused on the concept with so much going on around you. It's definitely not natural. Guess it will just take time to become a 'way of thinking'. I've conquered enough bad habits, so this good one should be doable.

It's Very simple! Think PUSH Right, Go right. PUSH Left, Go Left! That's it!

:tour: PUSH RIGHT....GO RIGHT.....PUSH LEFT....GO LEFT :fing02:

Let us know how that works for you! :smile:

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I've been practicing this, and it's a challenge to stay focused on the concept with so much going on around you. It's definitely not natural. Guess it will just take time to become a 'way of thinking'. I've conquered enough bad habits, so this good one should be doable.

It's Very simple! Think PUSH Right, Go right. PUSH Left, Go Left! That's it!

:tour: PUSH RIGHT....GO RIGHT.....PUSH LEFT....GO LEFT :fing02:

Let us know how that works for you! :smile:

Already working on it during my 40 mile commute today....I push right, and I go right! Been leaning waaaay too much.
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Already working on it during my 40 mile commute today....I push right, and I go right! Been leaning waaaay too much.

Cool, really for almost all but extremely fast street riding you can just sit straight upright and C/S on most rides. I can ride fairly quick doing this myself, I only lean when I'm really starting to push it. :tour:

BR

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snip

C/S only starts to take effect after a minimum speed/mph is achieved which is fairly low (10-20 mph?), but it is after whatever that speed is where the Gyro effect of the spinning front wheel comes into effect that C/S can take place .

Below that speed you would Counter Weight, not Counter Steer like in parking lot maneuvers.

IMO once you learn to look through a turn and apply C/S both your speed and confidence levels on a bike will doubled! :tour:

Thanks Monk, lots of great stuff in here!

BR

CS begins the second you start moving, it's the only possible method of keeping the bike from falling over. it is the very first handlebar input you make the second your wheels start rotating. Try and pull out of your driveway without CS, can't be done, it's the only way to keep your balance as you leave the driveway and turn on to the street, and the only way to straighten up once you're on the street.

Try and ride at a walking pace or slower, only CS and lots of it will keep you upright. The video is simply talking about a more forceful CS input for certain occasions, something we've all used to swerve around potholes in town.

No amount of weight shifting alone is going to get the bike to turn in any meaningful time frame, at any speed, without being accompanied by CS.

At speed the gyro effect does enhance the CS effect in all the right ways, with the gyro effect forcing the bike over and dampening out the process, but at low speeds it's also needed constantly to simply keep the wheels under the bike

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