With your experience 50+ plus years you are counter steering and leaning to get around a turn it is second nature .

 

adm is right on. "Counter steering" is the term commonly used to describe the method by which you use that big gyroscope under your handlebar to your advantage in turning your bike. There are all sorts of diagrams to illustrate this but I haven't actually seen one that is able to bring sudden understanding to people who are not acquainted with it.

I actually think it is better to describe in words like this: when you apply a force to the edge of a spinning disc of sufficient mass (like the front wheel of your Harley) the disc will actually move as if you applied that force 90 degrees ahead of where you did - in the direction of the rotation. This is a fundamental Newtonian law of physics that most riders instinctively learn after years of riding. But if you understand the law you don't have to wait years for your body to naturally adapt to it - you can just start doing it.

Bottom line: When you turn your handlebar to the left, it is the same as if you applied that force to your front wheel to the left in front and to the right at the rear. So because of Gyroscopic precession, the wheel will actually move as if your applied a force to the right at the TOP of your wheel and to the LEFT at the bottom, thereby pushing your bike into a lean to the right.... and so you will start turning to the right.

Once the bike is leaned you should shift your body into that lean then you can ease the "counter steer" and your bike will want to continue the turn. When you are ready to roll out give the bar a slight push in the opposite direction and your bike will straighten up.


PS: because of this basic law of physics, your bike will want to turn in the opposite direction of the way you are turning your handlebars at speeds above 30 mph. You will feel like it is fighting you... because it is! The more force you apply - that same amount of force is applied to the lean angle which makes it want turn opposite of where you want it to go.

 

My bike is part of me so I don't have to think about it. I just decide where I want to go and the bike goes there.

 

Physics is the reason why motorcycles turn.

 

If you are riding anywhere close to the speed limit for the road you are on, just sit square in the saddle and lean with the bike. Your passenger should also sit square in the saddle, and just look over your shoulder in the direction of the turn.

Only if you are road racing at max speeds do you need to change your position in the saddle. If you've been riding for 50 plus years, as I have also, you are probably long past the point of tearing up the asphalt on two wheels.


The only time I can think of shifting my weight in the saddle is making slow U-turns in WalMart parking lots....and then you would be shifting to the side opposite of your turn, instead of hanging off the low side.

 

Why complicate this by over thinking it? At speed, just push the grip in the direction you want to turn. The bike will do the rest. Only turn your handlebar at very slow speeds.

 

I also have been riding for decades and when I heard about this counter leaning/ counter steering thing, I was confused, then I found out I was doing it without even knowing I was doing it. It is a very quick turn the wrong way to get the bike moving the direction you need, then you turn into the curve. I had no idea, just the way I had always rode. It Is almost an imperceptible movement just at the beginning of the turn.
The only time I will shift in the seat is for a very tight turn. I shift to the high side of the bike to counter the lean, by doing so I can turn around my big heavy RG on any two lane county road, with out using the shoulder. Most folks cannot turn that sharp on a big bike I suspect. But I also may be wrong.

 

I counter lean when my *** gets sore!

 

Anyone riding a bike around curves, turns, sweepers or twisties uses countersteering, whether they know it or not. It's the only way you will turn a motorcycle over 25 to 30 mph.

As far as shifting to the high side of seat to counter lean the bike, opposite of its natural position, would be counter productive.

Making a u turn on a two lane road ought to be done without the shoulder. I think most people can do that, or at least should. I make u turns on side streets by using the friction zone and looking to where I want to be.

 

I never heard of "counter steering" until I went to the riding school to get my license back. If I was doing it in the 70s, I don't remember. I sure didn't call it that.

My wife loves riding as much...if not more than I do. And she'd never been on a bike until she met me but you'd never know it. So I never had to tell her how to ride with me.