I have to say, you have taught me something here.
Just call me Not so Mr.Obvious.

This thread has been interesting, in that the phrase counter-steering totally threw me off balance. The discussion has taken MC steering to a technical level of understanding.

Thanks Guys!

 

IronHead

Glad you got something out of this as I did too. I am on a mission to perfect the art of countersteering, I will let all know how I go when I consider myself proficient at it.

I, like most of us, in my early days on the road nearly tee-boned a car. If I knew how to countersteer then, it would have been an easy manouvre to safety rather than just dumb luck!

I was riding along at 60kph approaching a green light, then all of a sudden, a massive Ford sedan comes through a red light on my right and decides to stop in front of me blocking my way accross the intersection. I later deduced he was trying to get into a service road and thought it was okay to go through a red light to get there....he obviously got his license from a cornflakes packet!

Anyway, my eyes widened at the amazement of this idiot that just parked in front of me, at an intersection, setting me up for a tee bone collision. I guess he panicked when he realised he was where he shouldnt be at the worst possible moment (by going though a red light) and just decided that stopping was the best option, even if it meant blocking oncoming traffic - oy vey???

So I slammed on the anchors really hard and as the wheels started to lock, I realised I wasn't going to stop in time. I was ready to tee bone the car so I decided to prepare for impact by setting myself up to dive over the handlebars and over the top of the car apon impact. I figured that was better then meshing into that hunk of metal with the bike a part of it and me being the meat in the sandwich.

So, I started to stand on the pegs, and I let go of the front brake as I readied myself for the dive, but still had the palms of my hands on the hand grips. At this point my foot was probably pressing even harder on the back brake as I started to stand. The net result of this position was to lock the back brake, and with no front brake, the rear of the bike just skidded around until the bike became parallel to the car and tore off on a pefectly executed right angle turn, thus avoiding the collision. All I did was hold on and go with the bike since it was suddenly going in the right direction...

Now any bystander watching this stunt would have thought either I was Evel Knievil or Superman. In fact, either an angel was watching over me or I was just plain lucky!

I now know that countersteering would have been a perfect manouvre for this situation....and I don't intend on relying on luck next time, and there will be a next time...

 

howartthou,

Not quite as dramatic as you make it seem I don't know that I ever "throw" the bike in any direction while riding...pressures is all it takes. While leaning hard right, I simply pulled a little on the right handlegrip and the bike started to go left...

If it were anything other than comfie for the wife, I would still be hearing about it and I would have needed to sleep with one eye open!

Here is another really good article on countersteering...if you're a geek like me and like physics...you'll like the article...you've been warned!

Countersteering Page

If you like that page, this is the link to his home page. There is a huge amount of info from this guy. He also has a donate page if you want to help him out. I gave him $10, a small amount in my mind for an AWESOME page. (I have no affiliation with him at all).

Motorcycle Group Page

I'm short on time, as I'm actually headed out the door for Hawaii for three weeks in a few hours, but I will get back to you once I get settled in there.

Ride safe, brother, I'm glad you got through your test, now all you need is the bike!

Mac

P.S.
And here's one more from one of the rags.
Motorcycle Cruiser Magazine

 

Good luck and have fun in Hawaii, Mac.

 

Thanks Ricky,

I'll have my 'puter with me, so I'll still be on board when not playing golf or eating Sushi!

Mac

 

You need to try a restaurant called Kokos while you're there. It's a japanese curry place that is phenomenal. I think it's in Waikiki. Check it out.

 

Man I love Sushi if it's cooked right.

 

[sm=lol.gif]

 

especially deep fried... yum-yum!

 

I got spoiled living in Japan for 4 years with all of the great sushi, food, etc. I absolutely loved it. They even had a HD dealership down the road from the base that I could check out too. Of course, all the bikes were in KMH (no MPH on the speedo period).