Just curious,
I learned to counter-stear (i.e. push left handle bar, turn left) after taking a rider's edge course many years ago. What a difference it makes controlling those highway curves!!!
When I was a kid on my little yamaha, I never knew about counter-stearing and simply leaned into all my turns. Of course with counter-steering, one leans away from the turn for counter balancing. Sorta "counter-intuitive", no pun intented.
How many out there still lean their bikes as a principle way of stearing? As I said, just curious.
Jim

07' RK Classic

 

below about 10mph you lean above that its practically impossible especially with the large bikes

 

Drive by the set of your pants. Hardley any steering at all. JimmyZ

 

I love questions like this!

I've got a news flash for you, you have "always" countersteered, you just didn't understand it before the riding course. You may "think" that the "only" thing you were doing beforewas shifting your weight but I promise you, for any significant maneuvering, you were manipulating those handlebars too! Now, I'm not saying that weight shift doesn't play a part in the process, just that it's a relatively minor part, especiallythe faster you go and/or ona heavier machine.

Ride Safe,
Steve R.

 

What intrepid said is true. It is an instinct and most people don't even realize they are doing it.

 

You nailed it. Yes, you might pay more attention to the countersteering after you "learn" it, but you have always done it to some extent.

 

If someone doesn't understand counter steering and they attempt to ride, they're going to either learn really fast or crash.

When my daughter was just starting to drive, I had an old Honda 400 automatic that my wife would ride some so I decided to teach my daughter how to ride it. First time out I was behind her on the seat and holding the bars helping her steer. She was doing pretty good (slow speed) so I sat back a little and let her do more on her own. We were doing about 30 and came to a curve....to the ditch she headed! I grabbed the bars and got her back straight, she did this a couple of more times until I showed her and she got used to how to counter steer. Her first thought was to steer into the curve which was, as we know, sending the bike in the wrong direction. Lessons learned......lol............

 

I actually do a little of both. I countersteer, weight my floor boards and lean (my *** half off the seat0 depending on how hard I'm hitting the twisties. The countersteering gets me in the general direction I want to turn, the weighting of the floorboards helfs me fine tune the steering input and the *** off the seat helps the bike stay planted in a nice controlled arc around the curve. Oh BTW I ride an '07 Electraglide classic and she runs real well between 3500 to 4000 RPMs.

 

I think "consciously" counter steering is a lot different than "sub-consciously" doing it. When I countersteer at highway speed, I have to consciously shift my weight to compensate giving me way more control and accuracy in my turns.

 

Yep - I know what you mean. The combo of all 3 techniques gives me alot of control.