I was the exact same. I purposely avoided the track because I loved riding on the street so much. I finally bit the bullet and decided to try the track. Ya know, I really wish I would have tried it sooner. It does take away from the enjoyment of really aggressive street riding but that is a good thing to me. I was at the point where I was "competing" with my friends every time we rode and it was getting dangerous, for us and the general public. After a couple seasons on the track I decided that my ZX10R was a bit too much and sold it. Bought the Harley for me and my wife to enjoy and ended up getting a Yamaha Warrior to customize.

 

I rode that way years ago, had a riding buddy go wide in a turn and get killed, he was 52 and I had been riding with him for 8 years. He had 4 kids the ages of mine and we had to go home and face them. After that and especially up in the mtns I found a groove and was content to stay at a pace all day long, one that still required all your concentration and would allow you to ride all day without another thought beyond the next curve and most importantly with little or no braking, Just throttle off find the apex and drive out as hard as you can then ease up and do it to the next corner. I learned that smooth was fast and I still love it. The thing about the track is having to scrub off 30 plus mph and do the braking thingcauses stress. Now if I could go out to a track and just ride the same way, might be different. Like you I'm at a crossroads, the kids are grown and towing the sportbikes to the mtns with the guys means she is at home alone. Needless to say the Gixxer is collecting dust. I just sold a Futura that I bought for us, but after my buddy back in 2003 she had lost her will to allow me to knee drag with her on the back anymore or really evne go fast. It didn't workout, but she loves the Harley and so do I. It makes straight roads fun, hell it makes any road fun.Plus I hate the whole stunting scene and what it is doing to sportbikes. I used to think they looked totally cool going down the road and everynow and then I still see someone dressed out in matching gear that looks like a rider and it is still cool. But the majority I see and the repution the bikes are getting embarass me. Everytime you tell someone whatyou own they have a story about someone doing a wheelie down the interstate at a buck 20, and you can say is well that is no me or what I'm about. Up in the mtns we are like surfers but the difference is we are searching for the perfect curve.

 

I was out riding some twistees with a passenger, 2 buddies alone on their bikes, me countersteering, them I have no clue, but before long I coudln't see them in my mirrors... it's the only way to go, not sure how else you get an 800lb bike through a turn, OH, i guess that would be SLOW...

 

Learned how to countersteer from an old friend of mine years ago..He had been riding for many years on Indians and Hendersons plus many more. Once it's in your head,becomes part of daily riding technic.. He said practice making lane changes at freway speed with gental touch. Worked for me..

 

This thread has been really fun for me to read. I grew up riding dirt bikes from the time I was about 12 years old. Until my wife took the Rider's Edge course before we bought her V-Rod, I had never even heard the term 'counter-steering' applied to riding a MC. Like many have said here, I practice emergency moves fairly often, and also like many have said here, I guess that I 'counter-steer' without even realizing that I'm doing it. I not sure, however, what the actual definition of counter-steering is when applied to riding a motorcycle. Can someone please explain it to me in detail?

 

I always get nervous when I hear someone tell their passenger to lean with or against them. Absolutely NOT. It's best to tell the passenger to just sit and let the bike do what it doesand not lean either with or against the bike. I don't believe anyone should be going fast enough with a new passenger to worry about a lean affecting their control. To go that fast may scare the passenger off of riding all together and we should be making our passengers feel as comfortable and safe as possible.

I learned about countersteering several years ago in an advanced training course. I still practice doing it regularly by picking a spot on the road and then swerving to miss it. Everyone should so that when an emergency comes up the countersteer is a natural reaction.

 

I grew tired of all the squids 7 years ago when the StarboyZ 1st hit the scene in a big way. All of the copycat, wannabe "Extreme" clubs really irritated me then and even moreso now. Hell, the negative attention they generate has bitten me in the @ss more times than I can remember. I am not above doing a wheelie, I have a supermoto afterall, but like everything else in this world there is a time and a place for everything. Main Street in my town at 5:00PM when cars are bumper to bumper is not the time or the place. The sad part is most of those idiots are in the "sport" for a summer, long enough for them to think they know how to ride, subsequently crash and total their bikes doing something waaayyy above there skill level, and then poof.....they're gone. Long enough to cash the insurance check to pay most of the loan balance off, in other words just long enough to raise my rates, LOL. But ya know Detro, you sound like the perfect trackday candidate. You are already riding the streets at a more sedate pace and feeling like your sportbike isn't getting the attention it needs. Take it to the track, I promise you will not be disappointed. It's almost like a crack habit. If you have any questions about trackdays or racing or just wanna ride sometime let me know. I am always up for a ride to 29 Dreams or to Riders .

 

Counter steering is one of those ideas that I would not have come up with on my own. It just goes against the grain. But I had a new 750 lb bike and the bike before it was 30 years ago and a 1968 Honda 175cc. So I figured I better do some research before I swung a leg over the seat.
On another forum where they talk a lot about German made motorcycles the name David Hough kept popping up. Apparently he has written the Bible of motorcycle riding, "Proficient Motorcycling". I bought it and Jerry Pallidion's " Ride Like a Pro" and set about edjumakating myself for the winter.
Well, I bought the Road King in December and this being Maine, it sat in the shed for 4 months. It gave me plenty of time to read up.
On pages 49-52 the book describes "push steering" and "counter steering". I couldn't wait to try out this phenomenon.
It was very difficult for me to think it through ( to turn right, pull right, no push left, I mean pull left, oops, push right.) Until I read the line "push the low side" and then it clicked. And when he says "push" he (Hough) doesn't mean push hard enough to push the bike over. I find that pushing hard enough to put a stamp on a letter is pushing hard enough for most corners.
I agree, there is very little discussion on this forum about riding technique. I pointed out a gentleman's error when he "had to lay her down" and I received threats of bodily harm.
And remember you are invisible.

 

I remember the day my friend Joe learned about countersteering. It was on the Boulder Turnpike coming into Denver and merging onto I-25 south. It's a long sweeping right, and Joe needed a little more steering input, so he turned his bars on his Yamaha 650 to the right. His bike instantly stood up, went left and slammed into the center divider wall. Joe got thrown over the wall, but luckily landed in freshly turned soft earth in the median and was mostly unhurt. The bike was not so lucky. It slid along the wall for a ways, then rolled back across the freeway and was destroyed. Joe didn't get to make the trip to Albuquerque for the ballon festival. The story did have a happy ending though, Joe got a new Harley.

 

Watch a circle dirt track motorcycle race some time. Riders are going left, turning right and the back wheel hanging way out in a slide. Same thing happens on the street but to a lesser degree. My old friend also told me to always keep the throtle on during a deep fastcountersteer turn. Backing off could spell disaster..