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Riding Skills Series: Countermeasures



By Jason Black
illustrators: Dean Groover


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1. Whether you realize it or not, countersteering is as necessary and vital
to your riding as using the brakes. If you're not familiar with
countersteering, it's a term used to describe the physical action of steering
the bar or clip-ons momentarily in the opposite (yes, opposite) direction of
the turn in order to initiate a corner.

The actual physics of countersteering are complicated, and while many people
think it requires only a simple explanation, panels of physicists have
debated exactly why angular momentum, torques and vectors affect your
motorcycle. As riders, we don't need to know the physics, but it is important
to have an understanding of how our motorcycle works. We're not going to tell
you why, but here is a quick how.




2. Most new riders who have not taken a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course
are under the impression that in order to arc through a corner on a
motorcycle, the rider must lean and turn the front wheel in the direction of
the corner.

In fact, the opposite is true. At speeds greater than 15-20 mph, the rider
must initiate a turn by first turning the front wheel toward the outside of
the corner (i.e., push on the left bar to go left, push on the right bar to
go right). This is a momentary action that rolls the motorcycle off its axis,
leaning it in the direction of the bar/clip-on that is pushed. As the bike
reaches the desired lean angle, the tire falls into the arc of the turn.

The arrows in the photo above illustrate, from the rider's point of view, the
motion needed to initiate a corner. Push forward on the left bar to go left;
the opposite to go right.




3. Here's an exercise to practice countersteering. Find an empty stretch of
straight road. While riding at steady throttle at a slow speed (35-45 mph),
pick a spot on the road ahead and use it as an imaginary obstacle-a point
where you'll want to swerve.

As you approach your target, choose the direction you want to maneuver the
bike. For the first pass, begin your turn well back from the point you want
to avoid and make sure you don't target fixate. Apply slight pressure on the
desired clip-on to arc the bike around the "obstacle," then apply pressure on
the opposite side to swing back onto your original line. The motion involved
in pushing/pulling the clip-ons should be a controlled movement; jerky
actions will upset the chassis. As you become more comfortable, advance your
initial turn closer to the target. This will require a more forceful action
at the clip-ons, but remember to keep your motions smooth. With practice, you
can quickly and accurately place the bike using exact countersteering inputs.




4. Remember: At low speeds (less than 15 mph) countersteering doesn't have
any effect on turning the motorcycle, but as speeds rise the force of the
input required increases. It takes less effort to steer a motorcycle
traveling at 60 mph than it does to steer at 100 mph.

Countersteering can be used in two ways: subconsciously or consciously. Those
who use it subconsciously perform the action without knowing it, and
therefore have less of an understanding of how their motorcycle works. Those
who consciously use countersteering-both racers and street riders alike-are
able to place their motorcycles precisely where they want.

Whether you are enjoying your favorite road or find yourself in the middle of
an emergency situation, the ability to knowingly countersteer your bike and
place it where desired gives you greater control in any situation that arises.

This article was originally published in the December '99 issue of <i>Sport
Rider</i>.