Yep.
Selected from the "Zen of Motorcycle Riding"
http://www.geocities.com/american_motorcycle_association/crashcures.html#5
EVERYONE who will, or wants to, ride a motorcycle should take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation riders' course. Everyone. There is an experienced rider's course, as well. Most insurance companies give a 10% discount to graduates. They are available in virtually every state and cost $50, max.
The Beginner's Course PROVIDES motorcycles!
"COUNTERSTEERING:
THE CENSORED SECRET
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self evident. —Arthur Schopenhauer
The mysterious secret of how to gain control of a leaning motorcycle is called countersteering." As the name implies, a rider is required to steer in the opposite direction as might be presumed (at least part of the time during a typical cornering maneuver). This is needed in order to get the bike to perform the trick of leaning into the curve of the road. This is how a bike is "balanced." Although motorcycle racers are paid millions of dollars a year for their knowledge of countersteering, this same technique is also required for every street rider.
Steering left to turn left will only make the bike lean (tip over) to the right. It is impossible to steer a bike like a car. (While riding around a curve, try turning into the turn and see what happens. If you enjoy excitement, you're going to love this experiment, assuming you survive, of course.) Although it is possible to slowly follow most curves of the road without consciously countersteering (by performing what I call "pseudo-countersteering"), the ability to turn quickly will give a rider more options to work with and provide a greater margin of safety—he is in total control of his machine. Ignorance of countersteering is the root of all fear of motorcycles.
(diagram motorcycle with turning handlebars vs. lean—top view—countersteering)
(diagram motorcycle with turned front wheel—front view—countersteering) #2 (a) vertical (b) 10 degrees lean "countersteering produces centrifugal force which tips the bike over and forces it to lean"
Unfortunately for millions of citizens, reverse psychology is at work here: the motorcycle rider must steer towards danger—towards the outside of a curve, or towards a vehicle blocking the road—rather than away from it. Actually, he initially steers towards the obstacle to force the bike to lean, then rapidly steers (leans) away from the hazard. Obviously, an uneducated rider is not going to suddenly figure this out during his one second of panic.
All the more reason to make sure that people become aware of the facts. The government is apparently afraid of this little word, and like the "theory" of evolution, countersteering is treated like a bastard theory (or at least a bastard word), unworthy of instruction to those under the government's influence. (Geologists must use knowledge of evolution in order to find underground oceans of oil, and motorcyclists must use knowledge of countersteering to find their way out of emergency situations.) This government censorship has deadly consequences. There is no reason to be afraid of a simple word, and much to be gained by overcoming such fear of the English language. The purpose of teaching countersteering is not to prove anyone "wrong," but to give a rider the ammunition he requires to handle an emergency situation—and all normal situations—without crashing out-of-control.
Keith Code, who has trained thousands of motorcycle riders and racers all over the world through his California Superbike School, and author of A Twist of the Wrist and Twist of the Wrist II—the Basics of High-Performance Motorcycle Riding, pioneered the formal teaching of the most effective riding techniques available today. His methods help his motorsports students cut an average of seven seconds off their lap times—that's the difference between last and first place. That cannot be done without proper instruction in vehicle control. Most of his techniques apply equally well to normal highway driving, and especially during emergency maneuvers. Rather than paraphrase, I'll let you "hear" an excellent explanation of countersteering from a coach of world champions. Regarding one of Code's techniques that applies to safe riding on the highway, in 1983 he wrote:
"Steering. . . happens backwards. Many riders have learned to steer a motorcycle without understanding the process. . . .
"Steering is simple enough—you push the bars in the opposite direction of the direction you wish to travel. That begins the turn, and the bike leans as it turns. Deliberately turning the bars in the opposite direction of travel is known as counter steering. . . . To go right you must turn the bars to the left—to go left, turn the bars to the right. Counter steering is the only way you can direct a motorcycle to steer accurately. . . . In essence, motorcycle steering is backwards from most other forms of transportation. An automobile goes in the direction you turn the wheel, as do most other forms of transportation.
". . . . One problem we have in learning to ride stems from a cruel trick played on us by our parents. They gave us a tricycle to pedal around. A tricycle turns in the direction you steer it. When we rode a bicycle for the first time, we fell down, and everyone said it was because we didn't have good balance. Actually, it was because bicycles also counter steer.
"Balance had nothing to do with it! The confusion is caused because the child expects the bike to go right when he turns to the right. Eventually, out of sheer survival instincts, he goes through the steering motions without understanding them and winds up on a motorcycle 15 years later not knowing what he has been doing to go around turns.
". . . . Most riders, in an emergency, try to turn the bike in the direction they want to go. . . . I have known people who who have ridden for 30 years without having to face an emergency situation. Then, one day a car pulls out in front of them. They try to avoid it but the bike won't do what they want it to. So they get scared and quit riding. They realize that the control they thought was there—wasn't."
(3 photos = c/s (1) straight (2) c/s down (3) lean
In Twist of the Wrist II, (1993) Code writes: "Practically everyone learns how to ride without any understanding of counter-steering, but the moment it is fully comprehended and applied, it opens the door to vast amounts of improvement in every possible situation that involves steering the bike."
On wet asphalt, only brake and accellerate in a straight line, and stay off the oil strip.
Knowledge of countersteering has been around for a very long time. Mr. Code discovered it for himself literally before I was a twinkle in my father's eye. He was able to parlay his "secret" into an exciting and successful career. Once the engineers publically confirmed his observations, he became the first to start teaching it to the general public. I felt cheated that I had to experience 20 years of falls and close calls before I ever heard the word countersteering. (This antique word is not yet defined in Webster's dictionary.)
Almost a hundred years ago, two enterprising American bicycle manufacturers decided to invent the first engine-driven airplane. These two engineers were not only geniuses of aviation, but were equally insightful regarding their first love. In his book, The Wright Brothers, F.C. Kelly (Ballentine, 1966) writes about the discoverers of countersteering: ". . . Wilbur used for illustration what a man thinks happens when riding a bicycle. 'I have asked dozens of bicycle riders,' said Wilbur, 'how they turn a bicycle to the left. I have never found a single person who stated all the facts correctly when first asked. . . . I have never found a non-scientific bicycle rider who had particularly noticed it and spoke of it from his own conscious observation and initiative.'" Just ask any of your friends who own bicycles or motorbikes if they know what countersteering is. You will probably be just as disappointed as Wilbur—and your friends will give you funny looks (just give them a copy of this chapter to shut them up—what are friends for?).
The only riders I've met who recognized the word countersteering were either racers or had been required to attend an MSF school, such as military personnel who were forced to go to school in order to get a base permit. Even many motorcycle sales professionals have never heard of it, and do not recognize the need to attend a local MSF riding school to learn it. A rider does not need to understand countersteering to be a good rider—until he finds himself in a panic situation or desires to improve his performance.
Note that when a rider keeps his arms stiff under braking he finds it impossible to countersteer into a corner, leading to a sudden self-made emergency. He feels as if he has entered the turn "too fast," since the bike has suddenly "forgotten" how to turn. Entering a curve while applying the brakes is (almost) never a good idea anyway, since inertia makes the bike want to "highside," while the machine needs to lean. Car drivers commonly make this mistake, since what works on a "flat" car does not work on a leaning bike. "Stiff-arming" the handlebars literally prevents the bike from steering. A rider must keep his arms relaxed at all times, even when reaching for the "panic button." The handlebars are not for support, they are for making steering inputs and for operating the levers and switches. A rider's legs are stronger than his arms, and do not adversely affect the steering when used for support. The stationary gas tank is much more stable for holding onto than the movable handlebars.
In decreasing-radius turns, bad habits are especially tricky. In decreasing-radius turns, the rider must slow down continuously while in the turn. This decelleration means that centrifugal force wants to make the bike go vertical. To compensate, the rider must countersteer to keep the bike leaned over, and perhaps to increase his lean angle. However, the bike is already leaned over the majority of its lean angle, so the handlebars and front wheel never completely point in the opposite direction. This can confuse the unwary and uneducated rider. What this sensation feels like is a "counterforce" on the handlebars, resisting the natural tendency of the bike to want to stand up under decelleration. When a rider unexpectedly comes upon a decreasing-radius curve, ignorance of countersteering can lead to a fright at the very least. A similar sensation is experienced in an off-camber turn, since the bike is also decellerating.
(illustration c/s decreasing radius turn)
Attempting to steer a motorcycle "normally" using "common sense" is about as effective as jumping out of an airplane and flapping one's arms as a bird "normally" flaps its wings, instead of making intelligent use of a scientifically proven parachute. In reality, common sense ought to warn a rider that cars and bikes are significantly different. I guess that's why true common sense is less-than-common."
wacherass.
