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Old 04-30-17 | 05:10 PM
  #174  
FBinNY
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Joined: Apr 2009
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From: New Rochelle, NY

Bikes: too many bikes from 1967 10s (5x2)Frejus to a Sumitomo Ti/Chorus aluminum 10s (10x2), plus one non-susp mtn bike I use as my commuter

Just a side note about a major difference between bicycle and motorcycle steering.

The basics are the same, you use autopilot to keep the wheels under the body, or outside it in a turn. But the large difference in weight is a factor. First of all there's a big difference in relative weights of you and the machine. On a bike, you're close to 10 times the weight of the machine, and can toss it around under you at will. On the motorcycle machine outewieighs you and it gets to toss you around.

Then there's the gyroscopic precession factor. When you lean the spinning front wheel to the right, it tuns to the right, so all is right with the world. But if you steer the wheel to the right, it wants to lean to the left, essentially throwing you to the outside of the turn which can be a disaster. See this for yourself by turning or tilting a front wheel while spinning it in front of you.

This doesn't matter on bicycles because our wheels are light, and spin slowly. But on a motorcycle at high speed, the presession torque generated by the front wheel can be significant, and affect your control over the machine. The need to establish lean before turning becomes much more critical because if you initiate a turn by steering, the machine will want to react by leaning then turning in the opposite direction.

So, I can understand why folks who were motorcyclists first consider counter-steering so important. However, as I've said a number of times, it's a learned part of the brain's firmware, and once learned doesn't need conscious effort.
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