Originally Posted by
wphamilton
The bike will track wherever the wheel is pointed; that is first and basic. The wheel must be turned toward the direction of turning, period. Let's say left turn. Momentum* will push your body outside of the curve -to the right - therefore you have to lean left to balance that. That leaning left (inside) is the result of turning the wheel the other way to the right, and that's what we define as "counter-steering". It moves your wheels to the right, away from your center, which causes you to be leaning to the left. That's all there is to it. Moving the wheels off-line to help you lean in the direction you want to turn. We do it at the beginning and/or several times all the way through the turn.
Is it a rule of the internet what whenever someone makes a statement of the form " <statement is how things work> period." that they're wrong?
I've taken and taught Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) courses. I've got a motorcycle racing license, and won a state championship in 2014.
I'm also an aerospace engineer with a lot of physics background.
A turn on a 2 wheeled vehicle at anything above walking speed is
initiated by turning in the
opposite direction of the turn. Once the lean angle and turn is established, the steering wheel is then returned to the direction of the turn, allowing the vehicle to track along the arc created by the slight offset in the contact patches.
I tried to find a good video that demonstrated this part, but didn't have any luck with a couple minutes on youtube.