[bigm3657]

Originally Posted by HCCAFan

I always counter steer. Thought that is how you were supposed to do it. I do catch myself trying to figure out after a very simple curve such as ion the nterstate exactly how I just turned. I'm wondering, did I just counter steer, did I turn like I used to turn my dirt bike, did I just lean and the bike turned....maybe the bike turned by itself? Trips me out sometimes. In the beginning I made a conscious effort to counter steer all the time and seeing how much easier it is, I think that's all I do now aside of course from extreme low speed stuff like parking.

what i mean by countersteering is moving your butt to the other side of the lean to keep balance.

[HCCAFan]

Hmmm, my mistake. Counter steering by definition is turning the opposite way of where you want to go. As far as leaning the other way, I think that's a no-no. I believe you're supposed to put weight on the outside peg with your leg but I have never heard/thought of leaning my body or butt the opposite direction.

[bigm3657]

Originally Posted by HCCAFan

Hmmm, my mistake. Counter steering by definition is turning the opposite way of where you want to go. As far as leaning the other way, I think that's a no-no. I believe you're supposed to put weight on the outside peg with your leg but I have never heard/thought of leaning my body or butt the opposite direction.

i dont mean leaning, i just mean shifting the weight......maybe this only applies to high speed turns.....u see them do this in races.

[slickwill]

I think you will see them shifting their weight to the side that they are going to. When they are turning left they are hanging off the left side. This allows a lower center of gravity. They are never shifted off the right side of the bike while turning left.

[loadedthorn]

Are you thinking of counter balancing? When you stay straight as the bike leans?

[slickwill]

A few minutes ago while I was driving home I realized that that might be what he was thinking about.

[bigm3657]

Originally Posted by loadedthorn

Are you thinking of counter balancing? When you stay straight as the bike leans?

i guess???

[Dave213]

I think you're thinking motard. Like when those supermoto bikes slide through the turn and their body is pretty much upright with that goofy foot sticking out. Is that what your referring to?

[t_hampton]

I think trailbraking into a corner is a excellent way to set speed all the way to the apex if need be, but must be taught correctly and used with finesse. The rear can be used to set corner speed alone or as a touch-up to the front (the Spencer instructors had us to do a full speed entry to a tight lefty with the right hand in the air waving, using only the back brake to modulate speed in....worked surprisingly well. Needless to say, you feel a little nekked ) ,and it shows you can use it, carefully.

[129CBRider]

Riding next to and just behind a car on a multi-lane road thinking they are keeping the car in view when actually the motorcycle is in the cage drivers blind spot.

[ihatecrashing]

Originally Posted by HCCAFan

but that damn sky keeps blocking my view when I slide back.

good point... damn sky...

[dicknose]

Originally Posted by loadedthorn

Are you thinking of counter balancing? When you stay straight as the bike leans?

Its a useful thing to know how to do - but its really only useful at slow (walking) speed. Do a u-turn and you can turn harder if you lean the bike but keep yourself upright.

[JohnDoe83]

Basic rider errors can be put into two groups.

One is actual bike control. I think the main skill that new riders take time to develop is smooth control inputs. Most new riders tend to hit the throttle, snap the bars, grip the bars too tight, grab too much brake, drop the clutch, etc. This is why supersport bikes are bad for beginners. Small mistakes in input translate into major changes in the bike's behavior. This leads to scary and unmanageable situations.

The second category is street savvy. This is basically how to interact with traffic and successfully manage your resources in a myriad of situations to stay out of trouble. There have been many good points in this thread concering street riding. The most important thing is to always be aware of your surroundings and position yourself so you have the maximum number of options available to you. That way, you maximize your chance to escape if something goes wrong. For example, keeping your hand on the clutch and the bike in gear at stoplights until you see the car behind you is in fact going to stop and not run your ass over. There is no substitute for vigilance.

[129CBRider]

Stay in front of them at least 10 car lengths. There isn't a law against getting to the speed limit in the first 60 feet, First gear away from a light is good for this.

Don't ride in their blind spot if you do get trapped in a crowd. Ride in their rear view mirrors. Headlight in their mirrors works good for this.

Never run red lights!

Worst chance of getting T-boned is the guy stopping at a side street on the left side of the road who approaches a stop sign and has you in his passenger side window post and never sees you at all. Does a quick stop and go and pulls right out in front of you. You now have .8 seconds to kiss your ass goodbye.

[jhonda41]

Originally Posted by Phadreus

Safe holds true for turning (must sacrifice all acceleration and braking). So if you want to turn and brake, you have to give up some potential for each and work with the compromise..

You do not have to sacrifice all acceleration and braking to turn a bike. You just have to compromise between acceleration/turning or braking/turning based on the grip of your tires.

Originally Posted by Phadreus

I'm not sure this is the only technique, however; I have found the most effective way of keep the nose down is control of the rear brake. A very light application of it during hard acceleration keeps the front end right where you want it. You don't sacrifice any acceleration, you just apply enough to transfer some energy back into the chassis, “torqueing” it downward.

If you are using your brakes while on the throttle, you are in fact sacrificing your acceleration. You can achieve the same effect with proper throttle control.

Originally Posted by bigm3657

when do you need to counter steer?? my msf teacher said you will never need to do this unless you are going so fast you lose all balance. but still i cant see taking a turn(sharp curve) at like 40-50mph and just leaning with the bike and still have balance.

IMO your MSF instructor is either a complete idiot or you misunderstood what he/she was trying to tell you. Its alot more complicated but basically cruiser/standard style bikes do not require as much (if any) counter-steering as sportbikes. That said, depending on where you take your MSF course the instructors might not teach it either because of the biking demographic or they simply don't believe in it.

Countersteering can be done (and practiced) at almost any speed... pick up a few books, do some reading, then go to a parking lot and practice the techniques.



In response to the actual thread... I think one of the most basic riding errors is trying to master the throttle before trying to master the brakes.


-jh

[dicknose]

Originally Posted by 129CBRider

Never run red lights!

Id go further - never run new-green lights.

If you approach a light thats red, but about to turn green and plan to hit the newly green at speed then you are really opening yourself to being hit by someone running the red.
While you might be in the right, it doesnt help if you are dead.

Without "running the green" its pretty hard to get hit by your typical red light runner. If you are stopped and do any sort of look you should see them. Plus taking off from a start you do take a bit of time to get into the intersection. But by hitting the line at speed as the light goes green you are putting yourself right in line to get collected by a red runner. Even if you see them you have very little options with any sort of speed up. While a bike can brake/accelerate well, its not much of an option in the sort of distances involved in a mid interections collision.

[Feelininvincibl]

I was out riding a couple weeks ago and moving at a good clip through some twisties. As I came around one corner there was a car in the other lane coming towards me. All of a sudden they pitched left like to do a three point turn. Instantly I thought " This is going to hurt!"
I immediately looked for a way out. The crappy thing is trying to get slowed enough to upright and brake hard fast enough felt impossible. And it was! I squeezed hard on the front then began to apply the rear for more help while down shifting. I locked up the rear by accident. One thing I did learn at MSF was that is bad. When I found where I would be able to go I released all brakes. I kept the clutch engaged and leaned slightly left. I was able to squeak by through about a two foot gap between her front bumper and a rock wall. We both came out unscathed. That scared the crap out of me!!!

I have only been riding about a year. Now I am teaching my wife to ride. The one thing I keep telling her is " be ready for anything." It always seems to be what other people are doing that will get you in trouble. Unless of course you are just out being an idiot.

[joe_sefa]

not paying attetion to your surroundings and riding the white dotted line between cars or semi trucks. not the smartest thing to do while on a bike and it can also have a judge talking to you about revoking your liscense.

[raider600rr]

target fixation is a big problem I see, just last week a friend lent his bike to a newbie that went into a irrigation canal because of it. And mostly riding outside their limits.

[slickwill]

There isn't a law against getting to the speed limit in the first 60 feet, First gear away from a light is good for this.

In Idaho it is called "Excessive Display of Accelleration" and it is up to the officer's discretion as to what is "excessive."

[129CBRider]

I went up one cog on the front so no more power wheelies or smokin' burnouts for me...or loop outs, which is really why I did it.

[dgux]

Originally Posted by slickwill

In Idaho it is called "Excessive Display of Accelleration" and it is up to the officer's discretion as to what is "excessive."

Excessive is when you land on your back

[Baketech]

Don't think it's been mentioned, but I bet most of us have been guilty of this at one time or another...following too closely.

[129CBRider]

Should you crash into something you'll probably black out for a split second from the initial impact but immediately wake up. From there on to the end of the action you can do what you can to minimize further damage, like staying aware of where your bike is so you don't get tangled up with it, etc. This guy has perfect form, obviously analyzing his landing spot, good composure before the touch-down, trying to remember if he made his last insurance payment...

[scud]

i quickly look to the side/behind when i change lanes, is this a bad thing to do? it seems smart to me... plus my mirrors are small, and the bike vibrates the SH%T out of them so it can be difficult just using the mirrors sometimes...

[129CBRider]

Good thing to do as you have a blind spot too.

[jhonda41]

Originally Posted by scud

i quickly look to the side/behind when i change lanes, is this a bad thing to do? it seems smart to me... plus my mirrors are small, and the bike vibrates the SH%T out of them so it can be difficult just using the mirrors sometimes...