QuestionI understand the priciples of countersteering but I was just wondering: when I on the motorcyle I can take my hands off the handlebars and lean the bike and can steer one way or another. Where does the countersteering fit in? In theory, I shouldn't be able to turn the bike at all with my hands off the handlebars.
AnswerThe answer to this question is very long and very complicated, I'll try to keep it short and simple.
Countersteering is one way to steer. Leaning your body is another. Countersteering is way more efficient: quicker, more precise, more predictable, more stable.
Here's the big secret to countersteering that many people don't understand: countersteering doesn't TURN the bike, countersteering only LEANS the bike. A bike needs to lean to turn, at least at speeds higher than a walking pace. So you lean it first by countersteering, then you turn the bike. What makes it so tricky is that most times you can't feel yourself turning the bike (you don't, really, the bike actually turns itself), you can only feel the countersteering, that's why it doesn't make sense.
What happens is after the bike is countersteered, it leans. When the bike leans, gravity (and geometry, I guess) pulls the tire into the turn, pointing it in the correct direction, and the bike turns like you think it should turn--with the tire pointed in the direction of the turn.
You could lean the bike by using your body weight and leaning in, but it takes a long time and is imprecise. Lots of riders learn to ride that way, and it works okay for them, because they end up countersteering without realizing it. Problem is, eventually they come to a point where they have to turn quickly or tighter than they anticipated, and they don't know how to do it. This is why all the experts preach countersteering--it's a skill every rider should know.
Once the bike is leaned and the front tire flops into the turn, you have to continue countersteering to keep the tire from turning farther into the turn--you have to keep countersteering to keep the bike on line. That's why it feels like countersteering is what turns the bike, because you have to do it constantly through a turn to hold your line.
(Some bikes, particularly brand new sport bikes and race bikes, once turned will require neutral steering pressure--they hold their own line with little input from the rider. As the tires wear and as the fork oil and springs wear and as the steering head bearing wears, it won't hold it's line as well and requires more countersteering inputs.)
You can demonstrate how this works to yourself with the bike in the garage, unmoving. Get someone to help you. Stand the bike straight up, and square the handlebars. Hold on to the bike from the rear grab rail(s).
Now, with the front tire pointing perfectly straight ahead, lean the bike either right or left. (Because the bike's not moving, you'll need to lean it quite a bit farther than if you were riding it, that's why you need a helper.) Leaning it over, eventually the handlebars and front tire will flop over into the direcion you're leaning--the direction of the turn, if it were moving--and generally flop all the way over to full lock, where the steering head stops.
This sequence is exactly what happens after you countersteer at speed: you lean the bike, the tire/handlebars flop into the turn, and you continue to apply countersteering pressure to keep the bike from turning tighter. Then you release pressure--or countersteer the other direction (or better yet, accelerate)--to stand the bike up as the turn straightens.
Well looking back on this, it's still pretty complicated, but you got my mind working early this morning, so I thank you. Good luck and I hope you have a better understanding of your motorcycle.
Pat
