john
easiest is to go out and ride around a little. 10 mph or so. Purposely push the steering wheel , say, turn the wheel to the right. Notice how the front wheel of course goes in the direction you just steered.
But also notice how you just steered the bike out from under yourself and you start to fall over towards the left... you have just leaned the bike for a left turn. to keep from falling over the front wheel now must be steered to the left, and to come out of the turn, you steer left a little bit harder to get the front wheel back under you.
If you are ever up against a curb, this why it can be disconcerting because you have to steer the wheel into the curb in order to get a lean so that you can turn away.
this all very similar to balancing a broom stick... you have a mass and you are trying to keep your tires under that mass by steering.
ok .. wikipedia does a much better job..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_dynamics
Marc R wrote:
Thanks so much for the comments, this was my biggest challenge in starting to ride a lot the last few years.
And yeah, if you tighten up during the turn, bad news!
John, could you say a bit more about 'countersteering'? I always found that a bit mystical.
Marc Rose
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john m schmidt, pe
portland oregon