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Front Wheel "out-tracking" &
countersteering |
While in a turn at counter-steering
speeds the front wheel 'out-tracks'. The
front wheel is pointing to the right
during a right turn (for example) and,
thus, some people believe it is NOT
'out-tracking'. It is.
The blue arrow points in the direction
the bike is actually moving (its
instantaneous direction of travel) while
the red arrow shows the direction the
front wheel is pointing. The difference
is 'out-tracking'.
Think of 'out-tracking' as if it is
'slip angle'.
It is also true that the faster you are
going, the smaller the steering angle
will be in a turn. That is, the closer
to 'straight ahead' your front wheel
will point. But 'out-tracking' remains a
part of the turn - so long as you are
actually turning. So does
'counter-steering'.
Countersteering is of short duration.
You do it whenever you need to change
your line at speed. Each one of those
tiny adjustments you speak of is
separate countersteer, not a
continuation of the original. You
countersteer to change your lean angle
and consequent turning radius, then
re-establish your steering and speed to
be neutral to the chosen line.
A smooth rider does not make a lot of
tiny adjustments. With practice, uniform
radius turns are accomplished without
mid turn adjustments. Entering and
leaving that turn would be the only
steering inputs. For small adjustments
in a turn, countersteering is not about
bringing the front wheel past directly
ahead in the opposite direction of the
turn. That only happens when the
initiation of the turn is from a
straight line. The correction when
already leaned over is to turn the front
wheel to the outside of the turn
briefly, but usually not past center, to
lean more allowing a tighter turn before
bringing the steering back to simply
hold the line in the turn. A correction
to widen the turn starts by
countersteering to the inside to
decrease the lean.
Dragging Pegs -
Are a safety feature
When your bike is
leaned over at a 45 degree angle in a
curve you are putting exactly 1g of
lateral force on your tires (and about
40% more weight.) But you have seen that
motorcycle racers lean their bikes about
50 degrees in virtually every curve they
encounter on the track. You are GOOD and
wonder why the damn motorcycle
manufactures design their bikes with
such low pegs making it almost
impossible for you to lean farther than
45 degrees without ending up low-siding
the bike.
The only thing keeping your tires from
sliding out from under you is traction.
Street legal tires, if warmed up (but
not too hot), will lose traction when a
lateral force of 1.1 g's, or LESS, is
applied to them. Cold tires or overly
hot ones don't have even that much
traction potential.
Racers use bikes that allow them to lean
at least 50 degrees before any part of
the bike other than the tires can touch
the ground. At a 50 degree lean angle
their tires are contending with 1.2 g's
of lateral force. YOUR tires would have
lost traction before that happened.
Motorcycle racing tires are built with
special compounds designed to provide
upwards of 1.3 g's of traction
capability. [Formula One Race car tires
can handle as much as 4.0 g's - yes,
THEY can make a tighter turn than any
motorcycle.]
When you hear your pegs screaming at you
because they are dragging they are
telling you that any more lean and you
will be testing the abrasion resistance
of your riding gear.
This is good, no?
Think long and hard before jacking up
the suspension of your bike or of using
non-standard tire profiles so you can
avoid dragging your pegs in those
corners. Better, unless you are on a
race track, stay away from 45 degree
leans altogether.
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