I've gotten some emails about why talk about counter steering? This is why: If you want to swerve right? What do you do? Many riders don't know...can't explain it or even do it. Therefore, they're screwed when the time comes. That’s why it’s important to understand and practice counter steering. Most riders are unaware to what they’re doing and “just ride" without much thought to what they're doing or why or how to be better at it. If you’re aware of what you’re doing and make more precise inputs, you’ll ride and corner with less effort. You’ll be more proficient. Be less fatigued. Ride longer and easier. Be able to put your bike where you want it, when you want with less effort...be totally in control of your bike. The amount of riders who can do that is very small. Because they say things like "it just happens" or "no need to talk about this" or "everyone already knows this since childhood from riding a bicycle" all those stupid quotes are from the people who need to upgrade their knowledge and skill the most and it shows by their lack of ability while cornering/swerving. Just look at the comment section of any of my counter steering videos...the amount of people who think it's dumb to talk about counter steering is astonishing. It's like saying, why talk about how to run? Just run. People been running since they were 3 years old. Why learn or make videos about it? That's how stupid all of those people sound.
That's because some people's brains go into detail when thinking. While some other people's brains can only deal with basic thoughts. But they still think they know everything. They're usually the ones that say stuff like I haderlayerdown 🙄
I was so concerned about countersteering before I started riding. I read everything about it and watched every video on it. Still didn't get it. Then I rode a motorcycle for the first time. Within a minute I understood exactly what countersteering is. To quote Mr. LaBeouf - "DO IT!! JUST... DO IT!!" and you will understand exactly how it works. You just have to pay attention.
@ruben gonzalez Bike=20 pounds. Motorcycle=820 pounds. Not that simple. Or is it that simple...? You're not worried about countersteering on a bicycle because it can't crush you.
There's no reason to explain counter steering unless you want to know the physics of how a two wheel vehicle operates. You are just aware of how the bike reacts to certain inputs. It's an intuitive thing that even children learning to ride bikes do naturally. You practice by riding, you cannot practice counter steering, it's like saying to lean forward more while running to harness the gravity so you can run faster. It's a pedantic argument but the the term counter steering just ends up confusing people. It's knowledge not crucial to riding.
The speed of the motorcycle does not matter...if you want to go right, push forward on the right handlebar (or pull on the left handlebar). The faster you push, the faster the bike will lean. That's it...simple. If you're still confused, I have about 10 other videos on counter steering on my channel. th-cam.com/users/results?search_query=motojitsu+counter+steering
Thank you for demonstrating this! I was confusing counterbalancing and counter steering. Two TOTALLY different methods. Can you explain the advantages and disadvantages to either or? Also any situation on the actual road counter balancing MIGHT be more beneficial? Thank you Counter balance video 👇 th-cam.com/video/4m_qURucVTg/w-d-xo.html
I saw a guy turn a STATIONARY light motorcycle to the right and it fell to the right. He gently broke the motorcycle's fall and eased it down. He then turned it to the left and demonstrated that the motorcycle fell to the left. So yeah it works at ANY speed including ZERO.
@@Stacy_Smith Good point, countersteer even works AT THE STOP because bikes are designed have some amount of steering column “offset”. Turning the steering column directly moves the upper part of bike to the opposite side, solely because of the offset. It’s not significant movement but perceptible to people with high awareness. Stunt riders can use that movement to their advantage while balancing at 0mph…Look at stunt riders frequently moving the handlebar at the stop. Countersteer at the stop works.
@@gmrrnracr Those two methods are just two independent topics, rather than two choices from which you have to choose one. You always countersteer at any speed, and also you can choose to counterbalance at slower speed. Counterbalancing allows you to lean more at slower speed. Countersteer? It changes the lean angle!
The most bizarre thing about counter steering is that there are millions or even tens of millions of two wheeled riders all over the world who are going round bends and corners every day without ever being aware that they are counter steering and without being aware that such a phenomena exists.
And even more bizarrely they get oddly aggressive when told about counter steering. "I've been riding for 120 years young pup!" "Yes and you fucking suck at it and can't steer to save your life".
I really think it should be taught in a way riders are consciously aware of it. It saved my ass once, when I was a beginner rider I took a curved road a little too fast and pushing harder on the bar made the bike turn enough to make it. the bike can usually turn harder than the rider's skill so it is important to know how to get bike turning more. If I never got the note that pushing on the bar will make the bike turn harder I probably would have crashed thinking I was just not "leaning enough" (I hate the leaning talk, it makes no sense). Obviously if you are not a beginner anymore, you would expect that your muscle memory is counter steering and you don't really think about it anymore.
@@remytv Most accidents actually happen because they never learned the countr-steering consciously. I've seen so many videos of people in a tight turn wobbling because they are trying to rotate the bar in the opposite direction and then they go wide.
Just barely passed my endorsement test after failing it the first time.This is invaluable information. I had done this on a bicycle forever growing up and just watching this now you have connected those old neurons to some new ones. I feel significantly more confident understanding how the physics works now. When my instructors said "push to turn, that is countersteering" that wasn't enough for my feeble weightlifting man brain. I thought: "Wait, don't you pull the handlebars to turn? Why are they telling me to push them?" This was exactly what I needed to clarify that roadblock in my mind. I have committed to taking additional courses to further my motorcycle education. You have granted me knowledge nobody in my life could have given me, succinctly and thoroughly. Your channel has saved lives and prevented injuries. Thank you man.
I'm not sure if he is explaining about why countersteering is needed and what ultimately is happening during the countersteering. During the countersteering; the bike is leaning and g-force is forcing the back wheel to slide as it rolls and to me this is obvious but most things that are obvious to me are also not understood by most everyone but rather this was incorrect of me as I meant to say that many misunderstood reasons for things to having been happening in the physical sense of it rather. So as this back wheel loses traction which were to become dependent upon two things: one is speed ie.amount of g-force and the second is the the rubber's thickness and softness; the reason for this is is that as the wheel turns; it keeps introducing new rubber which continuously lets such amount go which seems like it is sliding which it kind actually might be slightly as well and again this would depend on the speed and the angle of the turn. And the regular steering will depend on if you keep the bike upright and put your body on the side that you are turning like a sidecar would do for you. Obviously.
This was the thing that confused me most from the basic rider course to the point that I purposefully ignored it and relied on decades of riding a bicycle to effectively direct the bike by just willing it to turn. Your description of the physics makes sense and has allowed me to understand what the instructors were talking about but never explained. Thank you.
If anyone rode a bicycle over 10mph you counter steered. Don’t over think this aspect. Some people get so confused not realizing they’ve counter steered their entire life. Honestly under 10mph you have to be psychologically balanced. You could regularly steer or counter steer.
@@joshw3539 there is no "regular steering" on 2 wheels no matter the speed. No matter the pace, if you are balanced on 2 wheel, if you are turning you have counter steered. The only way to not do it is foot on the ground or kidy wheels.
@MotoJitsu I discovered you a few weeks ago when I decided to buy my first bike (Honda CRF250L Rally). My first time ever sitting on a bike and/or riding a bike was yester (MSF rider class day 1). I have been soaking up the knowledge you are teaching; I have learned more from your channel already than I will learn in my MSF course. This video is like a shining gem for new rider like myself. I have a dual sport dirt bike and I'm more and more excited to ride it every time I watch one of your videos! Please keep up the education. You should start a riding academy (I guess you already have lol)
I always explain that counter steering starts working as soon as the bike has enough momentum to stay balanced upright. I think the fact that counter steering is always explained as a "technique" instead of a fact is a big reason why there's still so much misunderstanding regarding it.
Motorcycles/bicycles countersteer by themselves so your point does make sense. If you kick over a riderless motorcycle tracking straight at 10mph or whatever the bars will do the countersteering by themselves. Still I think it's a good thing to actually be conscious of your steering inputs. "I don't countersteer at slow speeds, I just lean" literally translates to "I don't pay attention to my steering inputs at slow speeds".
@@overdose8840 i agree. It's very important to learn. You have so much more control over the rate at which you lean the bike if you have counter steering down (i think active steering would be a more accurate term). The best part is you can always go back to natural steering, or however you thought you steered previously (which is again just counter steering, but subconsciously) when riding around and whip out your counter (active) steering chops for when you need to make a quick swerve or take a turn with more confident and purpose. It's a physical fact with the only difference being whether you do it subconsciously or consciously.
Yes exactly. It’s not a technique or skill, it’s a fact. You do it or you don’t and crash, period. This whole topic needs to die. It truly is just a convoluted topic that leads people astray.
that's very true, the only difference at low speed and high speed is, at low speed the movements and actions and moments of counter steering is more obvious as compared to high speed. At low speed before you make a left turn, you would still right slightly to the right to make the bike lean to the left, and you can see that you make that right turn before turning left. of course the leaning/falling moment of the bike is also way more obvious. at high speed, the bike creates more of a gyroscopic effect that allows you to maintain that lean, but everything regarding counter steering action and moments are reduced. less obvious movements and less falling/leaning moment
Your videos are so helpful to me. New rider, 170cc scooter, but no knowledge until I watch your videos. Still in the parking lot practicing what you say to do. Thanks so much. Top speed for me so far was a brief 20mph. So knowing I can use counter steering at my most common speed of 10-18 is great! 😂
Grew up on a bicycle, would ride no-handed over 20 blocks to Little League practice on my tall Schwinn. Sure enough, an initial lean forced the front wheel to the opposite direction, attempting to ‘fall over,’ until a slight ‘counter lean’ stabilized it! Many years later ..I’ve relearned and applied it to my motorcycles, thanks you.. what an instructor.
I was fortunate & was taught to counter steer when I first started riding 44 years ago!!!🙂 Counter steering gives you the best control of steering and the bike automatically leans appropriately. Pull back on same bar, brings the bike back up, in similar controlled manner. Trying to lean the bike to steer is just guessing
This was the most concise and accurate explanation of counter steering AND actually how to perform it. Previously, it was confusing as to when to push and when to stop pushing. BRAVO! I understand how to and why it all works, in one excellent video.
THANK YOU for making this clear, I have had so many debates with people over this and it frustrates me like hell. Especially the loud mouth students who think they know everything about riding. I just think to myself "If you already know everything about riding, why are you in my class?"
This was sooo good! Thanks! One thing I still would like to see demonstrated (perhaps it is but I haven't found it yet) is emergencies in a turn. Like how to emergency stop in the middle of a turn. And how to miss that squirrel while in the middle of a high speed turn. You mentioned it in this video, but have you demonstrated it before? Thanks! Love the videos. Bought the app.
How to avoid a squirrel? Answer: You don't. You just run it over. Making adjustments for a squirrel is probably riskier than staying the course. If it was a larger animal, that's a different story. I would just decrease me speed.
47 yr old female….. just got my first motorcycle, a 310 gs….. Thanks for your videos! I get a ton of great info from you…. I haven’t got out of my yard or past first gear, but I’ve learned a lot just from you just going at that speed…😂
I ride some twisted mountain roads that have tight slow curves,longer sweeping curves and lean angle in the straightaways. Some places I use countersteering, regular steering, and lean angle. The combination is so fun and starting to be second nature.
Hey man, thanks a lot for doing these videos. It makes it a lot easier and less intimidating to get into the motorcycle world by equipping myself with all these knowledge. I did realized I do counter-steer, but I did it subconsciously, to the point where I don't even know i'm doing it. I ride bicycles when I was young, and I was already doing that without knowing I'm doing it. Keep up doing what you do!! 🤩
I shared the description of this video and your TH-cam name with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) here on TH-cam. I recommended that they make this video required viewing for all students before taking the MSF test. If I'd seen this before my training this week, it would have massively improved my riding skills! Thank you so much for posting this! I will start practing this right now! Man, I really wish you'd chosen an empty parking lot! At 10:18, I almost had a heart attack when you got just eight feet from that Tesla!
About the student who took your instruction literally. I am a driving instructor, we really have to think about what we say and never assume the student understand when to stop, ESPECIALLY if they have autism. Big difference between turning right at the RED light, or turning right at the traffic signal.
Okay been riding for almost a month. Almost 250 miles in my neighborhood and to the barn where my wife rides horses about 11 miles away (all back roads). THIS video finally unlocked counter steering for me. Now to some more of the slow obstacle work and make this muscle memory. Thank you for these videos. No courses anywhere near me but I’m gonna travel for one here soon.
I’m so glad you explained it because everybody just automatically tells me to push right to go right and in your brain you just automatically think that that’s wrong. And I’ve never seen a video that actually explains how counter steering works. And I’m so glad I know now and that way I can go out and practice. I have ridden my bike quite a few times and I’ve taken it to work a couple of times but it’s fairly close so I don’t really have to do a lot of curves or anything like that. It’s pretty much a straight shot. And I just do it for practice but I want to practice more so I’ll take it to the school a couple of blocks from where I live and I practice in the parking lot. I haven’t been doing that lately because it’s like 100° in Alabama and it gets so humid that you almost pass out so I’m gonna start practicing this more because I purposely go on pretty straight roads to keep from having to do curves. And I know I shouldn’t do that but I’m going to practice more.
The way I always understood it intuitively. Is that when you turn the tire left, it goes left but then you bikes center of gravity falls right. Due to it's support (front tire) is being swept from underneath it. It's like kicking someone's legs out from them.
Crips, I learned this in 83 How could any rider not know this points to poor instructors or no instructors I remember our group instructors in 83 had us spend alot of time on this maneuver I still practice it all the time 1oos of bikes in dozens of country's since it has saved me more then once Learn it, refine it, practice it At low speed you have many other tool.
4:07 I think this spray paint analogy gives the best intuitive picture. Like the wheel tracks a bicycle leaves behind after riding through a puddle. The front tire track is greatly exaggerated vs the rear tire and the front initially tracks opposite the turn direction.
Thank you so much again, Greg - this made that coin finally drop for me!!! ❤ So confusing to hear the opposite from ones own teacher - that made me struggle so much at low speeds and sharp turns. 😢 Now I do it your way - this way - and it works beautifully! 😊 Feeling secure, at last! 🌟🙏 You are just marvellous! 🫠
It’s truly a testament to the great engineering marvels bikes are and laws of physics. You kinda see it in nature too-if you see how fish swim when they want to dart sharply in one direction you see them do a quick very small blip in the opposite direction and then allows them to take off faster and accurately in the intended direction.
MotoJitsu provided this great reply to me a couple weeks ago re: slow speed turning - "There is no normal steering nor do you have to think about it at all...want to go left? Push forward on the left handlebar, that's it. Those steering corrections is probably vision issues not steering. Once you get to your desired lean angle, stop pushing...everything that happens after that (caster effect of trail when the bars do turn in the direction you're going, is automatic and don't have to "do" anything) but the more you're relaxed on the bars, you'll start to be able to actually feel this happening without interfering." Greg's reply was helpful to me, I have been riding over 50 years but still learning. I know about countersteering - but was frustrated on the parking lot drills as the bike destabilized and I was flipping between countersteer, then normal steer - and felt like a newbie all over again. I was making steering corrections but getting confused on "left - right" (countersteer vs steering into the turn / normal steer). No matter how long we have been riding, we may be a white belt if we don't roll up our sleeves and work out the low speed stuff. I have buddies who struggle with U-turns, unlevel surfaces, who are seasoned riders. Thank you Greg for helping the motorcycle community, and putting up with occasional flamers who think they know it all (but don't). Greg's mention of "castor effect of trail" is per Lee Parks book "Total Control". Greg often credits this book and refers people to it, which is one of Greg's amazing attributes. To be humble and refer people to other reference material. The reference to how a shopping cart wheel changes direction (castor effect) is a light bulb moment. All motorcycles have "trail" unless your forks are absolute vertical (they aren't) which is why you don't have to keep countersteering once the bike begins to turn. th-cam.com/video/PgUOOwnZcDU/w-d-xo.html
The problem is with the term "counter steering" you start the turn by turning the wheel in the other direction but it doesn't stay there. There is a good veritasium video where they show that you cannot turn a bicycle to the left without first turning the handlebars right. They do it with a device that makes it so the handlebars only turn one way. He couldn't turn the bike at all.
For anyone seeing this, next time you go riding go like 80kmh, then try to turn ONLY by leaning your body, or only putting weight on a foot peg, or only pushing directly down on the handlebar, etc. any of those “alternative” methods of steering. You will see that if you ONLY lean your body to turn you will hang your entire body off the side of the bike and just baaareeelly turn the bike. It’s the most sluggish turn you’ll ever do. In reality, all of these alternative turning methods like “I just lean to turn the bike” don’t work at all. Anyone who says that they only lean their body is actually subconsciously turning the handlebars. Try any method of turning, except for countersteering, and it won’t work whatsoever.
Idk how this is a contested topic. Brand new rider here, less than 30 days, 2013 ninja 1000. This is how it works. You have to counter steer to go where you want to. The only confusing part about all this to me is how people dont understand it after they've been on a bike. Ride a bicycle first. Same concept.
Spent 30 minutes in a big empty parking lot experimenting with slow speed counter steering after watching this video. One hand, clutch only, idle speed. Repeated a mantra -- "push left, go left, let the bike correct". Of course, the opposite works too -- "pull left, go right, let the bike correct". Much tighter figure 8's. Recommend folks try it.
this is one of the better explanations ive heard. good job. showing the pull on the right to cause the destablization before the turn began is all the proof ya need.
The bike destabilizes not because the tire is rounded. It destabilizes to the right when the wheel is pointing left because the centripetal force from the left generates a torque that throws the bike to the right making it lean to the right. Once leaned, the same centripetal force and torque is applied to the opposite direction because we're now turning right, but because we're now leaning, the forces are cancelled out and the bike assumes a natural curved path of travel... which is to the right. What about the front wheel? It turns to the direction of the lean because of trail, which is the angle between the axle and the contact patch. This angle forces the wheel to turn.
4:43 this is where I was previously confused. Counter steering vs wheel direction during turns. I was thinking that you meant to go right counter-steer push right and keep the handlebars facing left; versus allowing the wheel to turn right after you have reached the lean angle.
I'm not sure if he is explaining about why countersteering is needed and what ultimately is happening during the countersteering. During the countersteering; the bike is leaning and g-force is forcing the back wheel to slide as it rolls and to me this is obvious but most things that are obvious to me are also not understood by most everyone but rather this was incorrect of me as I meant to say that many misunderstood reasons for things to having been happening in the physical sense of it rather. So as this back wheel loses traction which were to become dependent upon two things: one is speed ie.amount of g-force and the second is the the rubber's thickness and softness; the reason for this is is that as the wheel turns; it keeps introducing new rubber which continuously lets such amount go which seems like it is sliding which it kind actually might be slightly as well and again this would depend on the speed and the angle of the turn. And the regular steering will depend on if you keep the bike upright and put your body on the side that you are turning like a sidecar would do for you. Obviously.Countersteering isn't just what you are talking about; say that you are racing and in the curves you are actually keeping the steering to the right and leaning left and turning left; that is also countersteering and the way I see it is more so than what you are demonstrating here.
I was very confused by a lot of other peoples videos. They went way too in-depth with math and the physics. For me and simple explanation and demonstration was all that I really needed to wrap my head around counter steering. I didn't fully understand how it actually worked the whole way through. Like once I push on the left bar to go left, what do I do after? Others just did physics explanations. You showed it and explained it in normal English. I immediately understood it. And for that I thank you greatly as getting into riding this was my biggest concern and fear. But now I have a foundational understanding of how it it suppose to work, I can go out and practice it myself to experience it first hand. Thank you.
Search "MotoJitsu counter steering" and all my videos will pop up about the subject for you to watch and learn. Then go riding one handed for 5 mins out through some turns, you'll get it.
Wow! You have just opened my eyes big time! Thank you 🙏 I have one more day one my basics riding curse to get my L’s. I am so going to put this into practice tomorrow on some of the tight manoeuvres. Bikes are incredible machines 👌
Weird how there are still people who want to claim countersteering isn't the thing we all do on all 2 wheelers, though for me I just think of it as "steering." My bicycles are almost all recumbents. There's literally zero way I can "lean" steer it, because my butt is glued to a lounge chair, and my feet are above my butt, so there's no "weighting the pedals" and the handlebar is a tiller, so there is no "pushing down" on the steering bars. (I can't push "forward" or "backward" either b/c of that tiller, so turns are initiated with a sideways swing...) Learning this is instinctive to a bike rider and takes only a few minutes, but understanding what you're actually doing isn't as simple. The term countersteer is unnecessarily confusing IMO, but the way it works is indisputable for anyone who pays attention. Unbalance bike to initiate roll, then allow geometry to steer back under it at the desired angle, adjust as necessary. It's scarier on a motorcycle because it demands more deliberation and it's not so simple to catch the weight when you get it wrong.
Countersteering to momentarilly create an unbalance that needs to be corrected by steering in the opposite direction, the direction you want to travel.
0:28 The term "countersteering" was introduced to me when I found videos about it on TH-cam, and having learnt it I went to driving school to get my license with countersteering method in mind, so I put an effort to consciously apply it at all speeds. There was no mention of countersteering whatsoever by my instructor, which I found strange.
I agree with this. You have 10 videos on this as well. But the problem is, most riders - even the so called experienced ones - want to talk of body position and moving the handlebars, basically say anything except talk about the concept of countersteering by pushing on the handlebars. Thanks for drilling the point like a military guy. Some heads are too thick to learn new ideas. Keep doing what you do!
Thank you!! I just started riding (in a parking lot) 2 days ago, and i did not understand what counter steer meant on a bike, now it makes perfect sense. I will practice this tomorrow. Cheers!
so i just added a comment on another one of your videos asking this exact question so essentially what im getting from both videos is you push(or pull), relax, repeat all the way through the turn
I’ll never forget how I learned to countersteer without any prior knowledge of it. Having never ridden a full size street bike I convinced a good friend to let me take his CB750 for a spin after he took me for a ride. He was reluctant but knew I had experience with mini bikes and go carts. Well I took off slowly and when I got to the first right hand turn down the first block my heart practically stopped when the bike wasn’t turning and I was headed to crash. Instinctively I somehow figured it out inside of 2 seconds as my heart was pounding through my chest. That’s when on the straight away I now started pushing and pulling to swerve left and right thinking omg I almost dropped his bike bc I wasn’t aware at all. 😅
I learned about countersteering as a kid on a bike.I rode through a puddle then turned sharp left back onto dry tarmac.I looked at my wheeltracks and noticed a strange little loop where I had instinctively steered right for a fraction of a second.at the point of turning and leaning..So even as a 10 year old I understood that I had to unbalance the bike to turn a corner.Now as a motorcyclist I rarely discuss countersteering because so few riders seem to accept or understand it.One bloke told me about a friend of his who went on a 'Countersteering course' and 'Now turns the handlebars the opposite way that he used to!'There are videos on TH-cam that promote the theory that countersteering starts at 12mph.Some riders say,"I steer normally....I don't do countersteering!"That's why I tend not to discuss it.
I thought I understood counter steering. Have a new bike (upgraded) and trying to get more comfortable with it. Haven't been feeling comfortable with the throttling going slowly. Working on slow turns and sharper ones. Watched this and went back out and instantly improvement noticed. So thank you.
Great job making it more confusing just to prove a point. Start at @13:34 for the tldr; Countersteer is just to initiate the lean on your bike, after after leaning, you steer as normal.
Forget about it bro. The whole "counter steering" thing in motorcycling is idiotic. It's just to keep noobs/fools from yanking on the handlebars to the right to try to turn right at speed...nothing more... But the whole culture is obsessed almost to a point of fetish about "counter steer! Push right to go right!" When in truth it's just to initiate the lean...lol
@@maalikserebryakov are you being serious? If so, it only works at speeds above 10 mph any slower and you should just turn your handlebars. Also, it's not something you really do. Consciously. Think of this example, you're riding your bike fast down the road and it starts to curve to the right enough to change directions from say going south to going west (not an intersection which is basically a 45° L turn) So what do you do " to make your bike go around the bend"? I'm sure you've done this already... Well you basically counter steered... Because you had to lean into the turn to make the bike go around the bend... When you leaned into the curve, you momentarily pushed the right handlebar forward/down as you shifted your weight into the curve... You counter steered... Yeah, that's counter steering...
So It's my complete misunderstanding of the physics. I was taught wrongly, might I add by not only my state MSF instructors but all explanation of what counter steer actually is since then. First, my understanding as is it was explained by the state agency that gave me my MSF course and the instructors. Push right go right, super basic basic principle, especially on the twisties in the mountains. But with the slower speeds because the front wheel goes left/right to go left or right there's no counter steering. Well now that you just blew that out of the water, I now know better. Thanks for the video.
This also correlates to your video in which you state that we should come to a stop with the front wheel straight. Because, if we have it turned, just as in your demonstration here for counter-steering, we have place the bike in an unstable position, and we will fall - the bike first, and it will likely take you down with it. Excellent video, as always.
Absolutely fantastic video, best explanation I’ve seen! Can’t wait for my lessons to put it into practise; seems so foreign to me. Assuming it works on a pedal bike so will try tomorow😂
Even you said yourself, that you need to pick up speed for lean angle when doing slow drills. 15 isn't a magical barrier, it's just where lean angle starts to matter and you need to push the bike into a lean. At 5mph you're not in need of lean angle, so you don't need to counter steer. Those little bobbles you were doing were not necessary at that slow speed.
Agreed 💯 at that slow a speed there is no need to do a quick bobble. That's like someone taking a right turn off a stop sign and taking the car wide, to make the turn.
Imagine you were riding along perfectly straight and vertical at any speed. OK? Now,, remaining vertical you steer left or right. You'd steer the bike out from under you, you'd lose your balance and you'd fall off. As long as your feet are off the ground you need to lean to stay balanced when turning, at any speed, however imperceptible it is to you, you will be leaning. The only way to lean a bike is to steer in the opposite direction you want to lean. Counter steering happens whether you believe it, or know it, or do it consciously. If it didn't you be on the floor.
@@markj66 post a video of you going 3-5mph and leaning towards where you wanna go. Go ahead I'll wait and look for the video. It'll never happen, you will fall over before you even finish the turn.
At 5mph, the bars are not required to lean the bike to make a turn. Yes, you can't turn vertically, but the bars aren't required to lean the slight amount at such slow speed. I ride every single day. The lean is necessary, you're right. However jarring the bars to accomplish that lean is not when going so slow. At higher speeds, the lean cannot be accomplished by just shifting weight, and needs the bars to happen. Try it. I just did. I ride every day of my life. Rain or shine. Even when motojitsu avoids the medians, he is not jarring the bars. Only when he wants to make the point.
More understandable by far. What nobody else said is that you don't push and keep pushing and the handlebars turn by themselves. Clearly the shape of the tire changes and therefore results in destabilization which leads to the breaking of the "Stream."
One word of wisdom that helped me get a grip about countersteering was that your hands are for turning the bike, and legs are for gripping on to the bike. You don't use one for the other. Like many, i countersteered before i understood it by using my body to lean into corners which is i would say far more dangerous than just countersteering with the handlebars
Well said. If only more riders would understand this. All you see in comments is “lean over to steer”, “push down on the pegs”, “push over with the knees”. All they need is push the grip and it’s done.
@@softailfunIf you actually try to just push your foot peg, lean your body over, push down on the handlebar, etc. without pushing the bars forward at all it is almost impossible to steer the bike. It’s insanely sluggish even on a really light bike. This is why anyone who says “I just lean” *actually* subconsciously countersteers. Trying to steer a bike by leaning your body only is almost impossible.
You are correct! I use to be an MSF rider coach but for some reason when I was instructor MSF down played it for some reason. I talked about it in class. I always a little frustrated. I’ve been out of the program for at least 10-12 years but I hope they have improved.
I remember counter steering as the front tire tracks out from directly under the upper part of bike; as a result, the bike leans opposite direction from front wheel tracking.
Great channel, great information, but I think it would be helpful if you explained the physics a bit. You could also explain that it works as you demonstrate it IF one does not counteract with body positioning. Which one can. It should also be explained that the force that makes the bike lean does depend on speed/velocity, the greater the velocity the greater the force that leans the bike upon turning the handlebar. Thus, the slower the bike the easier to compensate for this force with body positioning, and that makes handlebar steering a valid option at lower velocities. (I mean, c'mon, you don't "countersteer" while walking your bike in your garage. You just turn your handlebar where you wanna go.)
Definitive video on countersteering. I did not realize we stop countersteering once the lean is achieved. I guess we do it, but it is so important to KNOW it.
MSF should just show a clip of this video. I read counter steer and was told counter steer a bunch, it never made sense until now. I'm coming from a car, where I would counter steer as part of fish tailing/kicking the back end out. This is the same thing for like the first half second, then completely different, and I think when people talk about counter steer their are not hitting that point nearly as well as you just did. The point of 'destabilizing the bike' so you induce a lean. It might hit home for more new riders of MSF said it more like - 'you want to lean into your turn, the best way to start that is to counter steer'. Either that, or they did say it that way and I just didn't listen :D
I notice that when you are turning at highway speed (e.g. ONE FINGER Counter Steering Demonstration) that when you gently counter steer that the handlebars do not snap into the direction of the turn as seen here at low speed but that the handlebars continue to point in the direction opposite the turn as the turn continues.
I saw a youtube video a few months ago where they locked the front bars and tried to make a turn. The point is you have to go left first to turn right, and right first to turn left. and THATS counter-steering
You are countsteering all the time. How do you think the bike stays straight on a straight road? You dont typically lean. It is intrinsic to learning to ride a bike in the first place. I am amazed at how many riders have no idea. Very useful technique.
There is an optical illusion going on when people watch this and similar videos- and that is it 'looks like' there is a 'push' followed by a 'pull' of the hand. The 'trickiest' part of counter steering is managing the degree of push for the required turn - hence the importance of practise at different speeds and being comfortable with that momentary sense of fall which is required to achieve lean. The whole thing is counter intuitive and probably explains a lot of grip of death syndrome on teh handlebars.
Once again I’m learning new stuff from you Greg!!!! After 24 years of riding bikes I’m still learning stuff from you. I went from a hayabusa to a streetglide now having a little challenge with that bike because of the smaller ground clearance. Getting freaked out when I make a subtle lean, and the pegs start dragging. Can you do a video on this. Thank you .
At high speed the mechanics are slightly different (at least it feels that way to me). Push right, lean right, continue the pressure on right handlebar till you want to stand up bike, at that moment you push left, till bike is straight. If i did not continue to push keep pressure on right handlebar bike would stand up. I am talking about higher track speeds here. Having said its possible the right wheel still naturally points slightly right but i still have to maintain pressure on right handlebar. On slower turning speeds feeling is different, counter steer to destabilize and then let handlebar adjust itself in direction you are turning, adjust throttle/clutch to maintain the turning equilibrium.
I find it funny that I came to slow speed counter steering naturally while practicing in my front yard. Theres a big tree in the middle of it so the best i can do is a large oval or circle. I found how to while recovering from losing my balance on a turn and have been using it since then. Wasnt till i took the msf course did i get a name for it.
It even works from a stop. It's just that you can lean the bike with your body weight/foot pegs at lower speeds, and you really can't at higher speeds.
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I've gotten some emails about why talk about counter steering? This is why:
If you want to swerve right? What do you do? Many riders don't know...can't explain it or even do it. Therefore, they're screwed when the time comes. That’s why it’s important to understand and practice counter steering.
Most riders are unaware to what they’re doing and “just ride" without much thought to what they're doing or why or how to be better at it.
If you’re aware of what you’re doing and make more precise inputs, you’ll ride and corner with less effort. You’ll be more proficient. Be less fatigued. Ride longer and easier. Be able to put your bike where you want it, when you want with less effort...be totally in control of your bike. The amount of riders who can do that is very small.
Because they say things like "it just happens" or "no need to talk about this" or "everyone already knows this since childhood from riding a bicycle" all those stupid quotes are from the people who need to upgrade their knowledge and skill the most and it shows by their lack of ability while cornering/swerving.
Just look at the comment section of any of my counter steering videos...the amount of people who think it's dumb to talk about counter steering is astonishing.
It's like saying, why talk about how to run? Just run. People been running since they were 3 years old. Why learn or make videos about it? That's how stupid all of those people sound.
Bizarre isn't it. Such negativity. Why even do they bother commenting? Don't like it, move on. Moses sandles people have too much time on their hands!
Awesome video. Brand new rider. Thank you!
That's because some people's brains go into detail when thinking.
While some other people's brains can only deal with basic thoughts. But they still think they know everything.
They're usually the ones that say stuff like
I
haderlayerdown 🙄
Totally agree, Thanks
there's a lot of people like this in every field.
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it"
- Albert Einstein
"Why? Because the bike loves you" best explanation 😄
I was so concerned about countersteering before I started riding. I read everything about it and watched every video on it. Still didn't get it. Then I rode a motorcycle for the first time. Within a minute I understood exactly what countersteering is. To quote Mr. LaBeouf - "DO IT!! JUST... DO IT!!" and you will understand exactly how it works. You just have to pay attention.
Why didnt you try it on a bicycle if you didnt get it?
@@n40798 Most don't think about it like that...
@ruben gonzalez Bike=20 pounds. Motorcycle=820 pounds. Not that simple. Or is it that simple...? You're not worried about countersteering on a bicycle because it can't crush you.
There's no reason to explain counter steering unless you want to know the physics of how a two wheel vehicle operates. You are just aware of how the bike reacts to certain inputs.
It's an intuitive thing that even children learning to ride bikes do naturally. You practice by riding, you cannot practice counter steering, it's like saying to lean forward more while running to harness the gravity so you can run faster.
It's a pedantic argument but the the term counter steering just ends up confusing people. It's knowledge not crucial to riding.
Because you've literally rode a bicycle and done it countless times.
The speed of the motorcycle does not matter...if you want to go right, push forward on the right handlebar (or pull on the left handlebar). The faster you push, the faster the bike will lean. That's it...simple. If you're still confused, I have about 10 other videos on counter steering on my channel.
th-cam.com/users/results?search_query=motojitsu+counter+steering
Thank you for demonstrating this!
I was confusing counterbalancing and counter steering. Two TOTALLY different methods. Can you explain the advantages and disadvantages to either or? Also any situation on the actual road counter balancing MIGHT be more beneficial? Thank you
Counter balance video 👇
th-cam.com/video/4m_qURucVTg/w-d-xo.html
Just out of topic 😅
Video just posted 2 hours ago on my app and how come your comment was 16h ago?
I saw a guy turn a STATIONARY light motorcycle to the right and it fell to the right. He gently broke the motorcycle's fall and eased it down.
He then turned it to the left and demonstrated that the motorcycle fell to the left.
So yeah it works at ANY speed including ZERO.
@@Stacy_Smith Good point, countersteer even works AT THE STOP because bikes are designed have some amount of steering column “offset”. Turning the steering column directly moves the upper part of bike to the opposite side, solely because of the offset. It’s not significant movement but perceptible to people with high awareness. Stunt riders can use that movement to their advantage while balancing at 0mph…Look at stunt riders frequently moving the handlebar at the stop. Countersteer at the stop works.
@@gmrrnracr Those two methods are just two independent topics, rather than two choices from which you have to choose one. You always countersteer at any speed, and also you can choose to counterbalance at slower speed. Counterbalancing allows you to lean more at slower speed. Countersteer? It changes the lean angle!
The most bizarre thing about counter steering is that there are millions or even tens of millions of two wheeled riders all over the world who are going round bends and corners every day without ever being aware that they are counter steering and without being aware that such a phenomena exists.
And even more bizarrely they get oddly aggressive when told about counter steering. "I've been riding for 120 years young pup!" "Yes and you fucking suck at it and can't steer to save your life".
Maybe the physics behind it make sense ,the explanation Not at all
I really think it should be taught in a way riders are consciously aware of it. It saved my ass once, when I was a beginner rider I took a curved road a little too fast and pushing harder on the bar made the bike turn enough to make it. the bike can usually turn harder than the rider's skill so it is important to know how to get bike turning more. If I never got the note that pushing on the bar will make the bike turn harder I probably would have crashed thinking I was just not "leaning enough" (I hate the leaning talk, it makes no sense).
Obviously if you are not a beginner anymore, you would expect that your muscle memory is counter steering and you don't really think about it anymore.
@@remytv Most accidents actually happen because they never learned the countr-steering consciously. I've seen so many videos of people in a tight turn wobbling because they are trying to rotate the bar in the opposite direction and then they go wide.
Just barely passed my endorsement test after failing it the first time.This is invaluable information. I had done this on a bicycle forever growing up and just watching this now you have connected those old neurons to some new ones. I feel significantly more confident understanding how the physics works now. When my instructors said "push to turn, that is countersteering" that wasn't enough for my feeble weightlifting man brain. I thought: "Wait, don't you pull the handlebars to turn? Why are they telling me to push them?" This was exactly what I needed to clarify that roadblock in my mind. I have committed to taking additional courses to further my motorcycle education. You have granted me knowledge nobody in my life could have given me, succinctly and thoroughly. Your channel has saved lives and prevented injuries. Thank you man.
I'm not sure if he is explaining about why countersteering is needed and what ultimately is happening during the countersteering. During the countersteering; the bike is leaning and g-force is forcing the back wheel to slide as it rolls and to me this is obvious but most things that are obvious to me are also not understood by most everyone but rather this was incorrect of me as I meant to say that many misunderstood reasons for things to having been happening in the physical sense of it rather. So as this back wheel loses traction which were to become dependent upon two things: one is speed ie.amount of g-force and the second is the the rubber's thickness and softness; the reason for this is is that as the wheel turns; it keeps introducing new rubber which continuously lets such amount go which seems like it is sliding which it kind actually might be slightly as well and again this would depend on the speed and the angle of the turn. And the regular steering will depend on if you keep the bike upright and put your body on the side that you are turning like a sidecar would do for you. Obviously.
This was the thing that confused me most from the basic rider course to the point that I purposefully ignored it and relied on decades of riding a bicycle to effectively direct the bike by just willing it to turn. Your description of the physics makes sense and has allowed me to understand what the instructors were talking about but never explained. Thank you.
The the same thing on a bicycle
I literally rode my bicycle about 8 hours the week before my rider safety course and it made it a breeze
well riding a bicycle is better than doing nothing@@zzzzzz1039
If anyone rode a bicycle over 10mph you counter steered. Don’t over think this aspect. Some people get so confused not realizing they’ve counter steered their entire life. Honestly under 10mph you have to be psychologically balanced. You could regularly steer or counter steer.
@@joshw3539 there is no "regular steering" on 2 wheels no matter the speed. No matter the pace, if you are balanced on 2 wheel, if you are turning you have counter steered. The only way to not do it is foot on the ground or kidy wheels.
@MotoJitsu I discovered you a few weeks ago when I decided to buy my first bike (Honda CRF250L Rally). My first time ever sitting on a bike and/or riding a bike was yester (MSF rider class day 1). I have been soaking up the knowledge you are teaching; I have learned more from your channel already than I will learn in my MSF course. This video is like a shining gem for new rider like myself. I have a dual sport dirt bike and I'm more and more excited to ride it every time I watch one of your videos! Please keep up the education. You should start a riding academy (I guess you already have lol)
I always explain that counter steering starts working as soon as the bike has enough momentum to stay balanced upright.
I think the fact that counter steering is always explained as a "technique" instead of a fact is a big reason why there's still so much misunderstanding regarding it.
Motorcycles/bicycles countersteer by themselves so your point does make sense. If you kick over a riderless motorcycle tracking straight at 10mph or whatever the bars will do the countersteering by themselves. Still I think it's a good thing to actually be conscious of your steering inputs. "I don't countersteer at slow speeds, I just lean" literally translates to "I don't pay attention to my steering inputs at slow speeds".
@@overdose8840 i agree. It's very important to learn. You have so much more control over the rate at which you lean the bike if you have counter steering down (i think active steering would be a more accurate term). The best part is you can always go back to natural steering, or however you thought you steered previously (which is again just counter steering, but subconsciously) when riding around and whip out your counter (active) steering chops for when you need to make a quick swerve or take a turn with more confident and purpose. It's a physical fact with the only difference being whether you do it subconsciously or consciously.
Good comment. Countersteer should be taught as a “principle” instead of technique.
Yes exactly. It’s not a technique or skill, it’s a fact. You do it or you don’t and crash, period. This whole topic needs to die. It truly is just a convoluted topic that leads people astray.
that's very true, the only difference at low speed and high speed is, at low speed the movements and actions and moments of counter steering is more obvious as compared to high speed. At low speed before you make a left turn, you would still right slightly to the right to make the bike lean to the left, and you can see that you make that right turn before turning left. of course the leaning/falling moment of the bike is also way more obvious. at high speed, the bike creates more of a gyroscopic effect that allows you to maintain that lean, but everything regarding counter steering action and moments are reduced. less obvious movements and less falling/leaning moment
Your videos are so helpful to me. New rider, 170cc scooter, but no knowledge until I watch your videos. Still in the parking lot practicing what you say to do. Thanks so much. Top speed for me so far was a brief 20mph. So knowing I can use counter steering at my most common speed of 10-18 is great! 😂
Getting after it buddy, for real, I'm still doing the clutch engagement / rock back and forth exercise to see exactly how and when it engages.
"Shut up and Practice" says it so we'll. The moment I put it into practice, I had a big smile. It works. Thx a mil!
Great advice for musicians and meditators as well
Grew up on a bicycle, would ride no-handed over 20 blocks to Little League practice on my tall Schwinn. Sure enough, an initial lean forced the front wheel to the opposite direction, attempting to ‘fall over,’ until a slight ‘counter lean’ stabilized it! Many years later ..I’ve relearned and applied it to my motorcycles, thanks you.. what an instructor.
My favorite line... "Why does it work this way? Because your bike love you!" Classic... thanks for this great demonstration. Always learning.
I was fortunate & was taught to counter steer when I first started riding 44 years ago!!!🙂 Counter steering gives you the best control of steering and the bike automatically leans appropriately. Pull back on same bar, brings the bike back up, in similar controlled manner. Trying to lean the bike to steer is just guessing
This was the most concise and accurate explanation of counter steering AND actually how to perform it. Previously, it was confusing as to when to push and when to stop pushing.
BRAVO! I understand how to and why it all works, in one excellent video.
This is actually something that will just happen naturally as you ride. I love how hard you can "dive" doing this.
THANK YOU for making this clear, I have had so many debates with people over this and it frustrates me like hell. Especially the loud mouth students who think they know everything about riding. I just think to myself "If you already know everything about riding, why are you in my class?"
This was sooo good! Thanks! One thing I still would like to see demonstrated (perhaps it is but I haven't found it yet) is emergencies in a turn. Like how to emergency stop in the middle of a turn. And how to miss that squirrel while in the middle of a high speed turn. You mentioned it in this video, but have you demonstrated it before? Thanks! Love the videos. Bought the app.
Yes he has, i forgot which vid bit it was within 12 months he wend over a branch or something I forgot
How to avoid a squirrel? Answer: You don't. You just run it over. Making adjustments for a squirrel is probably riskier than staying the course. If it was a larger animal, that's a different story. I would just decrease me speed.
47 yr old female….. just got my first motorcycle, a 310 gs….. Thanks for your videos! I get a ton of great info from you…. I haven’t got out of my yard or past first gear, but I’ve learned a lot just from you just going at that speed…😂
♥️♥️👍🏼👍🏼
"My bike loves me and physics work at 5 MPH" - Lesson learned.
I ride some twisted mountain roads that have tight slow curves,longer sweeping curves and lean angle in the straightaways. Some places I use countersteering, regular steering, and lean angle. The combination is so fun and starting to be second nature.
Hey man, thanks a lot for doing these videos. It makes it a lot easier and less intimidating to get into the motorcycle world by equipping myself with all these knowledge.
I did realized I do counter-steer, but I did it subconsciously, to the point where I don't even know i'm doing it. I ride bicycles when I was young, and I was already doing that without knowing I'm doing it.
Keep up doing what you do!! 🤩
I completely agree with you. They did use the 15 mph reference at my msf course. It was mainly referenced when we were practicing emergency swerving.
You have been a little short lately...but damn this was the most patient and amazing explanation!
I salute your hard work 👏
It's all about getting the mass to the inside of the turn.
I'm learning to ride now. A timely video. Yesterday I decided to see if counter steering worked in 1st gear, idling. Yep!
I shared the description of this video and your TH-cam name with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) here on TH-cam. I recommended that they make this video required viewing for all students before taking the MSF test. If I'd seen this before my training this week, it would have massively improved my riding skills! Thank you so much for posting this! I will start practing this right now!
Man, I really wish you'd chosen an empty parking lot! At 10:18, I almost had a heart attack when you got just eight feet from that Tesla!
About the student who took your instruction literally.
I am a driving instructor, we really have to think about what we say and never assume the student understand when to stop, ESPECIALLY if they have autism.
Big difference between turning right at the RED light, or turning right at the traffic signal.
Okay been riding for almost a month. Almost 250 miles in my neighborhood and to the barn where my wife rides horses about 11 miles away (all back roads). THIS video finally unlocked counter steering for me.
Now to some more of the slow obstacle work and make this muscle memory. Thank you for these videos.
No courses anywhere near me but I’m gonna travel for one here soon.
You're welcome! MotoJitsu.com/courses take ChampU it's an online course
I’m so glad you explained it because everybody just automatically tells me to push right to go right and in your brain you just automatically think that that’s wrong. And I’ve never seen a video that actually explains how counter steering works. And I’m so glad I know now and that way I can go out and practice. I have ridden my bike quite a few times and I’ve taken it to work a couple of times but it’s fairly close so I don’t really have to do a lot of curves or anything like that. It’s pretty much a straight shot. And I just do it for practice but I want to practice more so I’ll take it to the school a couple of blocks from where I live and I practice in the parking lot. I haven’t been doing that lately because it’s like 100° in Alabama and it gets so humid that you almost pass out so I’m gonna start practicing this more because I purposely go on pretty straight roads to keep from having to do curves. And I know I shouldn’t do that but I’m going to practice more.
The way I always understood it intuitively. Is that when you turn the tire left, it goes left but then you bikes center of gravity falls right. Due to it's support (front tire) is being swept from underneath it. It's like kicking someone's legs out from them.
Crips, I learned this in 83
How could any rider not know this points to poor instructors or no instructors
I remember our group instructors in 83 had us spend alot of time on this maneuver
I still practice it all the time
1oos of bikes in dozens of country's since it has saved
me more then once
Learn it, refine it, practice it
At low speed you have many other tool.
4:07 I think this spray paint analogy gives the best intuitive picture. Like the wheel tracks a bicycle leaves behind after riding through a puddle. The front tire track is greatly exaggerated vs the rear tire and the front initially tracks opposite the turn direction.
"Because the bike loves you and physics work"
-MotoJitsu
Thank you so much again, Greg - this made that coin finally drop for me!!! ❤ So confusing to hear the opposite from ones own teacher - that made me struggle so much at low speeds and sharp turns. 😢 Now I do it your way - this way - and it works beautifully! 😊 Feeling secure, at last! 🌟🙏 You are just marvellous! 🫠
It’s truly a testament to the great engineering marvels bikes are and laws of physics. You kinda see it in nature too-if you see how fish swim when they want to dart sharply in one direction you see them do a quick very small blip in the opposite direction and then allows them to take off faster and accurately in the intended direction.
What a direct to the point explanation about counter steering. I learned a lot! @MotoJitsu, thanks man!
MotoJitsu provided this great reply to me a couple weeks ago re: slow speed turning -
"There is no normal steering nor do you have to think about it at all...want to go left? Push forward on the left handlebar, that's it. Those steering corrections is probably vision issues not steering. Once you get to your desired lean angle, stop pushing...everything that happens after that (caster effect of trail when the bars do turn in the direction you're going, is automatic and don't have to "do" anything) but the more you're relaxed on the bars, you'll start to be able to actually feel this happening without interfering."
Greg's reply was helpful to me, I have been riding over 50 years but still learning. I know about countersteering - but was frustrated on the parking lot drills as the bike destabilized and I was flipping between countersteer, then normal steer - and felt like a newbie all over again. I was making steering corrections but getting confused on "left - right" (countersteer vs steering into the turn / normal steer).
No matter how long we have been riding, we may be a white belt if we don't roll up our sleeves and work out the low speed stuff. I have buddies who struggle with U-turns, unlevel surfaces, who are seasoned riders. Thank you Greg for helping the motorcycle community, and putting up with occasional flamers who think they know it all (but don't).
Greg's mention of "castor effect of trail" is per Lee Parks book "Total Control". Greg often credits this book and refers people to it, which is one of Greg's amazing attributes. To be humble and refer people to other reference material. The reference to how a shopping cart wheel changes direction (castor effect) is a light bulb moment. All motorcycles have "trail" unless your forks are absolute vertical (they aren't) which is why you don't have to keep countersteering once the bike begins to turn. th-cam.com/video/PgUOOwnZcDU/w-d-xo.html
"The bike loves you and physics works" - idea for a t-shirt with picture of analog speedometer 5 to 105 mph 🙃
The problem is with the term "counter steering" you start the turn by turning the wheel in the other direction but it doesn't stay there. There is a good veritasium video where they show that you cannot turn a bicycle to the left without first turning the handlebars right. They do it with a device that makes it so the handlebars only turn one way. He couldn't turn the bike at all.
For anyone seeing this, next time you go riding go like 80kmh, then try to turn ONLY by leaning your body, or only putting weight on a foot peg, or only pushing directly down on the handlebar, etc. any of those “alternative” methods of steering.
You will see that if you ONLY lean your body to turn you will hang your entire body off the side of the bike and just baaareeelly turn the bike. It’s the most sluggish turn you’ll ever do.
In reality, all of these alternative turning methods like “I just lean to turn the bike” don’t work at all. Anyone who says that they only lean their body is actually subconsciously turning the handlebars.
Try any method of turning, except for countersteering, and it won’t work whatsoever.
Idk how this is a contested topic. Brand new rider here, less than 30 days, 2013 ninja 1000. This is how it works. You have to counter steer to go where you want to. The only confusing part about all this to me is how people dont understand it after they've been on a bike. Ride a bicycle first. Same concept.
Spent 30 minutes in a big empty parking lot experimenting with slow speed counter steering after watching this video. One hand, clutch only, idle speed. Repeated a mantra -- "push left, go left, let the bike correct". Of course, the opposite works too -- "pull left, go right, let the bike correct". Much tighter figure 8's. Recommend folks try it.
this is one of the better explanations ive heard. good job. showing the pull on the right to cause the destablization before the turn began is all the proof ya need.
This also works on cars as well …. Counter steering helps a car corner more effectively in following a racing line
Uauuu!
The bike destabilizes not because the tire is rounded. It destabilizes to the right when the wheel is pointing left because the centripetal force from the left generates a torque that throws the bike to the right making it lean to the right.
Once leaned, the same centripetal force and torque is applied to the opposite direction because we're now turning right, but because we're now leaning, the forces are cancelled out and the bike assumes a natural curved path of travel... which is to the right.
What about the front wheel? It turns to the direction of the lean because of trail, which is the angle between the axle and the contact patch. This angle forces the wheel to turn.
4:43 this is where I was previously confused. Counter steering vs wheel direction during turns.
I was thinking that you meant to go right counter-steer push right and keep the handlebars facing left; versus allowing the wheel to turn right after you have reached the lean angle.
The wheel will always steer into the turn after counter steering.
This is the best and most thorough explanation I've found.
I'm not sure if he is explaining about why countersteering is needed and what ultimately is happening during the countersteering. During the countersteering; the bike is leaning and g-force is forcing the back wheel to slide as it rolls and to me this is obvious but most things that are obvious to me are also not understood by most everyone but rather this was incorrect of me as I meant to say that many misunderstood reasons for things to having been happening in the physical sense of it rather. So as this back wheel loses traction which were to become dependent upon two things: one is speed ie.amount of g-force and the second is the the rubber's thickness and softness; the reason for this is is that as the wheel turns; it keeps introducing new rubber which continuously lets such amount go which seems like it is sliding which it kind actually might be slightly as well and again this would depend on the speed and the angle of the turn. And the regular steering will depend on if you keep the bike upright and put your body on the side that you are turning like a sidecar would do for you. Obviously.Countersteering isn't just what you are talking about; say that you are racing and in the curves you are actually keeping the steering to the right and leaning left and turning left; that is also countersteering and the way I see it is more so than what you are demonstrating here.
I was very confused by a lot of other peoples videos. They went way too in-depth with math and the physics. For me and simple explanation and demonstration was all that I really needed to wrap my head around counter steering. I didn't fully understand how it actually worked the whole way through. Like once I push on the left bar to go left, what do I do after? Others just did physics explanations. You showed it and explained it in normal English. I immediately understood it. And for that I thank you greatly as getting into riding this was my biggest concern and fear. But now I have a foundational understanding of how it it suppose to work, I can go out and practice it myself to experience it first hand. Thank you.
Search "MotoJitsu counter steering" and all my videos will pop up about the subject for you to watch and learn. Then go riding one handed for 5 mins out through some turns, you'll get it.
one of better demos/ vids..... now I know why I have a hard time leaning the bike..... Thanks
Very well said. Even on a pedal bike you're counter steering and not even realizing it.
Wow! You have just opened my eyes big time! Thank you 🙏 I have one more day one my basics riding curse to get my L’s. I am so going to put this into practice tomorrow on some of the tight manoeuvres. Bikes are incredible machines 👌
Great explanation. A lightbulb went off when you were explaining. Thank you! 🎉
Weird how there are still people who want to claim countersteering isn't the thing we all do on all 2 wheelers, though for me I just think of it as "steering." My bicycles are almost all recumbents. There's literally zero way I can "lean" steer it, because my butt is glued to a lounge chair, and my feet are above my butt, so there's no "weighting the pedals" and the handlebar is a tiller, so there is no "pushing down" on the steering bars. (I can't push "forward" or "backward" either b/c of that tiller, so turns are initiated with a sideways swing...) Learning this is instinctive to a bike rider and takes only a few minutes, but understanding what you're actually doing isn't as simple. The term countersteer is unnecessarily confusing IMO, but the way it works is indisputable for anyone who pays attention. Unbalance bike to initiate roll, then allow geometry to steer back under it at the desired angle, adjust as necessary. It's scarier on a motorcycle because it demands more deliberation and it's not so simple to catch the weight when you get it wrong.
Countersteering to momentarilly create an unbalance that needs to be corrected by steering in the opposite direction, the direction you want to travel.
No.
0:28 The term "countersteering" was introduced to me when I found videos about it on TH-cam, and having learnt it I went to driving school to get my license with countersteering method in mind, so I put an effort to consciously apply it at all speeds. There was no mention of countersteering whatsoever by my instructor, which I found strange.
I agree with this. You have 10 videos on this as well. But the problem is, most riders - even the so called experienced ones - want to talk of body position and moving the handlebars, basically say anything except talk about the concept of countersteering by pushing on the handlebars. Thanks for drilling the point like a military guy. Some heads are too thick to learn new ideas. Keep doing what you do!
Thank you!! I just started riding (in a parking lot) 2 days ago, and i did not understand what counter steer meant on a bike, now it makes perfect sense. I will practice this tomorrow. Cheers!
Glad it helped!
so i just added a comment on another one of your videos asking this exact question so essentially what im getting from both videos is you push(or pull), relax, repeat all the way through the turn
I’ll never forget how I learned to countersteer without any prior knowledge of it. Having never ridden a full size street bike I convinced a good friend to let me take his CB750 for a spin after he took me for a ride. He was reluctant but knew I had experience with mini bikes and go carts. Well I took off slowly and when I got to the first right hand turn down the first block my heart practically stopped when the bike wasn’t turning and I was headed to crash. Instinctively I somehow figured it out inside of 2 seconds as my heart was pounding through my chest. That’s when on the straight away I now started pushing and pulling to swerve left and right thinking omg I almost dropped his bike bc I wasn’t aware at all. 😅
I learned about countersteering as a kid on a bike.I rode through a puddle then turned sharp left back onto dry tarmac.I looked at my wheeltracks and noticed a strange little loop where I had instinctively steered right for a fraction of a second.at the point of turning and leaning..So even as a 10 year old I understood that I had to unbalance the bike to turn a corner.Now as a motorcyclist I rarely discuss countersteering because so few riders seem to accept or understand it.One bloke told me about a friend of his who went on a 'Countersteering course' and 'Now turns the handlebars the opposite way that he used to!'There are videos on TH-cam that promote the theory that countersteering starts at 12mph.Some riders say,"I steer normally....I don't do countersteering!"That's why I tend not to discuss it.
I thought I understood counter steering. Have a new bike (upgraded) and trying to get more comfortable with it. Haven't been feeling comfortable with the throttling going slowly. Working on slow turns and sharper ones. Watched this and went back out and instantly improvement noticed. So thank you.
Cheers Greg, the beginner basics are very helpful to me
Great job making it more confusing just to prove a point. Start at @13:34 for the tldr; Countersteer is just to initiate the lean on your bike, after after leaning, you steer as normal.
Forget about it bro. The whole "counter steering" thing in motorcycling is idiotic. It's just to keep noobs/fools from yanking on the handlebars to the right to try to turn right at speed...nothing more...
But the whole culture is obsessed almost to a point of fetish about "counter steer! Push right to go right!"
When in truth it's just to initiate the lean...lol
@@maalikserebryakov are you being serious? If so, it only works at speeds above 10 mph any slower and you should just turn your handlebars.
Also, it's not something you really do. Consciously. Think of this example, you're riding your bike fast down the road and it starts to curve to the right enough to change directions from say going south to going west (not an intersection which is basically a 45° L turn) So what do you do " to make your bike go around the bend"?
I'm sure you've done this already... Well you basically counter steered... Because you had to lean into the turn to make the bike go around the bend...
When you leaned into the curve, you momentarily pushed the right handlebar forward/down as you shifted your weight into the curve... You counter steered...
Yeah, that's counter steering...
So It's my complete misunderstanding of the physics. I was taught wrongly, might I add by not only my state MSF instructors but all explanation of what counter steer actually is since then.
First, my understanding as is it was explained by the state agency that gave me my MSF course and the instructors. Push right go right, super basic basic principle, especially on the twisties in the mountains. But with the slower speeds because the front wheel goes left/right to go left or right there's no counter steering.
Well now that you just blew that out of the water, I now know better. Thanks for the video.
This also correlates to your video in which you state that we should come to a stop with the front wheel straight. Because, if we have it turned, just as in your demonstration here for counter-steering, we have place the bike in an unstable position, and we will fall - the bike first, and it will likely take you down with it. Excellent video, as always.
it can tip over if you're stopping they're not straight, it's true
instagram.com/motojitsuclub/
Absolutely fantastic video, best explanation I’ve seen! Can’t wait for my lessons to put it into practise; seems so foreign to me. Assuming it works on a pedal bike so will try tomorow😂
Probably the most important video I've watched about riding motorbike. Thanks ! Now I'll shut up and go practice.
When I started riding no one told me about counter steering I just did it instinctively much like riding a bicycle.
Very clear explanation of something that many dont understand. Thank you!
Even you said yourself, that you need to pick up speed for lean angle when doing slow drills. 15 isn't a magical barrier, it's just where lean angle starts to matter and you need to push the bike into a lean. At 5mph you're not in need of lean angle, so you don't need to counter steer. Those little bobbles you were doing were not necessary at that slow speed.
Agreed 💯 at that slow a speed there is no need to do a quick bobble. That's like someone taking a right turn off a stop sign and taking the car wide, to make the turn.
That said, I always agree with motojitsu. Love his stuff. Daily rider here, and this one I couldn't agree with.
Imagine you were riding along perfectly straight and vertical at any speed. OK?
Now,, remaining vertical you steer left or right. You'd steer the bike out from under you, you'd lose your balance and you'd fall off.
As long as your feet are off the ground you need to lean to stay balanced when turning, at any speed, however imperceptible it is to you, you will be leaning.
The only way to lean a bike is to steer in the opposite direction you want to lean.
Counter steering happens whether you believe it, or know it, or do it consciously. If it didn't you be on the floor.
@@markj66 post a video of you going 3-5mph and leaning towards where you wanna go. Go ahead I'll wait and look for the video. It'll never happen, you will fall over before you even finish the turn.
At 5mph, the bars are not required to lean the bike to make a turn. Yes, you can't turn vertically, but the bars aren't required to lean the slight amount at such slow speed. I ride every single day. The lean is necessary, you're right. However jarring the bars to accomplish that lean is not when going so slow. At higher speeds, the lean cannot be accomplished by just shifting weight, and needs the bars to happen. Try it. I just did. I ride every day of my life. Rain or shine. Even when motojitsu avoids the medians, he is not jarring the bars. Only when he wants to make the point.
More understandable by far. What nobody else said is that you don't push and keep pushing and the handlebars turn by themselves. Clearly the shape of the tire changes and therefore results in destabilization which leads to the breaking of the "Stream."
One word of wisdom that helped me get a grip about countersteering was that your hands are for turning the bike, and legs are for gripping on to the bike. You don't use one for the other.
Like many, i countersteered before i understood it by using my body to lean into corners which is i would say far more dangerous than just countersteering with the handlebars
Well said. If only more riders would understand this. All you see in comments is “lean over to steer”, “push down on the pegs”, “push over with the knees”. All they need is push the grip and it’s done.
@@softailfunIf you actually try to just push your foot peg, lean your body over, push down on the handlebar, etc. without pushing the bars forward at all it is almost impossible to steer the bike. It’s insanely sluggish even on a really light bike.
This is why anyone who says “I just lean” *actually* subconsciously countersteers. Trying to steer a bike by leaning your body only is almost impossible.
First push of a handlebar instantly set in the concept of counter steering. It feels natural
Cool! I was standing and watching. Almost fell over as you made a U-turn. Sat down.
You are correct! I use to be an MSF rider coach but for some reason when I was instructor MSF down played it for some reason. I talked about it in class. I always a little frustrated. I’ve been out of the program for at least 10-12 years but I hope they have improved.
Ignorance
I remember counter steering as the front tire tracks out from directly under the upper part of bike; as a result, the bike leans opposite direction from front wheel tracking.
Great channel, great information, but I think it would be helpful if you explained the physics a bit. You could also explain that it works as you demonstrate it IF one does not counteract with body positioning. Which one can. It should also be explained that the force that makes the bike lean does depend on speed/velocity, the greater the velocity the greater the force that leans the bike upon turning the handlebar. Thus, the slower the bike the easier to compensate for this force with body positioning, and that makes handlebar steering a valid option at lower velocities. (I mean, c'mon, you don't "countersteer" while walking your bike in your garage. You just turn your handlebar where you wanna go.)
Definitive video on countersteering. I did not realize we stop countersteering once the lean is achieved. I guess we do it, but it is so important to KNOW it.
you push until you're at your desired lean angle...if not, you'll keep leaning until you crash
MSF should just show a clip of this video. I read counter steer and was told counter steer a bunch, it never made sense until now. I'm coming from a car, where I would counter steer as part of fish tailing/kicking the back end out. This is the same thing for like the first half second, then completely different, and I think when people talk about counter steer their are not hitting that point nearly as well as you just did. The point of 'destabilizing the bike' so you induce a lean.
It might hit home for more new riders of MSF said it more like - 'you want to lean into your turn, the best way to start that is to counter steer'. Either that, or they did say it that way and I just didn't listen :D
Thank you. I've watched hrs of training videos on this topic and never completely understood. This morning I got it 🎉
I notice that when you are turning at highway speed (e.g. ONE FINGER Counter Steering Demonstration) that when you gently counter steer that the handlebars do not snap into the direction of the turn as seen here at low speed but that the handlebars continue to point in the direction opposite the turn as the turn continues.
This is by far the best explanation and demonstration of counter steering!
share it!!
You’re really good Fast Eddie, best counter steering explanation ever!!!❤
Thank you I'm a new Rider I went around my first roundabout the other day using counter steering and it felt great
I saw a youtube video a few months ago where they locked the front bars and tried to make a turn. The point is you have to go left first to turn right, and right first to turn left. and THATS counter-steering
I'm a rider coach and will definitely borrow your analysis with my next BRC class as it nicely clarifies counter steering. Thanks
👍🏼
You are countsteering all the time. How do you think the bike stays straight on a straight road? You dont typically lean. It is intrinsic to learning to ride a bike in the first place. I am amazed at how many riders have no idea. Very useful technique.
You are an asset to the community bro 👍👊
Brilliantly demonstrated!
So helpful. Thanks. You are a great instructor
There is an optical illusion going on when people watch this and similar videos- and that is it 'looks like' there is a 'push' followed by a 'pull' of the hand. The 'trickiest' part of counter steering is managing the degree of push for the required turn - hence the importance of practise at different speeds and being comfortable with that momentary sense of fall which is required to achieve lean. The whole thing is counter intuitive and probably explains a lot of grip of death syndrome on teh handlebars.
Once again I’m learning new stuff from you Greg!!!! After 24 years of riding bikes I’m still learning stuff from you. I went from a hayabusa to a streetglide now having a little challenge with that bike because of the smaller ground clearance. Getting freaked out when I make a subtle lean, and the pegs start dragging. Can you do a video on this. Thank you .
Your body position is probably wrong if you're scrapping right away. I have lots of videos on body position.
Ok I will lean more and keep the bike more uprightttttt
Or maybe you just need to be neutral, I don’t know
At high speed the mechanics are slightly different (at least it feels that way to me). Push right, lean right, continue the pressure on right handlebar till you want to stand up bike, at that moment you push left, till bike is straight.
If i did not continue to push keep pressure on right handlebar bike would stand up. I am talking about higher track speeds here.
Having said its possible the right wheel still naturally points slightly right but i still have to maintain pressure on right handlebar.
On slower turning speeds feeling is different, counter steer to destabilize and then let handlebar adjust itself in direction you are turning, adjust throttle/clutch to maintain the turning equilibrium.
Best counter steering explanation ever!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I find it funny that I came to slow speed counter steering naturally while practicing in my front yard. Theres a big tree in the middle of it so the best i can do is a large oval or circle. I found how to while recovering from losing my balance on a turn and have been using it since then. Wasnt till i took the msf course did i get a name for it.
the BEST & the clearest explanation i ever seen😊👏👏👏 Thank You 4 that😁👍🇺🇲
It even works from a stop. It's just that you can lean the bike with your body weight/foot pegs at lower speeds, and you really can't at higher speeds.
Good demo. Will try this, today.