Re: RE: Dodge Tomahawk

From: jon@dakota-truck.net
Date: Mon Jan 06 2003 - 20:31:13 EST


"Jon N. Benignus" <blkwidow1@primary.net> wrote:

:> A motorcycle turns by leaning the vehicle to one side or the other.

: Not true. A m/c turns by a process called "countersteering". IOW, to turn
: left, you push on the left grip, which moves the contact patch to the right,
: therefore destablizing the bike, causing it to lean to the left. Once this
: is done, the front wheel will point in direction of travel. And, that
: happens only at speed. At walking speeds, you must turn the bars left to
: turn left, and you may even want to lean the bike in the opposite direction
: of the turn, allowing you to turn the front wheel even more.

    'Tis true, actually. :-) Its the lean that steers the bike;
"countersteering" is merely the method used to break the "gyroscopic"
effect (for lack of a better term) and cause the bike to start leaning.

-- 

-Jon-

.---- Jon Steiger ------ jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com ------. | I'm the: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA. Rec & UL Pilot - SEL | | 70 Cuda, 90 Dak 'vert, 92 Ram 4x4, 96 Dak, 96 Intruder 1400, 96 FireFly | `------------------------------------------ http://www.jonsteiger.com ----'



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