aggressive on curves: easier to R than L...

[lucydad]

All,

Swanning about today on the V7R out west of Houston, on the most curved road in area unless you go way west.

MotoGP wannabe (fail) but, off the seat, head out and in front, knee down, elbow down...much easier to the right, than the left.  My body just does it that way.

I wonder if this is common?  I bet so.  R turns I can take faster and more comfortably than left.  Wonder why.

[Triple Jim]

Often a person finds one direction easier than the other.  Keith Code's monthly article in Cycle World was about that in a recent issue.  The solution is practicing the more difficult side.  Best to do that on a track practice day.

[twhitaker]

The camber of the road has some to do with it.

[SED]

On switchbacks on the mtn bike it was obvious that I was better one direction than the other - especially down hill.  It came down to how far I am comfortable craning my neck.  The solutions was to consciously turn my head more and look further along the trail.  With some practice I got much better.  I find it helps with the motorcycle too.

Patrick who sold parts at MI told me there were many more bodywork pieces available for the right than the left (or vice versa) because most crashes are on one side.  If true it suggests riders are usually more comfortable in one direction than the other.

[cruzziguzzi]

Unquestionably, for ever for me, left turns and particularly left up a grade are the most natural for me to negotiate aggressively.... This, despite my view to the right being much more clear and reasonable.

I think a huge part of it is that I don't like upsetting my right foot as I run steering, acceleration and lean against near constant levels of rear brake usage.

Or, could be being raised in Minnesota and California.


Todd.

[oldbike54]

 Oddly enough ,for me left handers are easier to go fast on that right . Most of that probably has to do with how densely forested my area is . Longer sight lines on left handed corners if one stays to the outside of fhe the lane . All the years of riding in these woods have left an imprint I suppose , although in open country right turns are taken at a more rapid clip , so who knows .

  Dusty

[Guzzistajohn]

I can wring her out a little more on lefties too. Better line of sight, I guess it has something to do with blazing through the woods on curvy national forest roads, never really thought about it that much.

[oldbike54]

I can wring her out a little more on lefties too. Better line of sight, I guess it has something to do with blazing through the woods on curvy national forest roads, never really thought about it that much.

 Well dangit , wake up  Of course , one  :grin:f our members who think Okiehomie is one big desert is thinking ,"What the hell is that silly SOB in Oklahoma talking about , trees , forest , yeah sure)

 Dusty

[56Pan]

Right turns just seem much easier to me.  Feels like I'm turning away from any possible traffic in the other lane and less worried about it.  It's very noticeable to me.  I wonder about it every time I ride and would like it explained.  So I could understand it.

[rocker59]

Often a person finds one direction easier than the other.  Keith Code's monthly article in Cycle World was about that in a recent issue.  The solution is practicing the more difficult side.  Best to do that on a track practice day.

 :1:

I was uncomfortable with left-hand sweepers until spending some time at the track.

Riding is a mind game.  The best place to expand and learn is at a track day.

Then, you'll find yourself both faster and safer on the street.

[LongRanger]

Lefts have a bigger radius than rights, all things considered equal, at least in those countries where you ride on the right side of the road.

[mtiberio]

We talking guzzis? Its a crankshaft rotation thing. Rights easier than lefts

[Chuck in Indiana]

<scratching head> Never thought about it. You're sitting on the center of the motorcycle...

[Tom Parmelee]

We talking guzzis? Its a crankshaft rotation thing. Rights easier than lefts

\

This is a part of it I think--on the V11 I notice a quicker turn in to the right than the left.  My other bikes, not at all.

[Triple Jim]

Well, I've ridden the MIlle on the Dragon many times and have never found the effect to be big enough to change the way I ride.  It's certainly not big enough to stop you from scraping both sides equally.

In the Guzzi's crank orientation and also a typical four cylinder inline, there is a similar gyroscopic effect, but the the forces are in different directions.  The Guzzi has the advantage of being able to go from vertical to leaning quickly without fighting the gyroscope, whereas the transverse crank bike requires changing the crank's axis to start the lean.  Once you're turning, they both produce forces to resist the turn.  My feeling it that there are much more important things going on in extreme turns than some gyro effects from the crank.

[cwiseman]

In a old dodge van with a transplanted engine do I find such things as gyro effect becoming a problem but that might be due to hanging out with a wacky gyro flight instructor.

One thing is noted, a 72 eldo can boogie down 28 like a chicken after a June bug even though the center stand and big floorboards make occasional contact with pavement!

[tpeever]

Right turns easier than left turns for me. Same for downhill skiing. Nothing to do with machine, just a natural thing.

[rocker59]

\

This is a part of it I think--on the V11 I notice a quicker turn in to the right than the left.  My other bikes, not at all.

Yes, it's noticeable on the higher performance Guzzis such as the V11 Sport/LeMans, Sport 1100, and Daytona.

Not bad, but is noticeable.  Especially if trading off with someone on something like a Ducati Supersport.

[Triple Jim]

In a old dodge van with a transplanted engine do I find such things as gyro effect becoming a problem but that might be due to hanging out with a wacky gyro flight instructor.

I'm confused... do you have one of those transplanty things too, or is this a reference to me that I'm missing?   

[Moto Rizzi]

All,

Swanning about today on the V7R out west of Houston, on the most curved road in area unless you go way west.

MotoGP wannabe (fail) but, off the seat, head out and in front, knee down, elbow down...much easier to the right, than the left.  My body just does it that way.

I wonder if this is common?  I bet so.  R turns I can take faster and more comfortably than left.  Wonder why.

What road west of Houston were you on. I'm trying to find a good road that's convenient to Sugarland that's not straight and flat.

[steamdriven NZ]

I used to have the same thing. In NZ we ride on the left, I used to like left handers and it seemed to be partly due to the camber helping as opposed to the camber working against you on a right hander.
But remembering Keith Codes book ( I bought it years ago and still refresh myself from time to time from it) I realized one day why I found right handers more difficult. On lefts I observed how far up the road I was looking and of course your 'plan' for the corner is dependent on having time to process it so looking further ahead is important.
 I observed where I was looking in right handers and lo and behold I was looking at the road much closer to the bike. I didn't have the same time to process all the info to keep 'the plan' updated as I went and so I felt uneasy and less confident. Once I was aware of it I consciously taught myself to look further ahead and hey presto I now enjoy rights as well as I enjoy lefts.

Kev. 

 

[Doppelgaenger]

Lefts are naturally easier for me usually due to the longer sight lines. That was until I bought the breva... now I favor right handers because the damn center stand scrapes so much that I'm afraid to push the bike very far into a turn, and camber of the road makes the problem even worse. I know that the bike can lean a lot further than it does when the center stand touches down. I will be taking the damn thing off for a ride I have planned for the 23rd.

When it comes down to it, the only reason I like having the center stand is for doing work and fuelling up, but when riding with other bikes the massive fuel tank on the Breva means that everyone else in the group is the dictating factor for fuel stops.

[guzzimike]

I was more comfortable turning Left than Right in the twisties, starting from my first rides in the hills.This on quite a few varied motorcycle models; Including a '72 R5 and a '83  CB900F.

As time went by and approach speeds into turns increased, what to me had been mostly a curiosity invariably soon became a liability; so I knew that if I wanted to be smoother ( faster ) in the hills, I had to figure out why I favored leaning one way over the other.

I understood the conceptual physics of counter-steering, so those were a constant set of forces, regardless of platform. Road surface varied, but the Left turn Bias remained across the board; besides after so many miles on bikes, road surface bias cancelled each other out. Ditto for condition of tires.

So I figured that if the Bike was not the issue, and Road surface had little to go with it, then my "Left turn Bias" Had to Be psychological.

And after some time deciphering the reasons think that personal line of sight has a lot to do with it.

I'm Right-Handed / Left Eye dominant. Found this out when shooting a pistol for the first time.

That was a revelation, and so I took it and applied it to motorcycling in the hills. I mae a conscious effort to countersteer deeper when turning Right, until it all became automatic muscle memory.

That was easy.

Target Fixation when leaning into Right handers was a bit harder to tame, because I embraced roadside "targets" along the way as visual cues / Baselines in order to lean further...

In time I learned how to mentally "engage" and "disengage" these cues instants before they "Fixated" onto my tilting horizons.

It became a sort of internal game of "chicken" -  balanced somewhere between my brain and my pucker Factor; to see which one would blink first. And it got really close a couple of times up there...


But in due time, the Leaning Bias was erradicated. So it worked for me. I did get smoother, and all that goes with that...


Then, a few years later,  my 48-year old eyesight suddenly started a divergent path going to Shiite; so now I lean either Right or Left with the same level of comfort;  smoothly, at about half the speed of days gone bye-bye...

So that's that.




-


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[frans belgium]

That was until I bought the breva... now I favor right handers because the damn center stand scrapes so much that I'm afraid to push the bike very far into a turn,

Have you already shortened the rubber thingy that keeps the stand from hitting the frame?
And tweaked suspension to the maximum setting?
It helped for me ...

[frans belgium]

For me, right turns are easier.  I tried everything to improve my left turn technique, with limited success.  Must be between the ears.  Spoke to some pro riders, even they have it.  On track, it is common to follow the one in front to find out his weak spot(s), usually turns to left or right.  A friend of mine says I'm probably a 'false lefty' .
And indeed, as many of my generation, I started out as a lefty and later became right handed, forced by teachers and stuff.
Don't know if that's true, I no longer care 

[cwiseman]

I'm confused... do you have one of those transplanty things too, or is this a reference to me that I'm missing?   

TJ  I was indeed referring to you, I don't have a shaggin waggin yet but we're looking for a good one!