Adventures on the Old Girl, and with the Old Girl

[G-Man]

Hi Sara

Did you check the tire pressures yourself? I picked up a brand new car a while back and it handled very peculiarly. I discovered that the "boy" at the shop had used the wrong scale on the pressure gauge and my tires were at almost 60psi........

G

[Vince Lupo]

When you add friction with the damper you will need to push on the left grip to turn right and right grip to turn left.

Real minor point Ed, but don't you mean that you push the left grip to turn left and the right grip to turn right? Also known as 'counter steering'? Seems like it shouldn't be, but pushing the handlebars in one direction actually causes you to turn in the opposite direction. At least I'm assuming that's what you're referring to (please forgive me if I'm misinterpreting).

I find I only need to apply very little effort to have my bike go around curves at speed - almost like I just need to turn my head in the direction I want to go and the bike goes. Pretty remarkable the way the bike handles, I'd say, and likely one of the best handling bikes I've ever ridden. I don't even have to consciously think about it and the bike just does it. Now I do have the piston steering damper as well on the bike, so maybe that makes a difference, but even without it Sara's bike should still handle like a peach.

Sara, what is the tire pressure you have in those Heidenaus? I'm running about 32lbs front/rear.

[G-Man]

Vince

That's the way I have always understood it. Pushing on the left grip (turning right) causes an instability which makes the bike tip left and then you follow the 'lean' to balance the forces.

The faster you go the more important counter-steering becomes. Its a pretty unconsious act as, according to theory, it's actually impossible to lean a bike (even a bicycle) without it......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_an ... e_dynamics

G


'

Real minor point Ed, but don't you mean that you push the left grip to turn left and the right grip to turn right? Also known as 'counter steering'? Seems like it shouldn't be, but pushing the handlebars in one direction actually causes you to turn in the opposite direction. At least I'm assuming that's what you're referring to (please forgive me if I'm misinterpreting).

[LOUD MOUSE]

I don't use any friction dampening so practically no need to push either grip I just lean in the direction I want to go and when I finish the turn I sit up and the bike comes up straight.
Read and apply your statement Vince, ...... :-),,,,,,,,,,,,,,lm

<<<<<Real minor point Ed, but don't you mean that you push the left grip to turn left and the right grip to turn right? Also known as 'counter steering'? >>>>>>>>>>

When you add friction with the damper you will need to push on the left grip to turn right and right grip to turn left.

Real minor point Ed, but don't you mean that you push the left grip to turn left and the right grip to turn right? Also known as 'counter steering'? Seems like it shouldn't be, but pushing the handlebars in one direction actually causes you to turn in the opposite direction. At least I'm assuming that's what you're referring to (please forgive me if I'm misinterpreting).

I find I only need to apply very little effort to have my bike go around curves at speed - almost like I just need to turn my head in the direction I want to go and the bike goes. Pretty remarkable the way the bike handles, I'd say, and likely one of the best handling bikes I've ever ridden. I don't even have to consciously think about it and the bike just does it. Now I do have the piston steering damper as well on the bike, so maybe that makes a difference, but even without it Sara's bike should still handle like a peach.
ara, what is the tire pressure you have in those Heidenaus? I'm running about 32lbs front/rear.

[brewsky]

When you add friction with the damper you will need to push on the left grip to turn right and right grip to turn left.

almost like I just need to turn my head in the direction I want to go and the bike goes.

The bike will normally follow your eyes whether you want it to or not.

Try to focus your stare on a pothole and NOT hit it!

That's why they teach you never to focus on anything you don't want to hit, instead focus on where you want to GO.

Push on left grip to turn left, but you do it naturally without thinking about it.

[G-Man]

Push on left grip to turn left, but you do it naturally without thinking about it.

Brewsky

Yes, absolutely. The 'act' of leaning the bike actually includes that little tweak of the bars as you shift your weight.

G

[LOUD MOUSE]

The only time I really needed to push or pull the bars was when I was in the desert and riding in sand or rocks (lots of both are there) and lean steering wasn't something you could do. (desert bikes don't have friction dampeners and some do have piston type)
Something we did in the 60's.
Adjust the screw under the throttle so when you had turned the throttle it wouldn't return.
On a wide (highway) type smooth road get up to speed then let go of the bars, sit up and ride.
If you have any dampening at all you can't do this.
Scary at first but after a couple times you could go many miles sitting up.
Keep in mind you paid attention to passing traffic and lean forward and get the bars when needed. ............lm

Push on left grip to turn left, but you do it naturally without thinking about it.

Brewsky

Yes, absolutely. The 'act' of leaning the bike actually includes that little tweak of the bars as you shift your weight.

G