Counter Steering on a Motorcycle

How to counter steer a motorcycle

If I had known about this years ago, it may have actually saved me from crashing my bike.
The tip I have in mind is called "Counter Steering". You might already have heard about it but if you haven't or are unsure about it, then read on, it could save your life.

Steering a motorcycle is intuitive right? It just seems to happen and you go around that bend just like you did on your bicycle (and perhaps still do since cycling is cool too) and you steer in the direction of the bend right? Wrong! Whether you like it or not, when you steer a motorcycle or bicycle around a bend, you are actually steering in the opposite direction. Unless you are crawling along at a very low speed in which case you do actually steer in the direction you want to go, but increase that speed and the reverse happens.

I now realise that when I was travelling at around 90mph on a dual carriageway and I encountered a left hand bend, I began to veer to the right hand side of the road and was rapidly running out of space. The more I tried to steer how I figured it should be, intuitively to the left, the more I ran out of road. When I had about 2 inches left the bend thankfully began to peter out.

When I learnt about counter steering the above incident hit me with a jolt. It was so clear now and so armed with this extra knowledge, I set off to try out this exciting new tip. I would not have minded so much if I had not been riding for long but the truth is that I had passed my test in 1973.

So counter steering is where, on entering a bend you just ease the handlebars in the opposite direction to that in which you are travelling. For instance, on entering a right hand bend, try gently easing the bars to the left instead of the right like you imagine you are doing and just feel the difference. You will feel the bike respond immediately and it will turn in much more accurately and will inspire more confidence in your riding. Of course in a left hand bend it's the other way round but it won't take you long to get into it.

At first this will seem to be a great novelty but don't overdo it and choose a nice dry clear road with as little traffic as possible. To some this will come as a revelation as it did to me though I do realise that there won't be many that haven't heard of counter steering.

When I crashed my motorcycle way back in 1974 by approaching a bend too fast, the knowledge of counter steering might well have saved me.

This is what I now do

If anyone is interested in window cleaning or interested to see what I do in my spare time to help others, then this is it. http://www.youtube.com/user/MyWagga?feature=mhee

Cockroach Encounter

Here is an incident whilst I was living in Singapore as a child:

I went swimming one day and my trunks were sort of uncomfortable. I was in and out of the pool for a couple of hours. I found out what was wrong with my trunks when I came to get changed. A very large cockroach staggered out. How it was able to breathe, is a matter of conjecture.

Giant Snake in Singapore

Giant Snake in Singapore

The old Singapore of the 1960's was a whole different world from what it is today. If I was to go back there now, I know I would not recognise it at all.

My Dad was in the RAF and we were based at Changi. Changi village at the time was no more than a collection of Atap huts and Changi Creek was a sewer. We loved it all the same and it had character. It was one of the best times of my life as a child and I have fond memories of the place.

The Angling Club in Changi was where we would fish and my Dad also kept a small boat. Adjacent to the Angling Club was a beach which we would often venture on to. In the sixties, the wild-life in Singapore was certainly still very abundant and this included snakes.

As I made my way down the beach with the back drop of Jungle which still existed to an extent even then, something caught my eye. It was just a movement which on closer examination turned out to be a very large snake. I had seen snakes before including the venomous Cobra, but this thing was immense. I could not believe my eyes. Though I did not know what type of snake it was at the time, I can only conclude that it was a Boa Constrictor or similar.

Running back to the Angling Club I ran in shouting "snake, snake!" I wanted everyone to see this monster but it was to be fatal to the snake. What I did not realise at the time, is that the local people would kill it on the spot. Several Chinese seemed to appear from nowhere and expertly climbed the tree and got the thing down. I found this mesmerising but when I realised what they were doing, I could no longer watch. Greatly saddened for opening my big mouth, I turned away feeling all the fool for opening my big mouth.

Motorcycling - touring or sports bike? - Top Autobiographies

Touring Bike or Sports Bike? Or could there be something in between?

I used to have a CBR1000F but I sold it because of lack of money, mainly because it needed a new exhaust system and I could not raise the money. Now I am determined to get up and running again but this time with a touring motorcycle.

A typical sports/tourer. Kawaski ZZR600

The CBR1000F I had was what is called a "sports/tourer". This as the name suggests combines the best of both worlds, a bike you can comfortably tour on yet possesses the looks and some of the characteristics of a sports bike. This was one of the things that really appealed to me at the time and I was quite happy with the set up.

Now however my age is having an impact and my eye is beginning to drift toward the dedicated tourer. There are several reasons for this; the first being the riding position. Though the CBR presented a reasonably upright riding posture, it was nevertheless a compromise and because I was leaning forward to a greater extent, I would at times get aching wrists.

The next thing I found was that when trying to look over my shoulder during overtaking manoeuvres or looking left and right at junctions for instance, I would find it more difficult to turn my head to an adequate amount. When I rode a touring bike with a bolt upright seating position, it was so much easier and safer.

Control comes into the equation too. When I rode a Honda PC (Pacific Coast), I found that the wider handlebars and low centre of gravity combined with the upright riding position gave me a lot more control, especially in traffic.

Although the seat was actually very good on the CBR, the seat on the PC was extraordinary especially for the pillion. Though I never toured on the PC, I could tell that this bike would be a supreme candidate for this exercise.

Fairings. The difference a fairing makes on a bike is quite amazing though some people like the raw experience of the naked motorcycle. It all depends what you want. I have done many long journeys on naked motorcycles. I used to do a trip from Preston to Porstmouth, a distance of 257 miles each way on a regular basis on a naked motorcycle and this was only a Honda CB175! At the time I did not notice much stress or wind noise; but when you are young... Later I got a Honda CB750K7 (now something of a classic) with a large touring fairing. The difference was astonishing.

The aerodynamics of my more recent Honda CBR1000F with its specially designed fairing was impressive and kept most of the wind off, including my hands. The only thing was the wind noise on my helmet was still loud due to the diminutive screen. Aftermarket screens were available of course but I never got around to trying one out.

Unfortunately, wind noise on my helmet whilst traveling on my PC was just as bad and it also suffered from a little buffeting. I did experiment with a "lip" on the screen of the PC but it would only work up to a certain speed. It may not have been set up correctly but I will never know since I was forced to sell this wonderful bike due to financial pressures but yet again the fairing generally was amazing. Incidentally, I always wear earplugs when riding a motorcycle.

So once again I am looking to get back into motorcycling but this time I know what I want and I know what I am looking for. It's got to be a touring motorcycle but it's not going to be too big like the much revered Honda Goldwing because I will not have the time to use it for touring very often. It will need to be a bit more weekend friendly.

Though I enjoyed the raw power of the CBR I never actually used it to its full potential and was more interested in the way the bike would appear to do everything in an effortless way. This got me thinking that the bike was wasted on me and what I really wanted was torque which is what you can usually get on a tourer. I am one of those motorcyclist's that likes A roads and motorways and strangely, not so much the twisties. Don't get me wrong, I like all aspects of motorcycling but it's just a preference. They do say that older riders often like torque rather than high revving engines and I suppose in my case it's become a truism.

I'm now saving and looking at ways of making some more money so I can afford to buy a second hand bike but I am more patient these days and besides, my mate who has a Kawasaki ZZR600 sports/tourer, is having an operation and will be out of commission for 11 weeks. This gives me a bit of time to get sorted. At least it gives me something to look forward to.

Whatever bike you own, ride carefully and have a load of fun this year.

How to be happy.

How you can make a difference to your own happiness

When we start out in life we have so many hopes and aspirations. I used to have ambition once, yes ambition but with age a certain type of acceptance begins to set in. Don't get me wrong I haven't given up hope altogether, it's just that you become a bit more realistic and begin to realise that if you haven't "made it" already, it begins to look like your aren't going to.

But what is making it? This question is not asked enough. "Making it" can mean many things however and it can range from becoming a celebrity with millions to being happy with eking out a living in the lonely Highlands of Scotland or in my case making a living window cleaning.

For some they will never be happy with their lot in life but it's something that we will all have to come to terms with, sooner or later. To be philosophical about it all, what it boils down to is happiness or rather, the pursuit of happiness. You can look at happiness in different ways. It can depend heavily on your expectations. As much as we all seem to baulk at what our parents and grandparents used to say; "be content with what you have". As much as I hate to say this, it becomes more of a truism the older you get. You are not going to be able to "take it with you".

You begin to realise that relationships are becoming more and more important to you rather than "things". It's okay to have things but it dawns on you that they are transient and hollow towards relationships. I used to have this thing about cars. I love cars among other things but I was always striving to get a better one, a bigger one, a faster one. I must have had over thirty cars in my time and it took me many years to get over it. I know now that the car was a substitute for a lack of self esteem in myself. If I had an impressive car then people would respect me. Sounds pretty lame now doesn't it?

I even had a phobia about number plates. I would look at virtually every number plate of every car that passed. Was it newer than mine? Most often it was of course because I was never rich and of all those cars I owned, only three were brand new. But again it's a matter of perspective.

I began to make a serious effort to appreciate what I had and how lucky I was in reality. When I saw how many people could never have what I had and how many were actually starving to death, then I was living like a King in comparison. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as though this was any kind of revelation or anything. I had been aware of all the horrendous things going on on the earth for ages, like we all are. So why did it not have an impact earlier on in life?

Well life's like that. Sometimes it takes a long time and many years of experience and maturity to see what life is really about. We all start out with good intentions, so what's it all about? Happiness is not necessarily about fun. It may be connected but it's far more profound than that. Happiness is something that is much deeper and usually more elusive but once you get what it is, then there is much more chance that you are going to be a lot more content with life. Happiness is a deep seated form of contentment and just being able to accept life but remember this, "their is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving" but we are not talking gifts here like birthday presents. We are talking about being kind and loving and generous at every opportunity, even with your enemies.

This at first will be one of the hardest things you ever did and indeed it might take years to be able to put it into practise. There is one person that I regularly come into contact with that is always terse with me. Sometimes I want to tell him to get stuffed but I used this as an opportunity to practise what I preach. The result? Well he's still the same years later but the effect on me is strange. I feel so much better than if I'd confronted him with the same attitude. I feel good about myself.

Emergency Landing

Indian Ocean, 1974. I was the aircrew man on HMS Lowestoft's Wasp helicopter. The pilot, Lt Kidd and I, were flying on a brilliant day at 400 ft above the sea when suddenly there was a loud bang!
The pilot and I looked at each other wondering what had just happened. The aircraft flew on as normal but I could detect an increase in vibration mainly by looking at the instruments. One of these, a basic temperature gauge was vibrating more than normal and I decided to look through my missile aimer's scope which was like a pair of binoculars. This confirmed that indeed there was extra vibration present. The pilot suggested that it might have been a sonic boom from an aircraft high above us but none were in the vicinity. I suggested the aircraft's gearbox. It was then that he requested an emergency landing on the nearest vessel with a flight deck. RFA Olna was visible and minutes away.

The landing went as normal. An engineer was dispatched and winched down to Olna using Falmouth's Wasp helicopter. He did a few tests and took oil samples but could find nothing so we flew back to Lowestoft where further tests were carried out. Nothing was found but I knew deep down inside that the gearbox was faulty. I tried to tell the flight crew and the pilot but no one would take me seriously. They even sent and engineer up in 451 to check out the scope but he returned saying it was fine. I knew it had changed dramatically. I was given a direct order to fly in 451 so I had no choice. My nerves were frayed.

Flying continued as normal but when we were asked to identify a large Russian warship on the horizon, I was unable to do so since the scope was vibrating too much. It was the Cold War years and I hate to think of how many missiles must have been locked on to us before we got too close.
Years later I found out that this ship was the USSR Leningrad, the flagship of the Soviet Union.

Lt Kidd, the pilot, was fond of doing excessive acrobatic manoeuvres with the helicopter such as stall turns which made me even more nervous. The helicopter just kept on flying as normal but when HMS Falmouth's Wasp ditched into the sea and was a complete wreck, the crew surviving, they requested to borrow ours. It was then that I had many mixed emotions. What if it should crash. I would feel responsible but I was not taken seriously.

For some days I had to live with this possibility until shockingly a message came through that 451 had actually crashed on the flight deck of the Falmouth. Miraculously, the aircraft had sustained no damage and had made a heavy landing on the deck when the gearbox had failed. Yes the gearbox!
Nothing was ever mentioned about this incident in relation to me suspecting that this was the problem but nevertheless, I was completely vindicated.

I would never have made a good aircrew man though and indeed after this incident and others such as metal fatigue that later that led me to be reverted back to Radio Operator.