h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thats it!

I read about that fire in AMCN. Horrible.
What started it?

Have you checked out the motorcycle club page? A724312

I've been off h2g2 for a while, finishing studies and working 2 jobs...still get to ride my bike, of course!


Bad

Seen the page,

They found out quite quickly that it was a discarded cigarette butt - thrown against a pile of empty cardboard packing cases that were against a wall, the weather was dry and hot, cardboard caught light and the flames hit the wooden eaves of the roof...the fire spread throughout the roof space and consumed 3 of the 5 halls - including the hall of one-off record breaking/racing machines (the original streamlined Triumph they based the 'Bonneville' on being one of the victims). Nasty stuff

HOW the lit cigarette came to be disposed of so casrelessly is _anyone's_ guess - it's a non-smoking museum so a member of staff may have been having a quick smoke outside, they say ...but also being a museum, in Europe it's exempt from having an inbuilt sprinkler system in case a false alarm causes water damage to the stock...the new museum wont have one either.

On a lighter note, the National Motorcycle & Scooter Show is on at the NEC just down the road from me and I've been to sit on a few - I'm hooked!

I disagree with the statement to not worry about counter steering. Everyone who rides a bike is using it whenever they are riding faster than a walking pace.

And seeing as we are using it we should move it from the subconscious to the conscious. It will make you a better rider, especially when riding ten-tenths on a windy road, or when the unexpected happens.

The physics behind it is called gyroscopic precession. Any force that is applied to a gyroscope causes a movement at 90 degrees to that force.

The spinning front wheel acts like a gyroscope. So when a "steering" force is applied via the handlebars, a "leaning" movement is induced. For example, when you apply a force on the handlebars attempting to steer the wheel to the left, the wheel leans to the right, making the bike steer to the right.

There are two ways you can test this for yourself. The first is to ride with only your right hand on the 'bars. Now, push the right-hand handlebar away from you with your right hand (be careful now). Now, you might expect the bike to steer to the left when you do this, but you will find that it steers (leans) to the right. That's gyroscopic precession. Now try pulling the right-hand handlebar towards you, and the bike will steer (lean) left. See?

The other way to test this is to remove the front wheel from a pushbike. Hold the axle stubs like they were handlebars. Now get someone to spin the wheel in a forward direction. Now try and "steer" using the axle. You will find that the wheel leans in the opposite direction to that which you are steering.

Once you are convinced that counter steering isn’t a myth you will become more conscious of it each time you ride, especially if you try the one handed test from time to time. It will make you a better, safer and quicker rider.

There is a third way to test the counter steering phenomenon. (But I wouldn’t recommend it.) It’s the way I discovered it. This was a couple of decades ago before the term “counter steering” was ever coined. Try riding a bike that *doesn’t* counter steer, then you will see what it’s all about....

How do you do that you ask? Well, ride a motorbike with sidecar! I was an experienced rider and I rode a bike with sidecar for the first time. They don’t counter steer because the bike (and therefore the front wheel) can’t lean, so gyroscopic precession doesn’t work.

Whenever I tried to go left I went right, and vice versa. Why? Because I was subconsciously counter steering. Once I realised this I could ride the sidecar outfit with no problems. As bonus I instantly became a better solo rider, because I had “discovered” counter steering.

Cheers,

GreenGuzzi

Hi,
I've been trying to make sense of the counter steering issue. It's all down to gyroscopes - your front wheel acts like one - the faster it turns the stronger the effects.

Steering by tilting
If you tilt the axis about which a wheel is spinning (the axle) then the axle and the wheel will turn (about an axis at right angles to the axle - the axis of the front forks) in the same direction that the axle was tilted. Tilt the bike to the left and the front wheel turns to the left. This is what is done when you tilt the bike to one side or the other to make it turn.
COUNTER STEERING
If a spinning wheel is rotated about an axis at right angles to the axis on which it is spinning - the axis of the steering column. Then the wheel and the axis on which it is spinning (the axle) will tilt in a direction which is OPPOSITE to that in which the wheel was turned.
Turn wheel (handlebars) to the left and the axle (wheel) will tilt to the right (ready for making a right turn).

The counter steering by itself will not make the turn but will set up the tilt of the bike for the turn. After the tilt starts, the wheel should itself tend to steer in the direction of the tilt - see Steering by Tilting above. There's is lots of info on the web.

I still have to pluck up the courage to deliberately try it out - I am sure that I have been doing so subconsciously already. Think for safety reasons I'll try it out on a push bike on grass first of all.

Regards
littleoldbiker

Hi,
Don't worry about "plucking up the courage" to deliberately trying it out - it is impossible to turn a motorcycle without using countersteering unless you are moving very slowly. You are definitely doing it already.
It's good to be aware of though, particularly for obstacle avoidance etc. - being conscious of what you are doing on the bike.