Better Riding: How to steer and countersteer a motorcycle

Our Better Riding programme continues with a look at how to steer a motorcycle efficiently and effectively, then we dissect the dark art of countersteering – a phrase many will have heard of but only few will understand its connotations and how it can affect a bike.

This series is aimed squarely at ramping up your enjoyment of riding by being safer and smoother. We’re going to help you get more out of your motorcycling with this self-help series brought to you in conjunction with Honda Motorcycles UK.

Our professional Motorbike Coach is Mark McVeigh – a vastly experienced rider coach, an ex-MotoGP engineer, a riding academy owner for over 20 years and the inventor of motoDNA rider training tech, so he really is the man to trust.

Better Riding – steering and countersteering

Become a countersteer pro with our guide

How do you steer a motorcycle?

The primary method is countersteering, and after 20 years as a motorbike coach this is the technique that causes the most confusion even though all riders are doing it without realising. So we’re trying to explain it in such a way so the riders understand it and can counter steer mindfully which will add significant control to their cornering.

What is countersteering on a motorcycle?

First thing, we’ll state the obvious: you’ve got to lean a motorcycle to go around a corner. The next part to understand is when you’re cornering, the motorcycle geometry in the tyres behave like cones which means the front wheel points towards the inside of the turn, and that’s important to understand. The counter steer action is used to start the bike to turn (to get the bike to learn) and to finish the turn. If you’re in the corner, the front wheel is pointing inwards.

The next part is about forces. Gravity pulls you down into the road whereas at 90 degrees towards the outside of the corner is the cornering force (or centrifugal force) which balances against the gravity to maintain a lean angle so when you’re in the corner you don’t need much steering input. If it were stationary, the bike would fall over.

Those are basics and now we can explain countersteering. The movements are subtle but if we are steering around a right-hand corner, we begin by pushing the right-side of the handlebar gently forwards and the front wheel starts to point in the opposite direction to where we want to go. Odd, right? But despite the front wheel beginning to point left, the bike starts to lean right and therefore into that right-hand corner. So initially the handlebars and front wheel points in the opposite direction to that which you want to go – hence the ‘counter’ steering name.

As the bike settles in into the corner, you release the pressure on the ‘bar and the ‘cones’ come into action meaning the bike will sit there with the front wheel now pointing into the corner. The longer you hold the pressure on the inside ‘bar, the greater the lean angle will become and the further the bike will lean over. So when you’ve reached that desired lean angle and are committed to continuing the same trajectory around the corner, smoothly release the pressure on the handlebar and the bike will hold the same line with minimal input, if any at all.

When you want to finish the turn, the same gentle movements are required. Push on the outside handlebar and the front wheel comes underneath the bike and it picks itself up. The movements are very subtle, so much so that you’ll be hard-pressed to see the hand or arm movements if you look down.

Above: over exaggeration of the wheel turning left as the bike leans into a right-hander

Can you counter steer at any speed?

So long as you’re above walking pace, you can begin countersteering. It depends on the weight, size and geometry of the bike but the key part to understand is that countersteering starts the turn and gets the bike to lean and finished the turn, but in the middle of the turn the front wheel is pointing towards the inside of the corner.

The physics are complicated, even for an engineer to understand what’s going on with centripetal forces and gyroscopic precession among them. But there’s no need to overthink countersteering because we all do it already, but not with intent and control. With deliberate practice and mindfulness intent, the subconscious will take over and countersteering will become even more natural. And with that brings cornering confidence. A subject we’ll talk more about in the next episode.

We emphasise push right to go right, push left to go left but you’re while pushing on the inside ‘bar you’re pulling on the outside ‘bar without even knowing it.

Above: away from the public roads, Mann demonstrates which handlebar he’s pushing forwards to turn left

At what point do you start to counter steer into a corner?

That relates to road position and reference points which is a whole topic by itself. Though the counter steer turn-in point doubles up as the corner turn-in point. It’s good to understand that inexperienced riders can often run wide in a corner generally because they turn in too early because they’re worried about running wide but of course if you do turn in too early then you’re faced with making steering corrections, and too many of those equals ’50 pencing’ the corner.

We want to see one smooth progressive steering input and the bike then sits on its corner trajectory before you steer out of the turn.

What can you do if you start to run wide?

Remember the amount of effort required to start the countersteering, it’s barely anything at all. Watch the above video to see the rider pointing to his left hand demonstrating the pressure he’s putting on the handlebars to make the bike turn. It’s not even noticeable. So, you can add more countersteering effort if there is room and grip available. But it’s best not to get any surprises like corners tightening up. Consider the fundamental principle of riding based on what you can see. You should also be able to stop in the distance you can see in your lane.

 Is there an ideal angle of how and where to push the handlebars?

Much of that will depend on what style of bike you’re riding. It’ll be different if you’re on a Fireblade or a Gold Wing, a Monkey or an Africa Twin.

The ideal angle offering the most efficiency is at 90-degrees from the steering stem, or front suspension fork angle. Levers, handlebar position and even the riding position are all adjustable on most bikes so make sure you are comfortable on the bike but importantly, for the optimum front end feel and steering input, that the 90-degrees is as close as you can get it.

How hard do you need to push the handlebars?

The pressure or how hard you push on the inside bar will determine the bike's roll rate or how quickly it leans into the turn. Watch a professional racer and they’ll be able to steer a bike from one knee to the opposite knee in less than two seconds but that is aided by body position and how the rider’s weight is used, but countersteering is the primary method for steering the bike.

On the road, we won’t be steering that quickly, but it’s always good to have some skill level up your sleeve. In an emergency, you will default to your level of training and practice. And a figure-of-eight drill can help. One of Mark’s research projects included fitting a bike with a steering torque force meter measuring machine control by using steering torque against speed. An inexperienced ride will be tentative to counter steer at higher speeds, for example. See the above graph for the results.

How can I countersteer faster?

Countersteering is all through the handlebars so an increase in force through the ‘bars can affect the steering speed, as can the set-up of the bike, e.g. width of the handlebars. There are other ways you can steer the motorcycle faster and increase the lean into a corner (roll rate) away from countersteering which is down to body position.

While generally used at the racetrack by sliding laterally on the seat and pivoting around the fuel tank, a little body movement can be useful for road riders too. Putting your body weight to the inside of the bike increases how quickly the bike will turn and some day you may need to get your bike to turn quickly in an emergency so its handy to have this skill up your sleeve.

Are there any exercises to understand or practice countersteering?

Be mindful of the handlebar pressure. You are countersteering intuitively but be aware of where and how you’re applying the pressure on the handlebars. The same goes for when you’re in the turn – are you making one smooth, progressive turn or are you adjusting the angle throughout the corner? There’s also the figure-of-eight exercise which, if you can find a quiet place with enough space then get a bunch of rider friends together and layout some cones using the dimensions above.

The Better Riding series continues with episode 2 where we’ll be discussing the confidence of cornering – by understanding grip and the all-important safety bubble.

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