ride tech question

[NinjaDoc]

It seems that i am more comfortable taking a right hand curve. But when ever i am taking a left hand one i am kind of un easy and it reflects on the technique and line.

1. Is it because - i am right handed?

2. or is it because i am more used to taking right hand curves more often in the form of exit ramps?

3. Or is it because i am kind of giving unbalanced force in either end of handle bar as i might be pulling the right end back when i am slowly twisting the grip to accelerate out of corner?

4. or is it because we have on the right side of the road- i mean taking the outside line while in the curve?

is left handers always bad for every one compared to right handers?

just asking to see if there is anything that can help correct it .

i know most answers going to be do a track day, which i might not be able to pull off this year because of lot of factors. Hence any tips from pros might be helpful

[speedytriple]

Maybe due to the slope of the road? They slant to the right, for rain drainage. I don't seem to have a preference.

[speedytriple]

Could also be that right hand turns take you to an inside line away from oncoming traffic. Sometimes left hand turns start close to the yellow line and might make you feel uncomfortable?

[Gixxus Christ!]

Try keeping your wallet on the other side....lol, I think its a combo of all those factors and the fact that on a left hand turn you are in more danger from on coming traffic the further inside you get on your turn. Could also be you're not putting enough weight into your counter-steer because you are maintaining a tight grip on the throttle. Go the wrong way on some freeway ramps for practice.

[Tpoppa]

Body position & counter steering. Because the throttle is on the right side you are probably applying some pressure and counter steering when you turn right. You are probably not applying the same pressure to the left grip when you turn left.

Edited May 1, 2012 by Tpoppa

[imprez55]

I have heard it is usually harder for people to do right hand turns (hence why most tracks are right hand biased) because it is more difficult to reposition your body and move your arm while maintaining proper throttle control. With that same thinking, maybe you are uneasy about having the throttle too far away and subconsciously you might think you have less control because of your distance to it? I really have no idea though

[NinjaDoc]

Thx for the input guys, I guess there is no fixed answer and just practice and learn, I was hoping some else went thru same predicament and could have found an easy answer to this.

[jfvb1225]

Have you read any of David Hough's books? Proficient Motorcycling and More Proficient Motorcycling. Just reading the first one I've discovered both bad and good habits and techniques I need to work on.

[speedytriple]

Run your favorite loop backwards so all the turns are left handed a few times? Or go run the dragon it has plenty of left hand turns on it LOL!

[TSB67]

Probably mental. I generally feel more comfortable with left hand turns, and I think it stems from two things:

1) On the dirtcycle where you may have a tendency to take your inside foot off the peg, there is definitely some comfort associated with your outside foot still having access to the rear brake.

2) On the street at intersections left hand turns are much larger radius that right hand turns.

However I did begin to notice that I generally perform better in right hand turns on the track for some reason.

[ohdaho]

I have heard it is usually harder for people to do right hand turns (hence why most tracks are right hand biased) because it is more difficult to reposition your body and move your arm while maintaining proper throttle control. With that same thinking, maybe you are uneasy about having the throttle too far away and subconsciously you might think you have less control because of your distance to it? I really have no idea though

I have no idea if this is factual...but it makes some sense to me. Im right handed, but feel incredibly comfortable with left hand turns. As seen in my uneven chicken strips.

[redkow97]

i agree with Speedy and Imprez.

maintaining throttle control can be more difficult with your throttle arm stretched across the tank. (although I have heard just as many people say they are no good at rights because of the weird angle your wrist is at when you hang off to the right). If you think about it, you practice rights more than lefts. High way ramps are generally long right sweepers.

I actually had the opposite problem for a long time, and I think part of it does stem from your dominant hand/foot.

when I was a kid, if I did a skid/drift on my bicycle, I was (am) always more comfortable turning to the left. Not sure if it's because I'm more sure of keeping my right foot on the peg, and moto-crossing with my left, or if it's the fact that my dominant (right) arm had more leverage.

A few weekends at the track will quickly make rights feel normal and lefts feel weird. I need to find a CCW track actually. (or just learn to go fast in 4 and 12 at Nelson)

[mello dude]

I forget which one of the rider guru's (Keith Code?) mentioned that a lot of riders have bias that they are better in cornering one direction vs the other. It takes practice to get both up to the same.

For a ride skillz book I think this is the best....

http://www.amazon.com/Sport-Riding-Techniques-Develop-Confidence/dp/1893618072/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335844799&sr=1-1

[speedytriple]

I am left eye dominant maybe that helps?

[Gixxus Christ!]

I'm pretty well balanced between the two sides. Heading into work I take the airdock access road off of 224e, and its a big right-sweeping loop. When leaving I take the other side of the same loop (going left handed now) back onto 224. The only difference is getting off is down hill and getting on is up, but I can still hold a steady line in either direction at the same speed (~60 mph depending on conditions). Maybe its because I do it every day in the summer, sometimes twice if I leave for lunch, and I have been pushing my limitations on this particular loop for a year now.

[Bad324]

I'm left handed and go right a lot better than left

[blue03636]

Everyone has a direction they are better at. I love lefts and have had to adapt to rights due to most tracks having more rights than lefts. Truth be told, it's all in your head and just need to work on the lefts.

[J_Copeland]

I use to get that same feeling doing lefthanders !

I found myself squeezing the bars too hard and also found my head wasn't over to the left.

[cOoTeR]

I'm pretty sure its mostly mental at the street level.

[Moto-Brian]

I actually feel much more comfortable in left handers. My buddy in Cincy and I rode his grass track a couple of weekends ago and we rode in both directions. Right hand slides are tougher than left hand slides.

Of course, I ordered a Shit Burger from the $.99 Value Menu on a left handed backing in move...

But, once you ride track enough, the corners tend to be easier as you do laps. Same with the grass track. The more we rode right, the better I felt. But, was faster with mostly lefts...

[John]

I forget which one of the rider guru's (Keith Code?) mentioned that a lot of riders have bias that they are better in cornering one direction vs the other. It takes practice to get both up to the same.

For a ride skillz book I think this is the best....

Amazon.com: Sport Riding Techniques: How To Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety, and Confidence on the Street and Track (9781893618077): Nick Ienatsch, Kenny Roberts: Books

there is an article by him in Motorcyclist each month, and IIRC this month, he talks about this exact thing. I'll take a look when I get home and try to post the article.

[sporttour]

Practice

[drc32-0]

A long time ago I read some where to only use your "inside"hand for countersteering,just kind of rest your outside hand on the bar.

I've been doing it for years and it works for me.

[rubbersidedown]

there is an article by him in Motorcyclist each month, and IIRC this month, he talks about this exact thing. I'll take a look when I get home and try to post the article.

Did you find the article?

I've heard many different reasons why there is an increased comfort turning one direction or the other some of which are expressed here. I wonder what a Pro says about it.

Ask your self this question, "Do I do donuts CW (right) or CCW (left)?"

[I-RIDE]

It's cause of the camber of the road.