Henry, Thanks for the welcome and your comments.
Points taken but I wonder how I have survived riding motorcycles for over 45 years. What you say is undoubtedly true, what I was inferring was that I have never consciously pushed the bars or counter steered to change direction, but obviously do. In my early days "body lean", or whatever, was considered the norm, counter steering wasn't yet in the language.This was opposed to the later manifestation of riders climbing all over the bike and which was initially somewhat disparaged by the 'purists'. Comparisons were made between the 'classical' riding of say John Surtees/Mike Hailwood and Paul Smart and other equally successful but visually more aggressive riders, many of whom of course came from your side of the pond. Riding the Z650 everything flows without any conscious effort. So far, early days, this has not been the case with the GTS and I am aware I will have to change my technique if for no other reason than to get to grips with significant increase in speed and acceleration. As they say you are never to old to learn and it is clear I will have to before I disappear rapidly into the scenery. Then again the suspension set-up may require tweaking, but that is a black art I have never needed to bother with as all my previous machines were of ancient technology. Thanks again and I appreciate your advice. I am more than happy to receive useful comments from experienced, and in this case current on GTS, riders. Regards Tom T ----- Original Message ----- From: "Henry S. Winokur" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 2:59 AM Subject: Re: Another new GTS'er > > Being a 11 stone (sorry 154 lbs) wimp, I have got to admit it's > > more in charge of me at times than I am of it, and I am having > > difficulty getting it to go round corners. It seems to physically > > object to changing direction. No doubt it's my ancient style of > > riding and body lean may not be the way to crank it over quick enough. > > Hi Tom, welcome to the group. > > I have been teaching people to ride motorcycles for over 12 years, with the > Maryland Motorcycle Safety Program, so I think I can speak to your steering > difficulties. > > A motorcycle cannot be steered using body lean (or "body steering" as some > like to call it). If the speed hasn't gotten above 10 mph or so, then one > uses what is called "tricycle steering": the handle bars are actually turned > in the direction you want to go--like a tricycle. Otherwise steering is > only accomplished using handle bar pressure (down or forward--it doesn't > matter). This technique is also known as "counter steering". > > If you use counter steering when you are cornering "at speed" (above the > magic 10) you'll have no trouble turning the bike. If you try to use "body > steering" as you call it, you'll probably end up somewhere other than where > you were trying to go. Here in the states, we now call that what it is: not > an accident, but a crash! > > Regards, > > Henry S. Winokur > 94 GTS1000, R1100RT-P, AMA, MRF, > Nationally Certified Riding Instructor > Columbia, MD Ride for Kids Task Force > West Bethesda, MD USA > > > > > Accepting the above interesting problem, I am a very proud owner > > and look forward to using it to the full and educating other > > motorcyclists whose jaws drop when they see it. > > > > Regards > > > > Tom Thompson > >
