It's as easy as riding a bicycle, once you learn how you never forget

[Fumesucker]

Except if you make one minor change to the bicycle it can take as much as eight months to learn how to ride again and then you can't ride an unchanged bike. Knowing something intellectually and understanding it are two quite different things that often don't have much to do with each other.

http://viewpure.com/MFzDaBzBlL0?ref=bkmk

So many things we do require a lot more skill than we realize, this is particularly true of things we learn when young. Bicycle riding is a remarkably complex skill that just seems simple on the surface, indeed most of us don't even know that we steer left on a bicycle to initiate a turn to the right and we steer right to initiate a turn to the left, we just do it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering

I have asked dozens of bicycle riders how they turn to the left. I have never found a single person who stated all the facts correctly when first asked. They almost invariably said that to turn to the left, they turned the handlebar to the left and as a result made a turn to the left. But on further questioning them, some would agree that they first turned the handlebar a little to the right, and then as the machine inclined to the left, they turned the handlebar to the left and as a result made the circle, inclining inward. -Wilbur Wright

No, this post isn't really about riding a bicycle, it's about the difference between knowledge and understanding.

[brush]

1. Don't you just lean to the left to get the bike going that way?

I ridden bikes all my life and never turn the handlebars right to turn left.

If fact if it's just a regular turn around a street corner, you just have to turn the handlebars slightly as the momentum of the lean accomplishes most of the turning.

[SheilaT]

2. While it's been a very long time since I've ridden a bike,

I can't imagine not using the handlebars to steer the bike in the direction you want to go.

OTH, I never rode a bike with handbrakes, or more than one speed, just the very primitive ones that you pedal forward to go forward, and move the pedals in reverse to stop.

[brush]

5. Of course you use the handlebars . . .

It's just at regular speed in riding there isn't that much actual turning as leaning in the direction you want to go assists with the handlebars turning that way.

[Fumesucker]

4. I'd been riding motorcycles a couple of years before I realized how it actually works

Nearly ran myself off the road at high speed one day about forty years ago when I got to "thinking" about what I was doing instead of just using the reflexes I learned so young I don't even remember it.

Once you learn to consciously countersteer you become a much safer rider of both bicycles and motorcycles, until then you are doing something you really don't understand other than on a reflex level.

From the link in my OP..

When countersteering to turn left, the following is performed:[5][6]

A torque on the handlebars to the right is applied.
The front wheel will then rotate about the steering axis to the right and the tire will generate forces in the contact patch to the right.
The machine as a whole steers to the right
Because the forces in the contact patch are at ground level, this pulls the wheels "out from under" the bike to the right and causes it to lean to the left.
The rider, or in most cases, the inherent stability of the bike, provides the steering torque necessary to rotate the front wheel back to the left and in the direction of the desired turn.
The bike begins a turn to the left.

While this appears to be a complex sequence of motions, it is performed by every child who rides a bicycle. The entire sequence goes largely unnoticed by most riders, which is why some assert that they do not do it

And...

For bicyclists, countersteering can be very useful, even potentially lifesaving, in emergency maneuvers. It is taught as the instant turn (a term coined by John Forester) in traffic cycling courses offered through the League of American Bicyclists and as the snap turn in CyclingSavvy courses offered through the American Bicycling Education Association.

League certified instructors and CyclingSavvy instructors teach students to be prepared to make a sudden sharp turn to avoid, for example, being hit by a motorist who just overtaken them and then turned across their path, cutting the cyclist off. The instant turn is initiated by quickly jerking the bars to the left (the countersteer), which initiates the necessary lean to the right, and then turning sharply into the required turn to the right.[11][12] Racing cyclists and cyclists performing fast hill descents may also use countersteering in order to initiate and manage the fast, precise turns necessary.
When countersteering, the front wheel first moves out a little in the opposite direction of the turn.

As is well known in bicycle racing, the countersteering becomes evident when there is an obstacle preventing the wheel from countersteering (e.g., when closely overlapping wheels or riding very close to a curb). In these situations, the way to initiate a turn with the handlebars away from the obstacle is to countersteer towards obstacle to avoid crashing into it.[9] Lack of understanding of this principle leads to accidents in novice bicycle races.

Next time you get on a bike be careful because thinking about this could well cause you to crash.

[brush]

6. I'm not convinced

Imagine coasting down a hill on a winding road on a bike.

One leans in the direction you want to go as you hold the handlebars while turning them slightly in the direction of the bend in the road.

Seems to me if you turn the handlebars the opposite way of the bend in the road you're "gonna bust your as_" so I'm doubtful of your countersteer theory.

[Fumesucker]

7. Turning the handlebars the opposite way is how the lean angle is established

On a bicycle the amount of movement is small enough and quick enough that most of us don't know it and we think we do it by leaning our bodies.

If it doesn't work that way why do motorcycle and bicycle safety courses both teach it?

You are a perfect example of knowledge without understanding, your body has the knowledge, the reflexes, but you don't understand what your body is doing. Most of us learn to ride a bike young enough that the way we actually control the bike is an unconscious reflex.

You said earlier that you ride a lot, next time you are on the bike pay serious attention to what you are doing and you'll see I and all the experts are correct. Try weaving the bike down the road, moving from one lean to the other fairly rapidly but be very careful because thinking about this can cause you to crash until you integrate conscious knowledge with your unconscious reflexes.

[pinboy3niner]

3. Corollary: It's as easy as falling off a bicycle

[IDemo]

8. There are two reasons countersteering works so well

One, the tire 'contact patch' is being moved out from under the line of travel, resulting in a lean in the opposite direction. Two, the gyro flywheel effect of steering the wheel to the right will cause a torque reaction 90 degrees downstream, meaning a lean toward the left.

Motorcycle rider since the late 70's and can absolutely vouch for the effectiveness of countersteering. People who are not conscious of this technique are only fooling themselves that they are fully aware and safe riders.

[MineralMan]

9. Yup. People do it without realizing they are doing it.

Understanding counter-steering is really, really important for motorcyclists, though, as you learned. If you understand it, you'll use the technique better than before. Being conscious of it can save your life in an emergency situation, where an instant direction change is needed.

Thanks for posting this important information.