17:45 Can you do it on every bike? full-lock turns with no hands is so cool but i'm afraid the bike wold turn off and drop on the ground! that would be so nice to know how to do it!🏍🔄🔃🔄Great video!
13:20 ehh, the fastest way to stop is often by hitting the object in front of you and using only the rear brake is a great way to accomplish that😂 anyway, great video, as always. Very happy I found your channel!
Another fine summary Andrei. I especially liked the first two segments on throttle/brake coordination and how you explained and demonstrated your points. Excellent work!
I've worked on ebikes for the last 15 years or so, one of the most common problems i'd encounter is throttle damage from goobers who just let it clack closed every time they release. On old carb and cable bikes it's less of an issue, it just stretches and wears the cable out faster instead of breaking the hall sensors in a throttle by wire like your modern bikes have.
This video is good timing because Bret Tjaks recently said in his video to never brake mid corner while the bike is leaned. He actually said to "twist it out".
Sadly I feel some channels are stuck with absolute solutions to things. While talking about "advanced" techniques they apply the same logic as courses like the MSF with their classic "never use the front brake while turning" as if things were that simple and context didn't matter.
Really cool Q&A session! Hope to see at least one more :) My question is how to reach balance on circling: I cannot relax my hands because of the heavy efforts on the handlebars. what I'm doing wrong? I do understand what the countersteering is and consciously use it. The point is what to do after I've leaned the bike.
Hard to answer, could be the bike's geometry trying to stand it up. Different tires can also transform how a bike enters a corner and maintains lean angle. Are they worn, do you maintain the recommended pressure? Could also be that you are too tense/rigid on the bike. You probably want to find a huge empty parking lot and experiment with your bike and body positioning where the stakes are low so you can relax your body and mind.
My Andre is unstoppable…. Other motorcycle instructors aren’t even close to my Andre’s understanding of people and what they need to ride a motorcycle!!! Subscribe now to my Andre and learn from the master.
As always very great informative and easy to understand guideance, have to say learned a lot from these videos you upload for us, thumbs up continue the good job and be safe always my friend
Regarding the finger barrier question, I have found most cable clutches are delivered from the dealer set too tight with the engagement much farther out than necessary; almost to the point of preventing full engagement on one new bike I test rode. I always adjust my cable clutch to engage sooner and leave some slack at full release.
8:09 forgot to mention emergency braking. It's important to downshift as you stop. Gears won't mesh smoothly when stationary. If you forget, you'll be stuck in a middle of a busy intersection, wiggling your bike backwards and forwards like an idiot before you can go again.
Nice job Here is the thing, i heard that you can use the front brake and gently the throttle to test if the road is safe or not. Is this a valuable advice ?
Another great video to reflect my riding! My question would have been why moto jitsu and others tell "never ever increase lean and throttle at the same time!!!" If I want to go faster in a turn, I will accelarate. To maintain the given radius, I have to lean more. Why shouldn't I? Did it thousands of times!?
I was taught at the moto school a way to make a 90 degree turn from a stop without using counter steering. Let's say that you're at a stop sign and you need to make a sharp right turn. Lock the handlebars to the right and slip the clutch. Lean the bike but keep your body straight. It works.
Please explain if one can apply the front brake when the rear is still engine braking...say I am downstairs aggressive from 4 to 2 and at that same time squeezing the front brake also.
Amazing! Around a year ago I started my journey on motorcycles and i must say that you, alongisde other well known motorcycle youtubers, have greatly helped me in my journey, making me start with the right foot. Practicing skills like countersteering and slow maneuvers gave me immense confidence. Now, I have a more specific question for you, master: do you think that 100-200cc motorcycles are safe to ride? I've really been thinking about this lately, especially because I ride in a 120cc, and the lack of power is standing out in situations like overtakes of heavy trucks. That made me worried. What's your vision about this?
If by safe you mean do they have enough power to keep up with the traffic around - that depends entirely on where you live. Is it city traffic or mostly high speed highways? Do people around mostly stick to speed limits or not? And what are the vehicles around you? Because in some countries 200cc bike can be the fastest vehicle on the road🙃
@@MotoControlEn they def dont stick to the speed limits. I usually ride in high speed, single lane highways (not US). Lots of overtakes from cars, heavy trucks and buses, etc... those adverse circunstances got me thinking if riding on a vehicle like a low powered motorcycle is worth it, given this scenario.
@@reader_cat Not an expert but felt like poking my nose into this one. I travel daily on a 125cc scooter with similar situation like yours in traffic at about 90-110km/h. My scooter's speed limit maxes out at 90km/h and one thing I learned to do is to keep an eye out for vehicles approaching from behind me and make sure they notice me. It can be something as subtle as turning on my signal, turning my head around to give eye contact (people can some times dehumanize riders because of them being in the safe cage) or waving. What if they don't notice you despite all that ? Then I make sure to stay on the extremities of the lane in case I need to make an escape route. Luckily I never had such close calls but often had to swerve around vehicles due to multiple exits on said stretch of road. Long story short. Get a bike according to your budget and never skimp on safety gear, they can make the difference between being in ICU and walking with a crutch for 6 months (according to my rider friend that is)
1:44 well, not ALWAYS. Although I know that this channel is geared to newer riders, I had a friend once who had raced BMW bikes before the paralever rear end was introduced. He pointed out that you could gain additional cornering clearance (for boxers) by staying a little on the throttle while using the front brake in order to take advantage of the rear end rise from the shaft drive to get a little more lean angle before grounding the cylinder head. A delicate process, sure, but valid. While I’ll admit that this is an oddly specific technique, there are probably other use cases.
So I understand that direct steering only works on self-balanced vehicles with 2+ wheels, allowing you move in the direction of steering. And bike riding is a balancing act, which everybody learns subconsciously. That would explain why counter-steering is so hard to undersand. Its physics are hidden from our direct undersanding. On a bike - you change the direction of the front wheel to change the bike's balance, then you let it go and it "steers itself" into the turn. Simple as that ;)
Countersteering is just steering with extra steps lol. If you have good balance on a non-cruiser it's way more direct feeling and precise to shift your weight. I steer with my ass basically and just let the front do what it wants, it's more relaxed, loose, flowing, and gives me more awareness and connection to the machine. I ride a lot of dirt, it's at least half my commute, so just letting the front end float around and steering with slight hip twist will keep you from tucking the front on ruts, rocks and whatnot by applying a countersteer presssure and not letting it deflect to follow terrain. When on the pavement either technique works but i still find weight shifting just feels better. Unless you're a physicist the bike's design geometry knows a helluva lot more about physics than you do, so take full advantage of the self correcting feature it offers. I prefer it, but there's a dedicated cult out there brainwashed to think that you can't turn without countersteering ever. If that were true then you shouldn't be able to turn while not touching the bars either, but that works just fine if you're not a wobbly jiggly off balance goober, or ride an 800lb chrome sofa chair of a bike. I hate absolutists.
Keith Code made a trial with steering-locked bike. It basically does not turn. You can make an arrow, attached to the steering bar and pointing on a fixed part, and see that front wheel actualy moves a little, even if you steer the bike without touching handles.
@@Murad.bn2 Exactly, the bike will steer as little or as much as it needs to turn based on lean. Locking the bars doesn't let all the self correction happen. I didn't say the bike isn't steering, but that it will steer itself better than you can if allowed to, instead of forcing or fighting it.
@@rustymustard7798 you don't have to fight, just to initiate a turn by quick steering input. On higher speeds leaning gives the same effect, but smoother.
@ If you're applying any pressure to the bars you're fighting against the bike's stability. The force you apply is an inefficiency that causes friction, and the friction causes yaw in a roundabout way. It works, but it's an inelegant and indirect. For most people it doesn't matter because they're never riding near the limit or on anything but pristine perfect pavement from stoplight to stoplight. They don't even have curves, just the same 90 degree turns. But when the roads are crooked, rutted, potholed, off camber, sandy, icy, have scattered baby heads from rockfalls, broken chip seal and all that, letting the front just follow that stuff is way safer than countersteering. The few roads that lead in and out of my area has such uneven pavement for 20-30 miles that you're constantly on the edge of a tankslapper, you're doing 60-70 and all of a sudden the uneven pavement rut changes. And every road around here looks like it was cluster bombed in the 90's. If you're countersteering and hit a fist sized rock or pothole or make a new one when the chip seal fails you're washing out since you're pushing the bike out of stability by brute force. If you're pushing on the bars and the front breaks traction, you're pushing it further into a full washout while it's breaking traction and maybe off the ground if you hit some rockfall. If you're using weightshift and counterleaning, the bike will, just drift off line and correct the tuck faster than your reflexes can respond.
@@rustymustard7798 for countersteering, you only initiate the instability, but not forcing the bar movement any further. It is the same you do with weight shift, but the steering process remains the same for the bike, since it only turns in one possible way.
I have another question, but little hope to have it answered. When you're braking and shifting down and blipping the throttle to match engine speed and wheel speed, how do you keep the pressure on the brake constant with your right hand moving forwards and backwards? And when you're not braking, can you keep the angle of your arm correct to prevent your body movement from applying that "whiskey throttle" when you want to cover the brake lever with your fingers?
You can brake and rev match at same time with minimum change in brake pressure it just takes some practice for just normal riding and coming to a stop or slowing down . To prevent whiskey throttle, place your hand with your wrist straight on the throttle. You should be able to put your fingers straight out on the brake from a closed throttle position. If done correctly, you will be bending your wrist downward and lower your elbow to get maximum throttle. You can make adjustments for your own comfort. Whiskey throttle happens when you grip the throttle with wrist bent and fingers pointing down, so if you get thrown backward from abruptly opening throttle, it pulls your wrist straight and opens the throttle more making the situation worse .
@@RideFree317 Thank you very much. I can't wait for weather to get warmer, I've already found an always empty parking lot to practice. Stay safe everyone!
You say steering into the turn makes the bike go upright. So, if during mid-turn you see that you're going wide, can you steer in the direction opposite to the turn, so the bike leans more into the turn, right? Because this sounds wild :) going wide and turning in the direction which you think would make you go even wider goes against every fiber of our being. :)
@MotoControl Countersteering - strangely, I learned much easier about this countersteering from a Veritasium video about "how bicycles work", check it out, I would love to see your input about those explanations.
If I want to reduce my wheel base in a turn and increase my front contract patch I use light maintenance braking. If this would slow me down I overlap it with light maintenance throttle. This is useful to me near the apex especially on hills. If other things are equal, a shortened wheel base gets me more lean and therefore more turn for the same steering and seat position inputs. There's a wonderful dynamic equilibrium to be sought on any given curve. I've been told this is controversial but the more I practice it the better it gets. As with everything related to trail braking, it calls for a very light touch.
Your are not shortening your wheelbase enough to feel a difference. At most your are shortening it .1". If you doubt me, measure your wheel base with no rider than with a compressed suspension. What you are doing is affecting the squat of the rear suspension. You are loading the rear suspension and raising the seat which transfers more weight to the front tire; that is why you feel the bike turn differently. We do this riding off road quite often.
Never seen an instructor taking questions so seriously.... Great video! 😁
@@JiuSoon I thought answering questions comes as a part of the job😄
He's serious and funny at the same time. All teachers and professors I had and liked a lot had the same ability.
👍🏻 Another nice contribution to learning cornering techniques on a motorcycle. And: always in a good mood and friendly! I like it.
Just you saying "hello" (or "buenos días") always puts a smile on my face and your didactic abilities are excellent. Keep up the great work!
The best instructor by many a mile - thanks for another great video!
17:45 Can you do it on every bike? full-lock turns with no hands is so cool but i'm afraid the bike wold turn off and drop on the ground! that would be so nice to know how to do it!🏍🔄🔃🔄Great video!
No, not on every bike. It has to have its idle rpm raised, because otherwise it will stall.
@@MotoControlEn Thanks! I hope you have a nice day 😁🏍
13:20 ehh, the fastest way to stop is often by hitting the object in front of you and using only the rear brake is a great way to accomplish that😂 anyway, great video, as always. Very happy I found your channel!
Another fine summary Andrei. I especially liked the first two segments on throttle/brake coordination and how you explained and demonstrated your points. Excellent work!
Excellent answers! Thank you.
Amazing as always - thank you! Lots of great tips to learn & consolidate riding skills & techniques!
I've worked on ebikes for the last 15 years or so, one of the most common problems i'd encounter is throttle damage from goobers who just let it clack closed every time they release. On old carb and cable bikes it's less of an issue, it just stretches and wears the cable out faster instead of breaking the hall sensors in a throttle by wire like your modern bikes have.
This video is good timing because Bret Tjaks recently said in his video to never brake mid corner while the bike is leaned. He actually said to "twist it out".
Pretty strange, considering one of his most viewed videos is about trail braking.
Sadly I feel some channels are stuck with absolute solutions to things. While talking about "advanced" techniques they apply the same logic as courses like the MSF with their classic "never use the front brake while turning" as if things were that simple and context didn't matter.
Bret says a LOT of nonsense, don't listen to that guy, he's just clickbaiting and finessing the algorithm. He's full of all kinds of bad advice.
Really cool Q&A session! Hope to see at least one more :)
My question is how to reach balance on circling: I cannot relax my hands because of the heavy efforts on the handlebars. what I'm doing wrong? I do understand what the countersteering is and consciously use it. The point is what to do after I've leaned the bike.
Hard to answer, could be the bike's geometry trying to stand it up. Different tires can also transform how a bike enters a corner and maintains lean angle. Are they worn, do you maintain the recommended pressure?
Could also be that you are too tense/rigid on the bike. You probably want to find a huge empty parking lot and experiment with your bike and body positioning where the stakes are low so you can relax your body and mind.
Great advice.
My Andre is unstoppable…. Other motorcycle instructors aren’t even close to my Andre’s understanding of people and what they need to ride a motorcycle!!! Subscribe now to my Andre and learn from the master.
Excellent as usual! 🇬🇧
As always very great informative and easy to understand guideance, have to say learned a lot from these videos you upload for us, thumbs up continue the good job and be safe always my friend
Man I am always happy to see your videos..
Thanks man!
Thanks for this, very helpful
Thank you, as always!
great video and examples !
Great video as usual.
Thanks my friend ❤
Good video
13:50 illustrates best front braking technique.. smooth, gradual pressure (not grabbing, stabbing). Cheers!🎉❤
8:12 if your bike has a slipper clutch, the engine braking effect will be smoothen a bit
Mine has it, but abrupt engine braking feels like somebody caught my real wheel 😂 Not loosing traction, but gives a good shake on 1st & 2nd gears.
Regarding the finger barrier question, I have found most cable clutches are delivered from the dealer set too tight with the engagement much farther out than necessary; almost to the point of preventing full engagement on one new bike I test rode. I always adjust my cable clutch to engage sooner and leave some slack at full release.
I wonder if at high speeds I would make normal turns as needed. What will happen or what will it be like?
8:09 forgot to mention emergency braking.
It's important to downshift as you stop. Gears won't mesh smoothly when stationary. If you forget, you'll be stuck in a middle of a busy intersection, wiggling your bike backwards and forwards like an idiot before you can go again.
Nice job
Here is the thing, i heard that you can use the front brake and gently the throttle to test if the road is safe or not. Is this a valuable advice ?
Another great video to reflect my riding! My question would have been why moto jitsu and others tell "never ever increase lean and throttle at the same time!!!" If I want to go faster in a turn, I will accelarate. To maintain the given radius, I have to lean more. Why shouldn't I? Did it thousands of times!?
I was taught at the moto school a way to make a 90 degree turn from a stop without using counter steering. Let's say that you're at a stop sign and you need to make a sharp right turn. Lock the handlebars to the right and slip the clutch. Lean the bike but keep your body straight. It works.
Well you said it, only works from a stopped position.
I like cutting the clutch lever short so my ring and pinky fingers never get in the way of getting to the bite point.
대단히 감사합니다.ㅎ
Please explain if one can apply the front brake when the rear is still engine braking...say I am downstairs aggressive from 4 to 2 and at that same time squeezing the front brake also.
Amazing! Around a year ago I started my journey on motorcycles and i must say that you, alongisde other well known motorcycle youtubers, have greatly helped me in my journey, making me start with the right foot. Practicing skills like countersteering and slow maneuvers gave me immense confidence.
Now, I have a more specific question for you, master: do you think that 100-200cc motorcycles are safe to ride? I've really been thinking about this lately, especially because I ride in a 120cc, and the lack of power is standing out in situations like overtakes of heavy trucks. That made me worried. What's your vision about this?
If by safe you mean do they have enough power to keep up with the traffic around - that depends entirely on where you live. Is it city traffic or mostly high speed highways? Do people around mostly stick to speed limits or not? And what are the vehicles around you? Because in some countries 200cc bike can be the fastest vehicle on the road🙃
@@MotoControlEn they def dont stick to the speed limits. I usually ride in high speed, single lane highways (not US). Lots of overtakes from cars, heavy trucks and buses, etc... those adverse circunstances got me thinking if riding on a vehicle like a low powered motorcycle is worth it, given this scenario.
@@reader_cat Not an expert but felt like poking my nose into this one. I travel daily on a 125cc scooter with similar situation like yours in traffic at about 90-110km/h. My scooter's speed limit maxes out at 90km/h and one thing I learned to do is to keep an eye out for vehicles approaching from behind me and make sure they notice me. It can be something as subtle as turning on my signal, turning my head around to give eye contact (people can some times dehumanize riders because of them being in the safe cage) or waving.
What if they don't notice you despite all that ? Then I make sure to stay on the extremities of the lane in case I need to make an escape route. Luckily I never had such close calls but often had to swerve around vehicles due to multiple exits on said stretch of road.
Long story short. Get a bike according to your budget and never skimp on safety gear, they can make the difference between being in ICU and walking with a crutch for 6 months (according to my rider friend that is)
@ thank you, man. Im sure gonna try these tips.
1:44 well, not ALWAYS. Although I know that this channel is geared to newer riders, I had a friend once who had raced BMW bikes before the paralever rear end was introduced. He pointed out that you could gain additional cornering clearance (for boxers) by staying a little on the throttle while using the front brake in order to take advantage of the rear end rise from the shaft drive to get a little more lean angle before grounding the cylinder head. A delicate process, sure, but valid. While I’ll admit that this is an oddly specific technique, there are probably other use cases.
So I understand that direct steering only works on self-balanced vehicles with 2+ wheels, allowing you move in the direction of steering. And bike riding is a balancing act, which everybody learns subconsciously. That would explain why counter-steering is so hard to undersand. Its physics are hidden from our direct undersanding. On a bike - you change the direction of the front wheel to change the bike's balance, then you let it go and it "steers itself" into the turn. Simple as that ;)
Countersteering is just steering with extra steps lol. If you have good balance on a non-cruiser it's way more direct feeling and precise to shift your weight.
I steer with my ass basically and just let the front do what it wants, it's more relaxed, loose, flowing, and gives me more awareness and connection to the machine. I ride a lot of dirt, it's at least half my commute, so just letting the front end float around and steering with slight hip twist will keep you from tucking the front on ruts, rocks and whatnot by applying a countersteer presssure and not letting it deflect to follow terrain. When on the pavement either technique works but i still find weight shifting just feels better.
Unless you're a physicist the bike's design geometry knows a helluva lot more about physics than you do, so take full advantage of the self correcting feature it offers. I prefer it, but there's a dedicated cult out there brainwashed to think that you can't turn without countersteering ever. If that were true then you shouldn't be able to turn while not touching the bars either, but that works just fine if you're not a wobbly jiggly off balance goober, or ride an 800lb chrome sofa chair of a bike. I hate absolutists.
Keith Code made a trial with steering-locked bike. It basically does not turn. You can make an arrow, attached to the steering bar and pointing on a fixed part, and see that front wheel actualy moves a little, even if you steer the bike without touching handles.
@@Murad.bn2 Exactly, the bike will steer as little or as much as it needs to turn based on lean. Locking the bars doesn't let all the self correction happen. I didn't say the bike isn't steering, but that it will steer itself better than you can if allowed to, instead of forcing or fighting it.
@@rustymustard7798 you don't have to fight, just to initiate a turn by quick steering input. On higher speeds leaning gives the same effect, but smoother.
@ If you're applying any pressure to the bars you're fighting against the bike's stability. The force you apply is an inefficiency that causes friction, and the friction causes yaw in a roundabout way. It works, but it's an inelegant and indirect.
For most people it doesn't matter because they're never riding near the limit or on anything but pristine perfect pavement from stoplight to stoplight. They don't even have curves, just the same 90 degree turns.
But when the roads are crooked, rutted, potholed, off camber, sandy, icy, have scattered baby heads from rockfalls, broken chip seal and all that, letting the front just follow that stuff is way safer than countersteering. The few roads that lead in and out of my area has such uneven pavement for 20-30 miles that you're constantly on the edge of a tankslapper, you're doing 60-70 and all of a sudden the uneven pavement rut changes. And every road around here looks like it was cluster bombed in the 90's.
If you're countersteering and hit a fist sized rock or pothole or make a new one when the chip seal fails you're washing out since you're pushing the bike out of stability by brute force. If you're pushing on the bars and the front breaks traction, you're pushing it further into a full washout while it's breaking traction and maybe off the ground if you hit some rockfall.
If you're using weightshift and counterleaning, the bike will, just drift off line and correct the tuck faster than your reflexes can respond.
@@rustymustard7798 for countersteering, you only initiate the instability, but not forcing the bar movement any further. It is the same you do with weight shift, but the steering process remains the same for the bike, since it only turns in one possible way.
I have another question, but little hope to have it answered. When you're braking and shifting down and blipping the throttle to match engine speed and wheel speed, how do you keep the pressure on the brake constant with your right hand moving forwards and backwards? And when you're not braking, can you keep the angle of your arm correct to prevent your body movement from applying that "whiskey throttle" when you want to cover the brake lever with your fingers?
You can brake and rev match at same time with minimum change in brake pressure it just takes some practice for just normal riding and coming to a stop or slowing down . To prevent whiskey throttle, place your hand with your wrist straight on the throttle. You should be able to put your fingers straight out on the brake from a closed throttle position. If done correctly, you will be bending your wrist downward and lower your elbow to get maximum throttle. You can make adjustments for your own comfort. Whiskey throttle happens when you grip the throttle with wrist bent and fingers pointing down, so if you get thrown backward from abruptly opening throttle, it pulls your wrist straight and opens the throttle more making the situation worse .
@@RideFree317 Couldn't have described it better myself! Thank you for putting time into this comment!
@@MotoControlEn thank you 😀. I do enjoy your content. Put out great stuff with a slice of humor
@@RideFree317 Thank you very much. I can't wait for weather to get warmer, I've already found an always empty parking lot to practice. Stay safe everyone!
@@bojanperko your welcome. Keep the practice going when the weather gets better for you
You say steering into the turn makes the bike go upright. So, if during mid-turn you see that you're going wide, can you steer in the direction opposite to the turn, so the bike leans more into the turn, right?
Because this sounds wild :) going wide and turning in the direction which you think would make you go even wider goes against every fiber of our being. :)
My motorcycle missfires when on low fuel but rides smoothly when toped up...what may be the issue please do answer thank u😊
Check petrol pump & filters, looks like fuel line pressure issue.
@MotoControl
Countersteering - strangely, I learned much easier about this countersteering from a Veritasium video about "how bicycles work", check it out, I would love to see your input about those explanations.
I think I saw that video a while ago, it was good!
If I want to reduce my wheel base in a turn and increase my front contract patch I use light maintenance braking. If this would slow me down I overlap it with light maintenance throttle. This is useful to me near the apex especially on hills. If other things are equal, a shortened wheel base gets me more lean and therefore more turn for the same steering and seat position inputs. There's a wonderful dynamic equilibrium to be sought on any given curve. I've been told this is controversial but the more I practice it the better it gets. As with everything related to trail braking, it calls for a very light touch.
Your are not shortening your wheelbase enough to feel a difference. At most your are shortening it .1". If you doubt me, measure your wheel base with no rider than with a compressed suspension. What you are doing is affecting the squat of the rear suspension. You are loading the rear suspension and raising the seat which transfers more weight to the front tire; that is why you feel the bike turn differently. We do this riding off road quite often.
Oohh...'direct steering' ?! Stirring the pot, are you ? 🫣😉
Well, people keep asking 😁