The Motorcycle Diaries 2 - Countersteering

Last weekend’s perfect weather led to a ride to Timothy Lake via Hwy 211 through Estacada and Ripplebrook. This is a popular Portland-area ride for its peaceful scenery and numerous twists in the road. I’ve heard non-riders ask, “why do motorcyclists like curvy roads so much?” The answer is, when you’re cornering properly, the feeling is nothing short of joyous. The secret to properly cornering is confident countersteering, which allows you go around corners faster with more control.

Countersteering is a concept that many new riders struggle with. Essentially, when turning at a moderate speed or faster you first steer the handlebars in the opposite direction. So, to turn right, you push the handlebars left. (This is true on a bicycle too, by the way.) This great article by Revzilla includes two videos with the explanation. As the article says, “There is an optimal lean angle for every corner and speed, where the lean exactly cancels the centripetal force, the bike tracks true.”

“There is an optimal lean angle for every corner and speed, where the lean exactly cancels the centripetal force, the bike tracks true.”

New riders struggle wrapping their heads around concept, they may not fully believe the science, and even if they do, they may not feel confident in executing a countersteer, which can feel, frankly, counterintuitive. This is why completing a cone weave, as I described in post one of this series, is required to earn a motorcycle endorsement. It’s also why practicing skills like the cone weave until they become instinctual is key to becoming a skilled motorcyclist.

There are many leadership skills that are difficult to describe and feel counterintuitive until mastered. One that I've been working on is Stephen Covey’s principle, “seek first to understand.” When we see things differently than someone else, we intuitively try steer the conversation toward our point of view. We strive to articulate our position in a convincing way, and if that doesn’t work, we will keep talking until the other person finally see things as we see them. Unfortunately, we can talk for a long time and still can’t steer the other person right the direction we are pushing them toward. 

Unfortunately, we can talk for a long time and still find we can’t steer the other person right to get them to turn right. 

We have all heard that the most effective way to persuade someone else is to first listen to their point of view. If you want to be a better leader, salesperson, parent, spouse, or friend, you need to be a better listener. Yet just knowing this doesn’t make easy to execute with confidence. Like countersteering, it can be a hard concept to wrap your head around and it takes practice. You will get better every time you put yourself in a conversation with someone else and listen, deliberately not sharing your perspective until you completely understand the other person’s.

You will get better every time you put yourself in a conversation with someone else and listen, deliberately not sharing your perspective until you completely understand the other person’s.

Once you can master this skill to point of it being intuitive, you may find that, like a windy road on a sunny day, conversations where you and the other person don’t initially see eye-to-eye can become a source of true joy.

Shiny Side Up!

This is the Second in a series of articles about riding and leadership. Click to view parts  one, three, four, five, and six