Many riders, even those with years of experience, are not consciously aware that this is how they turn. The act of counter steering happens so quickly at the very beginning of a turning maneuver that this is understandable, however, for maximum control over your motorcycle, riders should be consciously and purposely executing counter steering for every turn. This is vital for ingraining the muscle memory required to take swift evasive action to avoid road hazards, whether that is avoiding gravel on the road or the soccer mom who pulled out of an intersection without looking.

To understand how counter steering works, you need to first understand a bit of physics. A motorcycle is balanced upon two wheels. Everybody knows that, but what you may not understand is that in order to turn the bike it must be leaned and the way to lean the bike is by employing counter steering. To lean the motorcycle the pivot point needs to be moved from under the center of mass. Therefore to turn to the right, the rider moves the bike out of balance for just a fraction of a second by pointing the front wheel ever so slightly to the left. The combined center of mass of the rider and their bike continues moving in a straight line, however, the contact patches of the tires shift left. Once the turn has been initiated and the proper lean angle achieved, the rider then steers into the turn.

Riders that want to fully master their machines should move counter steering out of the subconscious and into an active part of their riding. Practicing this every time a rider heads out on the road is one part of preparing for the inevitable evasive maneuvers that every rider faces at some time. This could be the difference between maintaining control and keeping the rubber on the road where it belongs.