Someone reading my FAQ wrote me this email...

> I was once told that counter steering is an illegal manuver in the U.S.
> This was made illegal in all states. The states governing this law
> created this long before the popularity and demands of motorcycling. Is
> this even close to truth and if so how do I find this law?

That's an interesting legend; I've never heard of that before.
Countersteering cannot be illegal because it it how you steer a
motorcycle. In fact, the California highway Patrol has approved the
curriculum of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Rider Course,
which teaches countersteering. I'd like to know how a policeman is going
to prove one way or another whether a motorcyclist was countersteering.
Perhaps if the motorcyclist successfully initiated and completed a turn,
he gets written up? :-)

I suppose you could look up the word "countersteering" in your state's
online law web site. (Google for it.) California law doesn't mention th
word in either the Vehicle Code or the Streets & Highways Code.


Can anyone shed light on this notion?

--
Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com>
faq: http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/faq.shtml
Ten Steps to Fascism: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2064157,00.html

On Sep 29, 5:22*pm, Timberwoof <timberwoof.s...@infernosoft.com>
wrote:
> Someone reading my FAQ wrote me this email...
>
> > I was once told that counter steering is an illegal manuver in the U.S.
> > This was made illegal in all states. The states governing this law
> > created this long before the popularity and demands of motorcycling. Is
> > this even close to truth and if so how do I find this law?

> Can anyone shed light on this notion?

It might be a troll or it *could* be for real. As a luthier I've heard
some of the *strangest* tall-tales/urban myths concerning musical
instruments, and 99% of the folks who relate them to me *absolutely*
believe in them. For instance; for many years there was a widely-
spread cross-cultural belief that dropping a handfull of rattlesnake
rattles inside your guitar would improve it's tone.

I've heard it said less and less frequently over the years as solid-
bodied guitars have become more common and the easily-available
rattlesnake population has dwindled, but a few weeks ago I took in a
guitar for a refret and -sure enough- found three large rattles
inside.

(Note for those who might be wondering; no, rattlesnake rattles will
*not* improve your guitar's tone, but there *are* two useful functions
they *can* perform.

[A] Being made of keratin -basically the same stuff as your hair and
fingernails- they can both absorb and give off moisture, so they can
function as primitive humidifiers that help to stabilize the humidity
levels inside the guitar's body. Never a bad thing.

[B] By sliding around inside the body they *do* prevent the dreaded
dust-bunny buildup that eventually effects guitars that are rarely or
never cased.

On the downside, the rattles can begin to do their thing if the guitar
in question is played quite vigorously; contributing the unwanted
effect of maracas playing along in the background...

On Sep 29, 4:22*pm, Timberwoof <timberwoof.s...@infernosoft.com>
wrote:
> Someone reading my FAQ wrote me this email...
>
> > I was once told that counter steering is an illegal manuver in the U.S.

> That's an interesting legend; I've never heard of that before.
> Countersteering cannot be illegal because it it how you steer a
> motorcycle.

> Can anyone shed light on this notion?

Anything counterintuitive should definitely be illegal.

On Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:01:49 +0200, Vito <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

[...]
>> I fell for one over on Craigslist (helments break necks,no less). I
>> feel dirty.

> I crashed, totoling SWMBO's big Triumph bagger, a few years back. Didn't
> put a scratch on my full face Shoi but did wrench my neck so badly that
> pushing on my left ear made my right arm shoot out like a BMW piston. The
> MDs did a scan and found two broken bones and more busted disks. Since
> the helmet never hit anything one can only conclude that its weight
> caused some of the breakage. Never say never.

Now you only have to crash again in the identical manner without any
helmet,
and we'll be able to say whether the helmet was the cause of 1% of the
fractures,
10%, 50% or 90%. ;->

Although, considering the fact that your head probably weighs around 5 kg
and
your Shoei no more than 2 kg your head has most of the blame.

Heads break necks, people, so watch out when riding with your head on
your shoulders.

Leslie
--
Leszek 'Leslie' Karlik

On Sep 30, 10:15*am, "Vito" <v...@xxcrosslink.net> wrote:

> > Although, considering the fact that your head probably weighs around 5 kg
> > and your Shoei no more than 2 kg your head has most of the blame.
>
> OK. Assume the helmet was only responsible for one broken vertebra and my
> head for the rest. I'd still have been better off without it since it
> prevented no other injury.

Me, I've personally walked away from two crashes that wiped out the
helmets I was wearing, but in the second case the lower edge of the
full-face helmet's rim struck my Adam's Apple with enough force to
cause temporary breathing difficulties. Does this mean I'd have been
better off without the hat in that crash?

Nope. Because the *reason* the helmet smacked my Adam's Apple was that
it had fended off the rock-strewn ground that otherwise would have
squashed the right side of my face on impact.

No safety device can protect you 100% of the time in every possible
crash scenario, but the odds say you're a lot safer in a crash
*wearing* a helmet than not, and every claim I've ever seen that
"helmets break necks" has been made by someone trying to get rid of
mandatory helmet laws, which makes their claims more than a little bit
suspect.

On Sep 29, 11:50�pm, Twibil <jose.now...@gmail.com> wrote:

> for many years there was a widely-
> spread cross-cultural belief that dropping a handfull of rattlesnake
> rattles inside your guitar would improve it's tone.

The things that pass for knowledge I can't understand... Steely Dan.

On Sep 30, 11:39�pm, "David T. Ashley" <d...@e3ft.com> wrote:

> I hope this thread is dead. �There is nothing more to be said here.

> Everyone, be still and stop wasting electrons!

Would you like to set a good example and begin economizing on your
thought sharing?

On Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:22:11 -0700, Timberwoof <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Someone reading my FAQ wrote me this email...
>
>> I was once told that counter steering is an illegal manuver in the U.S.
>> This was made illegal in all states. The states governing this law
>> created this long before the popularity and demands of motorcycling. Is
>> this even close to truth and if so how do I find this law?
>
>That's an interesting legend; I've never heard of that before.
>Countersteering cannot be illegal because it it how you steer a
>motorcycle. In fact, the California highway Patrol has approved the
>curriculum of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Rider Course,
>which teaches countersteering. I'd like to know how a policeman is going
>to prove one way or another whether a motorcyclist was countersteering.
>Perhaps if the motorcyclist successfully initiated and completed a turn,
>he gets written up? :-)
>
>I suppose you could look up the word "countersteering" in your state's
>online law web site. (Google for it.) California law doesn't mention th
>word in either the Vehicle Code or the Streets & Highways Code.
>
>
>Can anyone shed light on this notion?

Sounds more like an agricultural law banning surgery to restore the testicles of
a steer.

Ben

On Oct 3, 9:32*am, "Vito" <v...@xxcrosslink.net> wrote:
> "Ben Kaufman" <spaXm-mXe-anXd-paXy-5000-doll...@pobox.com> wrote ,Timberwoof <timberwoof.s...@infernosoft.com> wrote:
>
> >>Someone reading my FAQ wrote me this email...
>
> >>> I was once told that counter steering is an illegal manuver in the U.S.
> >>> ....
>
> >>That's an interesting legend; I've never heard of that before.
>
> >>Can anyone shed light on this notion?
>
> > Sounds more like an agricultural law banning surgery to restore the
> > testicles of
> > a steer.
>
> Or something being spread by people that think alien gods live in Hawaiian
> volcanos.

patently false they live in the supervolcano in Yellowstone Ntl Park.
Beware there wrath lest they destroy everything.
--
Keith

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
Bill Smith <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:22:11 -0700, Timberwoof
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >Can anyone shed light on this notion?
>
> Corrupt State legislators paid off by BMW and Moto Guzzi? You read it
> here first.

I'll give you one thing: not many people know this.

--
Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com>
faq: http://www.timberwoof.com/motorcycle/faq.shtml