left curves

Why do left leaning curves feel more comfortable than right.
Is it just me or is it because the oncoming traffic is on the right.
Even with no traffic it feels more comfortable leaning and curving left.

 

I agree. Sometimes I go a whole day without turning right. Meet the
nicest people.

 

Yes I agree. I think partly because of what you say but also that when you
are turning left the road camber is working with you. You require a larger
angle of lean relative to the road surface to turn right. I suspect people
ring on the right may have the opposite problem.

Theo

 

Don't join the Liberal Party then. Then again, most Politicians of all
parties go around and around and around.

Theo

 

Looks like a rational explanation. Are there any readers of this group who
ride in a country where the traffic drives on the right who can comment?

 

Might it have something to do with one testy/breast being larger than the
other.

Maybe dressing to the right might help.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 9 Jan 2011 18:57:22 +1100

It was an FAQ in wreck.moto I think. Dunno it ever made it to the
FAQ but it used to get discussed a lot.

And it's often asked in superbike school too.

My understanding is that camber isn't the answer, that people who ride
on the right side of the road feel lefts are easier too.

The Superbike school explanation is that a right hander means you are
countersteering with your throttle hand and this makes it much harder
to be smooth and you put in unwanted steering inputs that make the
bike feel worse. Plus it is instinctive not to want to put that force
through the throttle hand.

That it isn't camber is shown by the fact most people feel the same
way on a racetrack when they can use all the track.

That it isn't the feel of oncoming traffic is shown on the track, and
in countries that drive on the right feel the same thing.

So the throttle hand explanation seems the most sensible so far.

Zebee

 

That's it. The effect is multiplied on dirt roads.

- soakes

 

So at least I am not the only one.Even if I don't know why, still
,food for thought.

 

Going left, if you screw up, you go into the right hand lane, which
you might be lucky enough to get away with, particularly out bush.
But if you screw up going right, you will more likely find yourself
plunging down the hillside. That's if you're like me and do all your
riding out bush. Plus, going right, you might be tempted to lean your
head into oncoming traffic. If you want to allow your head margin for
error, then you'll be using less of the lane, which gives you even
less room to screw up - going left, it's not usually a problem if your
head sticks out past the gutter, so psychologically, you allow
yourself to use more of the lane.

Cue the time I headed down the mountain after work, and took the
ungaurded sweeping right hander on my bicycle at 60km/h when a bump
upset me and I ended up travelling down a 20cm wide gravel patch for
50metres, trying desperately not to do anything that might cause me to
slide out and fall off the cliff. No, brakes didn't seem to be an
option. A couple of harleys rounded the corner and would have been in
the prime position to see me fly off the side had I not gracefully
gotten back onto the tarmac just when I did. I don't like that
paricular corner on any of my bikes. There's crap on the other side
of the road that causes cars to want to pull into your lane too.

 

That's very interesting indeed Zebee.

Theo

 

I too find rights (when hurrying along) more work and harder to get
correct than lefts.

Zebee's explanation is the first one that really makes sense!


G-S

 

I disagree Geoff
With a left hander, you are working against the camber and with a right
hander, you are going with the camber, or whichever term you wish to use
Take any racetrack for instance, with banking, the higher the banking, or
positive camber, the faster you can go, then try doing the same speed, or
even three quarters of that speed on a negative camber road and you will
tend to slip, or seem to slip away, making you go slower

 

Didn't we have a long thread on this about ten years ago?

I don't recall any definitive answer, but we did get responses from
riders who were on the other side of the road and it was still that
left turns are more comfortable. So your throttle theory seems to be
as good as any.

I recall making a comment back then that hooking into a right-hander
puts your head closer to possible oncoming traffic and you feel
uncomfortable, but that doesn't work if you are riding in the right
lane.

 

"George W Frost" wrote in message

I disagree George - either the roads you navigate are on a different planet
or your definition/understanding of camber differs from that which is
common on planet Earth.

the only racetrack I have ridden is PI. and there the banking rises to the
right
for left hand corners (just like the camber on most roads I have experienced
albeit not so pronounced)
and for right hand corners the banking rises to the
left - which is the exact opposite of what occurs on the open road when
cornering right from the left hand lane across the crown of the road

I'll report back later on this year after I have ridden the TT course
on the Isle of Man if things are different in the Northern Hemisphere
-- ---

a friendly growl from the bear on the Zephyr that roars

__ __ __ _ __
/__/ / /__/ /_ /_\ /_ /
/_ /_ / /__/ /__ / \ / \ ....Kawasaki Zephyr

barry j taylor < >




~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*) . . . bjbear on his treadly

 

Make sure you don't mix up camber and banking. Camber is going to make
no difference whether you are riding on the left or right side of the
road. It is going to make a difference if you are meant to be on the
other side of the road, be it left or right. But that doesn't explain
why right hand road riders still feel better in a left hand turn. I
think Zebee has got possibly the closest explanation yet.

 

I thought the same thing as you on that point

 

I've always felt the opposite. Right curves are easier than left.
They're wider and longer so you can carry more speed, owing to that
they're more forgiving if you're carrying too much speed. Making an
error on a left hander sends you into the oncoming lane whereas on a
right hander you're likely to stay out of the oncoming traffic.
Oncoming traffic is more likely to cross the centre line when you're on
a left hander than a right hander, although you're more likely to cross
the centre line on a right hander than a left hander if you choose a
poor line.

I rode about 40% of my total bike mileage for 2010 in the USA and once i
was used to riding on the other side of the road I didn't feel any more
or less preference to riding bends in either direction. The only
hesitation I had was with left bends, but only because when I was
looking through the corner, it seemed like oncoming vehicles were taking
very wide lines and running onto my riding line but I'm sure that was
just an optical illusion while my brain adjusted to seeing situations in
reverse, because when i got to the apex of the corner I did not feel
that was the case at all.

Nev..

 

Oh goodness gratious no! There is definitely no problem with the
throttle on my Royal Enfield when i am going to get some chutney for my
chapati, good Sir!

Nev..

 

but I feel the same way on a push bike....

left or right handed (as in which side of the brain you use) have any
impact?


mh