Left turns...

[zee]

For a couple weeks now, I've been having some difficulties making left turns. I am pretty sure it's a mental block, all in my head, etc etc... but I haven't figured out how to get past it. I'm hoping someone here can give me a suggestion or twelve.

When my husband and I went on the ride with our friends, I noticed that my left turns were not as smooth as my rights. I wasn't pressing and leaning the same as when I turned right... and if I did, it felt slick, like the tires weren't gripping the same. Each left turn I came to, I probably tensed, which I know doesn't help. I told myself to relax, went through the "steps" of the turn as I learned in MSF... Slow, Look, Press, Roll... but my confidence was slipping away.

Sunday afternoon I took my bike over to the high school parking lot to practice. Right turns were no problem. Left... still no good. My son (who was practicing too) said that maybe I just wasn't going fast enough. He may be on to something with that. I slow waaaay down before the turn. Maybe it's too slow for the press, and I end up leaning a little too much. I don't know.

Any suggestions?

[Chem Chick]

Well my instinct says have you checked out your tires? Are they wearing unevenly?

[ImaSoftT]

Check your tire pressure, low tires do crazy things when you're turning. Hope you get it worked out whatever the problem may be.

[zukilady]

I can tell you that I have noticed the opposite for myself. I can turn left all day. I can do a nice tight turn to the left when practicing u turns. Its the right that gets me. Someone told me that most people do favor one direction in turning. I don't know if that is your case or not, or :shrug:if I really even believe that.

[opaque_machete]

I am exactly the same. Left turns give me a fit. Tire pressure's fine, bike's fine, but I kept dropping it on left turns. All I can say is "practice". I'm getting better as I get to know my bike a little better and gain confidence. Slow turns are the hardest to master, from what I've been told. I'm still working on mastering that. Just keep practicing. Tell yourself to trust your bike and tires. Pay attention to the weight of the bike and work on counterbalancing. Mine seems to be a little more heavy on the left side for some reason. :lol: I have learned through practice to balance it better, but I'm still not really great at it yet.

[zee]

Tire pressure is good, wear is even. Good ideas, though!

Zuki, funny thing is, I have the same problem when doing u-turns... right is tougher than left. I'm still working on that, too. But turns at speed is when I'm having the problem. I'm backwards. :lol:

I really think my son might be on to something. I paid very close attention to my turns on my commute this morning and think I may just be rolling off the throttle when turning left. Or maybe it's more accurate to say I'm not rolling ON it like I should be. I've read the mechanics of it and understand that I need to roll ON to keep the same speed, and that may be what's missing. It does feel more solid when I really focus on doing that...

Thanks everyone for your ideas. Keep em coming! We'll figure this out yet.

[Cyclone67]

Tire pressure is good, wear is even. Good ideas, though!

Zuki, funny thing is, I have the same problem when doing u-turns... right is tougher than left. I'm still working on that, too. But turns at speed is when I'm having the problem. I'm backwards. :lol:

I really think my son might be on to something. I paid very close attention to my turns on my commute this morning and think I may just be rolling off the throttle when turning left. Or maybe it's more accurate to say I'm not rolling ON it like I should be. I've read the mechanics of it and understand that I need to roll ON to keep the same speed, and that may be what's missing. It does feel more solid when I really focus on doing that...

Thanks everyone for your ideas. Keep em coming! We'll figure this out yet.

Makes sense -- when you're turning left, your throttle hand is getting farther away. Maybe some bar risers or adjusting the angle of the bars? Are you feeling like it is an uncomfortable stretch?

[Follow]

I can tell you that I have noticed the opposite for myself. I can turn left all day. I can do a nice tight turn to the left when practicing u turns. Its the right that gets me. Someone told me that most people do favor one direction in turning. I don't know if that is your case or not, or :shrug:if I really even believe that.
I'm with you I favor the left turn over the right, it's not that I can't do both but when practicing figure eights its a piece of cake to take the left then it is the right. go figure??

[zee]

Makes sense -- when you're turning left, your throttle hand is getting farther away. Maybe some bar risers or adjusting the angle of the bars? Are you feeling like it is an uncomfortable stretch?

Hmmm. I don't think it's a stretch, but it's definitely an option I hadn't considered. I'll pay attention to it tonight when I ride home.

I just talked to a coworker about this "issue" of mine. His suggestion basically boiled down to a "get over it", though he said (and I believe) he doesn't mean it that way. It's what I've been trying to tell myself for the past couple weeks. He did stress that I need to make sure I'm counter-steering when I make those left turns, and trust that it's not going to slip out from under me, as long as I'm not on gravel (which I'm usually not).

Slow... Look... PRESS ... ROLL! As I've heard on another site, Lean and Believe!

[Astir]

Makes sense -- when you're turning right, your throttle hand is getting farther away. Maybe some bar risers or adjusting the angle of the bars? Are you feeling like it is an uncomfortable stretch?

GREAT suggestion. :thumbup: I have trouble with very tight lefts because of this.

Let us know if you think that is what it is Zee.

[VStar]

I can relate, earlier this year my right turns were mostly smooth and smartly done, my left turns were ragged so I concentrated on those. My twisties and sweepers work is pretty good, it's just the streetcorner tuns that I'm talking about, either from a stop or just a slow down to make the coroner. I too, have been paying attention because now my right turns have gotten a little sloppy because I find myself slowing down too much and the front end starts to wobble or wander a little then I have to work the bike to complete the turn, once I'm done, I throttle and gear up just fine.
Now, as to why I slow down too much in the right hand turns is because I'm waiting for something to go wrong and I want to be slow enough to deal with it and maybe not get hurt too badly, want to be able the miss the vehicles in the other lane, just general silly 'the sky might be falling' stuff like that, it's all mental for still learning me.

I will go back to practicing left and right turns, keeping up a little more speed, maybe keeping up a little more confidence too.

[zukilady]

Now, as to why I slow down too much in the right hand turns is because I'm waiting for something to go wrong and I want to be slow enough to deal with it and maybe not get hurt too badly, want to be able the miss the vehicles in the other lane, just general silly 'the sky might be falling' stuff like that, it's all mental for still learning me.

This is what I am doing with those pesky u turns! Waiting for something to go wrong and so I figure slow = less injury!

[zee]

So I focused on my ride home tonight, trying to figure out exactly what was going on with me and my left turns. (The extra side trips for the Tag game helped!!)

Bottom line? I was *not* intentionally counter-steering and if I'm truly honest, I wasn't looking through the turns either. How do I know? Because when I focused on what I was doing, everything was fine, and I realized halfway through one particular left turn that I was looking where I wanted to END UP... which is not what I'd been doing lately.

I guess I just need to keep focused. Step by step, one thing at a time. It's not intuitive or natural for me, yet. YET.

Thanks for all the input!!

[zukilady]

Not for me either. I am constantly telling myself what to do...

[Skotty]

Are we talking about 90 degree street intersection type turns here? Can I ask what kind of speed & what gear people are in for these corners? So far I've been going into second, so about 20kmh or less, and steering not leaning according to my boyfriend. If theres a chance I'll have to stop (give way sign) I usually go down to first & go very slow. Don't want to have to stop suddenly, I want to be ready for it if possible.
At what speed does counter steering become necessary/do-able?

[Flight49]

Whenever I have trouble with my turns from a stop it is because I am not keeping my eyes and head up and looking out to where I want to go. I still deal with fear sometimes when making a right turn from a stop. The dumb thing is that every time I have dropped a bike it has been on a left turn! Go figure.

Anyway, for me it is a combination of looking down, going too slow, and over thinking it.

[zukilady]

Yup!

[opaque_machete]

I have some of the same problems, but I have discovered that now that I have learned and 'memorized' emergency stops, (and had to use a couple of times in traffic) my turns have become smoother and easier to execute. It may not be the turn that's the problem, but the fear that if something happens during that turn, you may not be able to execute an avoidance of the situation. Trust yourself and your bike. And maybe add emergency stops of several different types into the mix of practice for your turns. The confidence to get the bike stopped when I need to is a major boost to my turns. Now if I could just maneuver the bike in gravel without putting her to sleep. :slaphead:

[Rosebusa]

I am opposite I am right handed and so much more comfortable turning to the left than the right. I feel with me its because the throttle is on my right when I go into my turns and that may be what slows me down as one slip can excelerate you up. It does sound to me the speed you are going around the corner especially if you are slowing down to soon. I went to trackdayz here in Oz 6 months after getting my license and my confidence increased hugely by the end of the day and I haven't looked back. Hours in the saddle will certainly increase confidence, hang in there it will definately improve.

[phoenix63]

Y'know... it sounds like doing a track day is a huge confidence booster for any newbie.

It's on my checklist for next year... along with a dirt bike school. That gravel road incident still ticks Bebe off!