Last Update: 27 May 2024
One of the most powerful tools in a motorcyclist’s arsenal is the operational technique known as “push steering.” Sometimes called “counter-steering,” “positive steering,” or “gyroscopic steering,” this maneuver is indispensable for achieving optimal control on any single-track vehicle, particularly a motorcycle.
There are several key uses for push steering when controlling your motorcycle. It’s a lifesaver when used in the emergency procedure – “swerving” – to avoid collision or objects on the road. It’s also a technique you will use on daily rides for performing sharp turns and navigating corners – slow or fast. Equally when push steering is proficient in operation, it can help you control rear wheel slippage in a corner.
Bottom line, leaning the motorcycle is the way to make it turn and push steering ensures this happens.
Though some rider training coaches exclaim that a motorcyclist “naturally” perform push steering when riding a motorcycle, this is not the case at all. It must be learned. Push steering is an essential skill that needs to be mastered and performed without thinking.
More common than not, motorcycle accidents and mishaps occur due to the rider steering into the object they’re trying to avoid. This is a direct result of the rider not comprehending push steering and the ability to implement it.
Vicki Gray
In the over 38 years I’ve been instructing riders on the method of push steering, I’ve utilised various methods to get individuals over the mental roadblocks that prevent them from performing it. It’s a mind bender. When a rider is told to “push right to go right, and push left to go left” the brain just wants to resist. Commonly when push steering is first introduced, and explained – it is not only difficult to believe – but also trust that the technique really works.
Therefore, the very first step is to understand the instruction and then just do it. Once the manoeuvre has been felt it will then be easier to finesse and master it.
Push steering is a push forward (or forward pressure) applied to your handlebars, at speed. This applies to all handlebars and all single-track vehicles, even a bicycle.
NOTE: This technique does not apply to conventional multiple-tracked vehicles with three or four wheels such as trikes, side-car motorcycles, Can-Am Spyder models, or Polaris Slingshot vehicles. I repeat, it only applies to a “single-track” vehicle.
Here’s the mental workout:
►Push forward on your LEFT handlebar to go LEFT.
►Push forward on your RIGHT handlebar to go RIGHT.
This is the brain training drill, repeat it to your self:
►Push LEFT go LEFT, push RIGHT go RIGHT.
Repeat this mantra over and over again in your mind.
This is Brain Training! READ MORE ABOUT BRAIN TRAINING
It’s the type of push you’d use to push open a door i.e. a revolving door. And while pushing forward, nothing changes in speed, gearing or your grip to the handlebars.
We know as we gain speed on a motorcycle something called “gyroscopic inertia” kicks in. This is characteristic again, of a single-track vehicle where the inertia (speed/ acceleration) results in the motorcycle standing up and when inertia is reduced, causes it to fall or become difficult to balance. Inertia, this forward force indeed presents its challenges in a corner, or turn as you might imagine – the motorcycle wants to remain standing up – to go straight. To make this work we need to interrupt this forward moving power to create a lean, resulting in a turn – push steering.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WHEN YOU PUSH?
Push steering interrupts inertia (forward moving power). This gyroscopic inertia is the result created by riding a “single track” vehicle as mentioned earlier.You and the motorcycle must first be leaned in the direction of the turn, and steering briefly in the opposite direction to cause the lean.
Take cornering for example. Push steering works by combining the motorcycle and rider’s centre of mass (or centre of gravity) to be leaned in the direction of the turn. Push steering briefly in the opposite direction causes that interruption resulting in a lean.
On that point we need to acknowledge the push power or “steering torque” and steering angle necessary to establish the lean. Then we need to sustain the push and the steering angle to maintain a constant radius and lean angle until it is time to exit the turn. The initial “steer torque” or push and steer angle are both opposite the desired turn direction. The sustained steer angle is usually in the same direction as the turn, but may remain opposite to the direction of the turn, especially at high speeds. The sustained steer torque (push) required to maintain that steer angle is usually opposite the turn direction. The actual magnitude and orientation of both the sustained steer angle and sustained steer torque of a particular bike in a particular turn depend on: forward speed, bike geometry, tire properties, and combined bike and rider mass distribution. Whew!
STEP BY STEP + SOME PHYSICS
Let’s go through the steps of wanting to steer our motorcycle left – a left push steer.
- We apply forward pressure (a push to the left handlebar). The effect of the “push force” interrupts the motorcycle’s turning motion (inertia) and causes the front wheel in its rotation, to turn right. This occurs quickly and is rather unseen or undetected.
- The front tire will generate forces to the right.
- The motorcycle “machine” as a whole steers to the right briefly.
- The rear tire also generates forces to the right.
- Because this force is applied at “ground zero”, this pulls the wheels “out from under” the mass. Gravitational force steers the motorcycle to its right.
- The resulting roll angle to the left causes the tires to generate “camber thrust”. (Camber force are terms used to describe the force generated perpendicular to the direction of travel of a rolling tyre due to its camber angle and finite contact patch). The left providing the centripetal “force that makes a body follow a curved path”- forces required to turn left.
- The geometry of our motorcycle’s steering system provides the forces needed for our front wheel to adopt an angle turned into the turn in a predictable manner.
- The motorcycle goes left!
WHAT’S ALL THIS MASS STUFF?
The centre mass of a body, in our case, is the motorcycle. The big engine mounted mid section is where the entire mass, your motorcycle’s body, is concentrated. It’s common to refer to this also as the motorcycle’s “centre of gravity”. This is because the weight of a body (the motorcycle) acts as if it were concentrated there in a uniform gravitational field. It’s rather rigid body, the centre of mass is fixed in relation to the body.
Generally speaking, the mass centre obeys simple equations of motion. That’s physics again and applications such as – “push steering”.
It works because the handlebar section is not the inert mass. That’s the engine area; the area you’re usually sitting on or over. And for any system with no external forces, the centre of mass moves with constant velocity.
HAVE YOU EVER FRIGHTENED YOURSELF WHILE CORNERING?
It’s important to distinguish between:
- push steering as a physical occurrence and;
- push steering as a conscious rider technique to your initiation of a lean.
The physical occurrence happens because there is no other way to cause the bike and rider to lean. Yet admittedly in corners, where everyone seems to complain of fear and anxiety, you’ll need to make the conscious effort of pushing. At lower speeds such as at 10km per hour (walking speed), inertia is absent and you’ll be able to turn your motorcycle by steering or turning the handlebars – just as you do on your bicycle.
Many riders can get by without knowing push steering by shifting body weight in something called a counter-lean. However, documented physical experimentation shows that on heavy bikes shifting body weight is of little effect and has no guarantee at initiating leans. This is further evident in higher speeds i.e. motorcycle racing. Your body weight is no match for the inertia generated.
MORE PUSH STEERING FAQS
THAT’S HOW WE ROLL. Motorcycles steer by controlling “roll” angle. However, roll[ing] angle is not directly manipulated by the handlebars in the same way as steer angle in an automobile by the steering wheel. It is influenced indirectly by applying “roll moments” to the machine. These roll moments in turn come from side forces at the wheels, which are closely related to steering torques (pushes). Thus the bike is a “force-controlled” system in which the actual position of the handlebars is free. Camber thrust is how we lean. The lean of a bike’s wheels causes a turning force in the direction of the lean. Camber thrust enables the bike to negotiate turns with substantially less steering angle of the front wheel than an automobile for the same turn radius.
WILL I FALL OVER?A single-track vehicle such as a bicycle or a motorcycle is an inverted pendulum. It will fall over unless balanced.
CAN SHIFTING WEIGHT OFF THE MOTORCYCLE MAKE THE BIKE TURN? It is often claimed that two-wheeled vehicles can be steered using only weight shifts. While this is true for small inputs to direction (i.e. when trail riding, weighting the pegs to turn in off-roading, etc.), complex manoeuvres are not possible using weight shifting alone because even for a light machine, there is insufficient control authority. Although on a sufficiently light bike (especially a bicycle), the rider can initiate a lean and turn by shifting body weight, there is no evidence that complex manoeuvres can be performed by body weight alone.
CAN I DO THIS IN THE RAIN OR ON A SLIPPERY SURFACE? Push steering a motorcycle has best results when on a clean dry surface with ample grip. Push steering, depending on the strength of your push and the lean required, makes demands of grip. You can push steer on a wet surface it’s just that the push or forward pressure needs to be administered more steadily rather than harshly. Again, grip is required so doing this on a loose surface such as gravel requires inputs adjustments or an alternative manoeuvre choice.
COULDN’T I JUST TURN THE HANDLEBARS? A bike can negotiate a curve only when the combined centre of mass of bike and rider leans towards the inside of the turn. This, at an angle appropriate for the velocity and the radius of the turn. Higher speeds and tighter turns require greater lean angles. If the mass is not first leaned into the turn, the inertia of the rider and bike will cause them to continue in a straight line as the tires track out from under them along the curve. The transition of riding in a straight line to negotiating a turn is a process of leaning the bike into the turn, and the only way to cause that lean (of the combined centre of mass of bike and rider) is to move the support points in the opposite direction first. You can shift your weight of course, but any force used to move one way laterally pushes the bike laterally the opposite direction with equal force. That makes the bike lean (and can affect the steering), but it does not change the combined centre of mass of bike and rider.
IS THERE MORE I NEED TO DO WHEN EXITING A CORNER OR TURN? Once in a turn, push steering is again required to make changes to its shape. The only way to decrease the radius at the same speed is to increase the lean angle, and the only way to increase the lean angle, is again to momentarily steer opposite to the direction of the curve. To an untrained rider, this can be extremely counter-intuitive. To exit a turn, push steer by momentarily steering further in the direction of the turn. This tilts the bike back upright.
DOES PUSH STEERING WORK WHEN I’M RIDING AT LOW SPEEDS? At low speeds even then, yes, your single track vehicle has gained gyroscopic inertia. But push steering is so subtle that it is hidden by the ongoing corrections made in balancing the bike. Push steering at low speed may be further concealed by the ensuing much larger steering angle possible in the direction of the turn. It really works best on a motorcycle when inertia is increased using about 10km per hour.
DOES THIS WORK IN MY FOUR WHEELED VEHICLE? No, it’s a method used for a single track vehicle. However, the term is referred to when explaining the four-wheel automobile driving technique of drifting.
WOULD I USE PUSH STEERING ON MY PIAGGIO MPS OR MY YAMAHA NIKEN? Yes as these types of models have two front parallel wheels. The wheels are linked mechanically and are push steered in the same manner as a two-wheeled motorcycle.
CAN I PUSH STEER THE THREE-WHEELED CAN-AM SPYDER OR MY TRIKE? No, these type of three-wheelers use steering. There is no leaning required being that you are on three wheels, so you turn it as an auto or four tracked vehicle.
IS THIS THE SAME AS “POSITIVE STEERING”? Yes, “positive steering” refers to the push steering. It is often used as a psychological term to prevent the rider from becoming fearful in learning to do push steering.
To be very clear about this skill, if you’re reading this and haven’t felt the impact of push steering on your motorcycle, you haven’t truly learned the technique or mastered the art and craft of push steering.
Vicki Gray
EXERCISES FOR PUSH STEERING ENLIGHTENMENT
When learning and discovering push steering, you really just have to feel one successful push steer to be enlightened. It is best discovered under supervision of an expert motorcycle instructor. However, if you don’t have the ability to find a coach, try the following. Note: put your safety first and foremost.
PART ONE: Go to a spacious parking lot or a private road where you have ample uninterrupted space and where the surface is concrete or paved; is dry, smooth and free of road debris. A space which has enough room to ride in a straight line at higher mid-range public road speed.
PART TWO: Accelerate in a straight line taking your motorcycle up to a low average traffic speed this could be 2nd gear mid to high range (depending on your motorcycle type, this may vary). If you are travelling at too low of a speed, such as walking pace, push steering will not be as effective, noticeable or will not occur at all. Inertia is required.
All it takes is one successful push steer to experience enlightenment.
Vicki Gray
PART THREE: With hands on handlebar grips, and at constant speed, push forward on either your left OR right bar. Not both. Decide which one you will push forward on before you accelerate from a stop – and focus on that direction. Be mindful during your “push” taht you do not roll off your throttle, or apply braking – keep constant speed. You will notice as a result, when you apply forward pressure to the handlebar, your motorcycle will move to the direction you pushed! Voila – push steering.
PUSH STEERING WRAP UP
Push steering is an essential technique for motorcycle control. Mastery of consciously applying push steering is vital for safe riding. The essence of motorcycle cornering lies in effectively “pushing” on the handlebar grips during turns while maintaining proper lean angles. In situations requiring sudden swerves to avoid collision or obstacles, it’s crucial to remember to push the handlebars away on the respective side rather than pulling or steering them.
With practice and repetition, this maneuver becomes ingrained in muscle memory, allowing you to instinctively apply push steering without conscious thought. Incorporating push steering into your riding adds a confident, masterful, and enjoyable element to your motorcycle experience!
Push steering adds a confident, masterful and super fun rider component to your motorcycle riding!
