Are you right or left turn dominant?

[Adfalchius]

Just curious to see if there is a pattern.  I'm more comfortable with leaning and making tight left turns.  What do you think dictates this for riders?

-roads being banked in a certain way
-side of the road you drive on
-bike just feels more comfortable leaning left because it's the 'sidestand side'
-balance difference from side to side due to the exhaust 
-when you were a noob, did you have a preference that changed?
-does your preference change with different bikes you've ridden? different handle bars?

[Janx101]

maybe cos in still in p plate learning to advance skills mode .. I try to ride all over the road .. Well the lane that i am using anyway .. Keeps the cages guessing a little and they Hopefully keep a little further away .. Twas my licence instructor that suggested it!

[Dr.McNinja]

Im comfortable with both. Road geometry is the only thing that makes things awkward. I'd attribute this to the large amount of cone work I do. Before hand left turns were very awkward (I'm left-hand dominate for the record). The cone work, tight weaving, tight circles, and doing the drills the cops do at competition helps a LOT. Most of it seems to be just becoming comfortable with your bike. I generally won't try to lean someone else's bike over very far vs. my own.


In a car on the other hand:

Drivers in America tend to have a harder time turning right, and drivers in other parts of the world have a harder time turning left. In a motorcycle you're pretty central to your "turning point", in a car you're shifted either left or right from it.

[Ourea]

[POST HAS BEEN REMOVED BY USER]

[noiseguy]

In traffic, I ride on whatever side of the lane I think offers me the best position... visibility, obstacle avoidance, options. That includes riding dead down the middle of the lane when surrounded on all sides by heavy traffic as long as it's not a complete oil slick.

If I were racing, it would be whatever position gave me the best cornering line.

[redhawkdancing]

From "Twist of the Wrist II"

Lefts and Rights

The age-old mystery of riders preferring left turns or right turns is
easy to resolve*. They're uncomfortable on the bike in one or the other and
are simply holding on too rigidly, on their "bad" side.

[The Buddha]

I'm good either way but left turns since they cut across lanes of traffic in US tend to be more disruptive to my relaxment on my bike. Yes, relaxment, you think I should refudiate ... you do huh ... come here and I'll quon you.
Of course right turns seeing as they can be through the muck that gets dragged out on the road from the shoulder ... all bets are off there too. That's why Buddha gets relaxment only from straight driving ... interstate all the way baby.

Cool.
Buddha.

[mister]

While I am pretty even these days, I Used to have a left leaning preference. Even had it on bicycles and specially for doing slide outs. Then, when I was riding dirt, we used to ride a lot on tracks on properties and they were all mainly left turns. So left foot down as going around the corner. Reinforcing the left preference.

To go against Twist Wrist II, I was never scared to lean to the right, just that, for some reason, I was unable to lean as far over on the right as the left. This all changed after riding through a certain section of town with a few quick left right left right bends. And once I got into autopilot mode found myself leaning without this invisible lean limit. After that, both sides equal.

Michael

[burning1]

I think, for most people who prefer one side over the other, it's either going to be a matter of right/left side dominance (right handed, left handed) or a matter of use of the controls (throttle is always on the right side.)

Issues of controls leading to a cornering imbalance can usually be resolved with better body position.

[ASUDave]

Reminds me of when I took the MSF course. The instructor said that we should all be recognizing which direction we prefer to travel.  I said "Straight ahead".  Was good for a laugh.   

[gs500e]

I prefer turning left (always did on bicycles too)  (skateboards i always prefered left also... though that is odd for a regular footed skater).

Which side of the road?  Right side, this is America.

If you meant which side of the lane:
A) there aren't enough choices.
B) i ride on whichever side of the lane i dang well please (which ever i deem safer).
C) i guess i prefer the left side of the lane, i rarely like the center of the lane (I've owned a lot of cars that leak a lot of oil in center of lane ), but have no fear of the right side of the lane.

[slipperymongoose]

I've only been riding 6 months now and I've still got my left turn preference from my bicycle days. I'm still taking my time leaning my bike over but it's getting more and more even as time goes on.

[jeremy_nash]

when getting the hang of riding, I had a low slung exhaust pipe.  thus I could lean farther to the left than the right.  although that was quickly fixed when I redid my exhaust the fourth time

[Adfalchius]

Issues of controls leading to a cornering imbalance can usually be resolved with better body position.

MSF and printed info I've read are pretty standard about body positioning in turns- I know the where and why...but you bring up a point...I'm probably unintentionally/absentmindedly not positioning myself correctly on one side.  The funny thing is, I feel comfortable when I'm doing parking lot practice (figure eights, weaving, etc), but in 'real life' I suppose I might not be applying those skills.  I'll have to be more mindful and analyze myself (or have a friend watch what I'm doing!!).  I feel more 'even sided' about turns than when I first started.  Perhaps, like how many have mentioned, I'll just have to wait for the experience to add up with both slow turns and countersteering.  Is there anything specific, though, about positioning your hands/arms?  Do you, personally, do anything differently on the track vs. street? (well, I guess besides dropping your elbows to the asphalt)

Which side of the road?  Right side, this is America.

If you meant which side of the lane:
A) there aren't enough choices.
B) i ride on whichever side of the lane i dang well please (which ever i deem safer).
C) i guess i prefer the left side of the lane, i rarely like the center of the lane (I've owned a lot of cars that leak a lot of oil in center of lane ), but have no fear of the right side of the lane.

I do mean which side of the road, as many on this forum are not in America, and do not drive on the  right side.  And yes, there are not enough poll choices, but they only give you four to work with, unfortunately.  I added the options of 'road side' just to see if there were any patterns dictated by that.  I'm sure there could be dozens of other possibly pointless factors, but my curiosity wasn't deep enough to delve into them.

[Adfalchius]

Found this...it might help for some...

http://www.soundrider.com/archive/safety-skills/RS-cc1.htm

"Lee Parks, author of the book Total Control, suggests steering with one hand. That is, in a right turn, do the countersteering with your right hand. In a left turn, steer with your left hand. What's important is to make a point of relaxing the other arm, to ensure that you aren't subconsciously strong-arming the opposite grip and resisting your "steering" hand. For instance, when turning left, steer with your left hand, and relax your right arm. In a right turn, relax your left arm. If you're having trouble only with left-hand turns, it may be because you're strong-arming the right grip as you manage the throttle. Try flapping your elbow a bit to help relax the "non-steering" arm."

[nmh5028]

I definitely prefer turning to the left, but I'm pretty sure that it comes from being a private pilot. After hours and hours of practicing left-hand traffic patterns, I think leaning left is much more comfortable. Maybe this will change as I ride more, but I doubt if it will ever change in the airplane

[steezin_and_wheezin]

left handed here. more comfortable leaning hard on right hand turns. not sure exactly why though

i rather ride on the left side, as i feel it gives me more road presence and line of sight, but not any more uncomfortable on right side