Why are left turns intuitive and rights are....

Your dominant eye is usually the same as your hand. I'm just weird because my right eye is a little lazy. Every damn baseball coach I ever had tried to make me a switch hitter because of it though.

The road thing is right, although I about took out a mailbox with my head one time so right's not always the safer option.

 

I always related my preference for right handers to the fact that I started honing my cornering skills on freeway cloverleafs where the corners are all right-handers.

 

+1

 

I struggle in right turns also, and for me it all has to do with braking.

Hard braking into a right hander and I suck.

Minimal braking into a right hander and everything feels perfect.

For lefts, doesnt matter if there is hard braking or not going in, feels same either way.

 

This question has plagued us bike riders at least as long as I've been riding. It seems like we could have solved it in those 60 years, but not so it seems.

Personally, I think it has to do with the fact that most of us learned to ride on bikes with the modern layout, with shifter on the left, rear brake on the right. Our natural tendency is to subconsciously rely on that stupid rear brake while cornering hard. You know, "if I go into the corner too hot I can scrub off some speed with the brake." Most riders just don't seem to feel as secure with that right foot ready to come off the peg as an outrigger. Of course, that's also where we learned to inspect the ground very very closely.

The way that I eventually got past it was to go to a dirt field and go in a right hand circle going faster and faster until I became comfortable with it. Practice, practice, practice.

 

Hmm, I'm right handed, and right footed, yet lefts use to be easier. With mega practice, both feel the same....almost.

As for rear brakes...old school dirt trackers had NO brakes, so I couldn't use that excuse..

 

Dominate brain side. Left side of brain is for racing stuff. Right is for feelings an shit like that.

When you look left your left eye sees farther around that corner than you right eye does. The info from your left eye goes into the left side of your brain where it can be used because that is the side that deals with racing stuff.

When you look right your right eye sees farther but the right side of your brain is just looking at the view and thinking how wonderful life is. So the data about the track has to be passed to the left side of your brain to be used.

This “hand off” takes a little time. Hence the problems most people have with right turns. Some Right Brain people do better in right turns but most of them don’t have the drive to compete.

The answer for us Left Brain racers is to look farther in right turns to make up for the extra time needed to process the data.

 

Does this explain Nascar? What about the fact that the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body and vice versa?

 

Good point about the sides being opposite. I have some of the details mixed up but the problem is caused by how our eyes/brain interact. This effect is different for each person. The answer is to look farther around the turns you have trouble with.

There is no answer for NASCAR.

 

Horse racing - CCW
Baseball - CCW
Track & field - CCW

I just rode past a local school track on the way home. Six walkers & one jogger all going CCW. Weird!

I think people favor left had corners on the road because you have a greater sight line.

 

Sometimes on the street I think I lean over more in the right handers because I know there is no sidestand or centerstand to touch down.

 

Never understood but all my buds always agreed left was easier. I'm right side dominant and when I first got on a track I could barley turn left at all! Doesn't affect me now they are both equal. Guess I was just a freek .

 

I don't think one side is universally easier.........it's a personal preference. Keith Code even wrote an article called "The Bad Side" about this.


http://forums.superbikeschool.com/index.php?showtopic=111

 

My theory is that everyone has a preferred way of turning. My little brother and I both snowboard; when we go to the terrain park and hit the kickers, he turns to the right and I turn to the left. I've tried turning to the right, but it doesn't feel nearly as comfortable. He's the same way turning left.

We have a preferred way of crossing our arms, interlocking our fingers, etc. Turning direction is just another thing.

I also suck at hard braking into a right hander.... Like REALLY am terrible at it.