Hacker News Reader

Comment by xarope | Hacker News Reader

I rode something like this as part of a tour in switzerland, when turning left I was told to lean to the right (which is obviously different to a two wheeler where you lean in the direction of the turn), otherwise you'd pop-up on two wheels easily enough!

And you really have to push the handle bars, for steering. Again, very different to a two-wheeler.

View on HN

I ride a christiania bike daily, and leaning right while turning left is a surefire way to have your left front wheel lift off the ground.

>when turning left I was told to lean to the right (which is obviously different to a two wheeler where you lean in the direction of the turn), otherwise you'd pop-up on two wheels easily enough!

Can you explain the mechanics behind that? When turning left, wouldn't the bike be at risk of tipping to the right? Wouldn't leaning to the right make that worse?

Leaning in on a two wheeler is rolling the frame to the left further.

That same frame roll/tip on a trike causes the right wheel to leave the ground. In order to counter act that, and essentially prevent the frame from rolling/tipping at all in the turn, is to move your weight to the right so that wheel stays grounded.

If you really push and try you can get the left wheel up on a left turn but it’s more effort than popping a wheelie on a two wheel bike. It’s hard to do on accident.

I would guess it has to do with the direction of force changing, the left and rear tires getting closer and the right and rear tire distance getting farther and what that implies regarding the distance each wheel needs to travel in the turn.

Edit: maybe tilt is a better word than roll and tip, basically putting the frame less upright is what I mean by that

The document shared by epiecs says you need to lean into turns (turn left, lean left).

It's the same when you drive a motorcycle with a sidecar. The way you drive it is just completely the opposite of driving a normal motorcycle.

FYI: I have both and the first time I drove my sidecar I ended up in a hedge :D

A good overview of the physics and how to ride these is the yellow book from Ural: http://welcome-ural.ru/documents/HowToRideUral.pdf

That document says you need to lean into a turn. That's what I would expect. Turn left, lean your body left. The picture on the cover shows the rider turning left and leaning left.

>Since sidecar outfits are not symmetrical, the technique for left turns is somewhat different from right turns. The outfit won't lean into the turn like a "solo" bike, but instead rolls slightly towards the outside of the turn like an automobile. The sidecar driver compensates by leaning body weight towards the turn and by applying extra force to the handlebars.

But you turn the steering wheel the other way. Normal motorcyle left goes right. Sidecar right goes right ^^

Reply on news.ycombinator.com