[alanmcorcoran]

Jazz, think I read about countersteering in both Proficient and a book I think was called Twist of the Wrist. At low speed, you can steer the bike like a car, but it doesn't work at high speed (you'll fall over from the centrifugal force). The trick is that turning in the opposite direction causes the front wheel to track (veer) to the opposite direction. At the same time, you lean over in the direction you are going. There is some debate over whether the countersteer causes the lean or the lean the countersteer, but in reality, it doesn't really matter. From my perspective, people know how to lean intuitively. I don't think most people even realize they are countersteering too. The common method of getting beginners to get the hang of it is to tell them to push on the bar on the side they want to go. This automatically forces a lean/countersteer. It's basically the same as riding a bicycle, only somewhat faster. Twist of the wrist helped me a lot because it emphasized and explained the role of centrifugal force - especially how it affects cornering. The counter intuitive takeaway from it is: you can corner better with the throttle Always on through the curve. Throttle affects the suspension (compresses the rear) and letting of the throttle reduces your traction and also causes the bike to want to straighten up.

I think it's best just to ride around for the first few 1000 miles and get some low speed experience, focus on watching out for cars, shifting, braking. After six months you'll be on a better position to focus on improved cornering technique. Try and do too much and you'll be thinking too much instead of riding and that can be a distraction.