On 9/7/07, Richard Prosser <rhprosser@gmail.com> wrote:
> Why do these (supposively) lean outward on cornering while motorcycles
> (etc.) lean inward?

Bikes lean because the rider makes them lean through a combination of
shifting their body weight and counter-steering. The bike turns
because it's leaning - it doesn't lean because it's turning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countersteering
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_and_motorcycle_dynamics

A bike with outrigger wheels can't lean so with the acceleration force
acting from the CG of the vehicle it tends to try to lean outwards. In
a normal bike the lean makes the force vector align with the vertical
axis of the bike and the force meets the road directly through the
tyres - which it has to or the bike would fall over. Stopping a bike
from leaning by adding outrigger wheel basically turns it into a car
with "trolley physics" rather than a bike with "leaning physics".

Incidentally bikes with sidecars have this same issue. For this reason
they're considered very strange to ride by most riders. The physics is
totally different from a normal bike.

Cheers,
Zik
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