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Keith Code's No Body Steering Bike uses an extra set of bars solidly mounted to the bike's frame to prove that body steering/leaning will not cause the motorcycle to turn.
The argument has raged since the days of the earliest motorcycles: What technique actually steers a motorcycle—body lean or turning the handlebars? This is no light matter. Investigations, in which accidents were reconstructed, found that in the vast majority of rider versus obstacle conflicts, the rider does not even attempt an evasive steering action that could save him. Much of this inaction can be blamed on conflicting information about how the motorcycle steering function works, which can lead to rider panic and uncertainty in emergency situations.
Keith Code, a leading motorcycle riding instructor and founder of the noted California Superbike School, has put a cap on this controversy with his new No Body Steering Bike (No B.S. Bike). This specially designed motorcycle proves that only steering, and not body steering/leaning, turns a bike.
After researching the fundamentals of counter steering—covering the gamut from the Wright brothers and their studies of counter steering and tandem-wheel vehicles, to studies done by Honda Motor Co. in the '70s—Code built the No B.S. Bike, a midsize ZX 6R Kawasaki. Code added an extra set of handlebars, solidly mounted to the frame above the standard bars. Then he added a second, functional throttle to the extra bar assembly so riders could maintain speed while grasping the bars.
More than 100 riders have tested their body steering/leaning methods on the No B.S. Bike, and all have come away with the irrefutable conclusion: Body steering and leaning does not steer a motorcycle. Steering alone turns a bike.
Code also has authored a number of motorcycle riding instructional books and has produced videos on the same subject. You can get more information on Keith Code, the California Superbike School and Code's books and videos by calling 805-969-3744.
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