Why are making left turns easier than right ones?

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sledder66

New member
Hope this takes your mind off the sweltering heat for a minute:

Anybody else experience this?

I've been sledding in da UP for seven years straight, but since I live in Georgia, I don't own a sled and have to rent. When on the trails I can make left hand turns no problems all day long, but right hand turns I sometimes end up with the right ski in the air, and don't feel as comfortable as making a left one. I believe I'm doing everything exactly the same in a right hand turn as in a left (body position, grips, feet, etc), but still not as firm and solid as making a left turn. Could it be the sled?? It's probably me.

Anyone have any suggestions/riding tips?
 
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anonomoose

New member
Jist before you make a right turn, spin around on your butt and switch hands....that should equalize the the atmospheric pressure which runs longitudally along the right left axis which is OBVIOUSLY becoming unstable after you have had a few at lunch at the pub.

Okay....I understand your problem, but it is often due to whether you are right handed or left handed. If you are a lefty, you have the same issue going the other way. You feel less stable on your left foot than you do on your right foot and your right leg is probably a bit stronger too. This causes an uneasy feeling putting all your weight on your left foot and lifting your right as the sled leans in that direction.

I recommend outriggers.....more or less training wheels for sleds ....make sure you get the break away kind....those fixed son-of-a-guns, are something when they hook a tree root.:eek:
 
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mikes99ss

Well-known member
It's a throttle thing, When you turn to the left you actually grap the end of the bar with you left hand firmly wrapped around the entire bar, It gives you great leverage(left turn you actually pulling with your left hand and pushing with your right and visa versa) When you make a right turn you can only move you hand so far to the right and you cant wrap your entire hand around the bar to get good leverage obviously because you need to be working the throttle This also limits how far you can lean. the solution i have found is this.....don't worry as much about how far leaned over to the right you are but pay more attetion to how far forward you are in the lean. I own a summit and have terrible ski lift on the trails but when i put the throttle into my gut and try to reach out and stand on the ski it becomes managable. I littlerally put my boys on the gas cap.
 
skiroule

skiroule

Well-known member
Too much NASCAR watching perhaps?

If the symptom is that consistent, it's probably not the sled. Many downhill skiers (including myself) have a similar experience in that turning one way always feels more comfortable than the other, although in my case the side sometimes switches from time to time.

I'm no expert (boy have I said that a few times) but I think a lot of it has to do with your dominant side - left handed/right handed. You make think you're doing everything the same but there are suble differences in strength and movement. It also might be something as simple as whether you're pushing or pulling on the throttle side of the bars.

Some old advice in the early REV days was to drive your inside knee into the turn. This is still somewhat true today on some machines like my older Summit but improved sled handling has removed a lot of the ski lift in most models.

Next time you rent, you could try driving in clockwise circles for a couple of hours to try to get comfortable but you would feel pretty silly and I doubt if it would help much - sorry I can't give you more useful advice.
 
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Marty

New member
I think its the the same feeling for all of us, bikers too. If you loose it in a left turn you end up off the trail, maybe the tree's, but normaly there is a burm built up to help, or its a field. Right turn, if you loose it, head on crash is always in the back of your head. You are doing the right thing being more carefull in the right turns..........
 
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polarisrider1

New member
Marty said:
I think its the the same feeling for all of us, bikers too. If you loose it in a left turn you end up off the trail, maybe the tree's, but normaly there is a burm built up to help, or its a field. Right turn, if you loose it, head on crash is always in the back of your head. You are doing the right thing being more carefull in the right turns..........
Click to expand...

I'm buying into that answer.
 
lofsfire

lofsfire

Active member
Well some of those answers make since to me. I can't remember what my shock settings are right now but I know my left front is different than my right front shocks. Two years ago I had to rent due to a burn down first thing I did was adjust the shocks to what felt good to me. You might want to try playing with a few settings.
 
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CrossfireLOW

Member
I have experienced the same sensation on trails. Left is easier than right. Some of this obviously has to do with throttle and hand positions, but I also notice it making powder turns. Even when the snow conditions allow powder turns simply due to weight shifts from leg to leg on the running boards, left is always easier to turn too than right for me.

I think, but don't know, that it may have to due with the rotational momentum of the track and clutches. Since both the clutches and track are moving in a counter clockwise direction (as you look at a sled from the left side) you follow the right hand rule to determine the direction of rotational inertia of these parts all point to the left of the sled when riding.

If there are any engineers/physics people who can explain my idea better, be my guest, I am just trying to think back to physics classes and cross products.
 
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dcsnomo

Moderator
Ya know what might eliminate part of the possible explanations is if some left handed sledders posted if they have the same problem, only making left turns.

I am right handed, I have the right hand turn issue.

If the left handers have a left hand turn issue, then that would be the answer. But, if left handers have a right hand turn issue then we are are back to the sled as the reason...IMHO!
 
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lenny

Guest
Mike is right, it is a throttle thing. My buddy added a left hand throttle to his machine and he rails left or right. I ride his sled and a left hand throttle does help even though a lefty is different than the right hand throttle. It's all in arm position which translates to body position. Get up on the tank and over to the corner side and you get a strong turn. The lefty allows you to position yourself left to right very similar but you'll still have to get used to it. Make sure it's installed properly and beware if you run gauntlets on cold days.
 
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G

Guest
lenny said:
Mike is right, it is a throttle thing. My buddy added a left hand throttle to his machine and he rails left or right. I ride his sled and a left hand throttle does help even though a lefty is different than the right hand throttle. It's all in arm position which translates to body position. Get up on the tank and over to the corner side and you get a strong turn. The lefty allows you to position yourself left to right very similar but you'll still have to get used to it. Make sure it's installed properly and beware if you run gauntlets on cold days.
Click to expand...

What lenny says. Sleds are primarily designed to be ridden 'right handed'. If you think about it most machines in general are designed for right handed people. This could be one of the reasons that left handed folks have a shorter life expectancy than right handed folks.
 
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blutooth

New member
CrossfireLOW said:
I think, but don't know, that it may have to due with the rotational momentum of the track and clutches.
Click to expand...

I think this is really close. with both clutches on the left hand side, most sleds are a little heavier on the left side to start with. 2 clutchs, drive shaft (and the engine leans a little left) balanced out by just an exhaust can on the right.

Add to the fact that rotating masses tend to add an albeit very slight gravitational effect to the entire system (remember the old Gyroscope tops) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyroscope Try spinning one of those and then moving it around - it definitely feels heavier than it does when it isn't moving. Same principle with the clutches. That off-center rotational mass definitely has an effect on how a sled handles.

This is one of the reasons people are always trying to reduce the rotational mass on their sleds. It's probably why NASCAR only turns left too ;)
 
skiroule

skiroule

Well-known member
grub said:
If you think about it most machines in general are designed for right handed people. This could be one of the reasons that left handed folks have a shorter life expectancy than right handed folks.
Click to expand...

Hey wait a minute! I'm partly left handed. Where do I fit on the chart?

Actually, this thread has probably nailed all of the primary reasons, including moving the beer (juuust kidding....). In reality, it may be any one of these different reasons at different times.

It would seem that the gyroscope effect would come into play more if the trail was relatively flat. I like the banked corner suggestion. With a high banked corner, the centrifugal force would work more in the rider's favor on a left hand turn, making left turns feel more solid than right turns - Unless you're one of those riders that makes right hand turns on the wrong side of the trail. That may be where the life expectancy comes into the picture.

Good suggestions all.
 
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mefroe

New member
ok here it is, when you turn left you grab the left handle and pull it to you and push the right hand forward, it feels natural and all because you are also pushing the thottle also and not cramping your hand. When you go into a right hand turn you push on the left bar but you can only pull so far on right hand because you have you thumb still on the thottle and it will only go so far. to solve this as you go into a right hand turn rotate your hand around the handle and pull the throttle with your fingers coming from underneeth the handle.this allows you to turn full right turn.:D been working for me for over 38 years...
 
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Canoepaddler

New member
I like a lot of these answers, especially the ones involving the throttle on the right side. That does make a difference in body position. But, am I the only one that tries to stay on my side of the trail in a turn? By definition, that makes right hand turns tighter than left hand turns. If you stay on your side of the trail, right hand turns are inside turns and left hand turns are outside turns. I wonder how things are in Europe?
 
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G

Guest
Things in Europe generally suck. They don't have central heating figured out and there are only 4 dentists on the whole continent.
 
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