When parking your bike.... Bars to the left, or right?

[jtanner]

When I park my bike and leave it on the side stand, I always turn my handlebars to the left (wheel pointing left). On occasion I'll leave the wheel pointing straight ahead. But I NEVER turn it to the right. And to be honest, I cringe when I see other bikes parked with the wheel pointing out to the right. Why? I really don't know.

I'm trying to understand my mindset on this. Clearly I'm just used to doing it my way and when I see someone else doing it the other way I just think it's wrong (for no apparent good reason). But..... is it? I Googled it awhile back and someone brought up that having the wheel pointing in the same direction as your side stand helps to lock the bike in place and prevent the stand from folding if the bike is bumped from behind. I've never tested that theory, and I'm not sure how much sense it makes.

Thoughts?

 

[670cc]

I park it with the wheel wherever it’s pointed, but it’s most often straight ahead. More important to me is the lean angle due the surface it’s on. I want sufficient lean angle that a bypasser couldn’t bump it over, and that wind gust couldn’t blow it over. If lean angle is not sufficient, I reposition the bike. If I were locking the steering, which I rarely do, I guess having the steering pointed either left or right is fine with me, whichever way seems more stable. My dual sport is parked in the garage right now with the steering pointed to the right, and I’m totally cool with that. I’d say in general that it seems more natural to point a dirt or dual sport wheel to the right.

I haven't seriously thought about the geometry of the steering trail when it comes to stability on the side stand. The trail (offset between the steering pivot line and the tire contact patch) would probably affect the lean angle and favor one wheel direction vs the other when leaning left on the sidestand. My gut feel is the turning the steering to the right leans the bike over slightly more, but I could be wrong. Maybe I’ll think that over someday.

 

[ld_rider]

I cringe when I see other bikes parked with the wheel pointing out to the right. Why? I really don't know.

Start with a professional mental health provider...they are trained to help individuals understand their irrational *quirks*.

 

[Doc True]

If I were locking the steering, which I rarely do, I guess having the steering pointed either left or right is fine with me, whichever way seems more stable.

Wait, can we lock the steering when it's pointed to the right? I thought it had to be pointed left. I've never tried to the right.

 

[670cc]

Wait, can we lock the steering when it's pointed to the right? I thought it had to be pointed left. I've never tried to the right.

It seems that most bikes I’ve owned can be locked in either direction. Based on your post, I went out and tried it, and just discovered after owning the NC for almost 7 years, that it does seem to lock only when pointed left. Isn’t that something!?

 

[Junkie]

I've never had a stock bike that would lock anywhere other than left.

 

[jtanner]

Locking the steering is a big one I didn't even consider. The NC and my wife's cbr250 both lock to the left only. This does lead me to believe that turning to the left would be preferred.

 

[davidc83]

I never lock the bars in place. When I park and leave on side-stand, the wheel stays in its position (usually straight ahead). If I am worried someone may bump it and knock it off the side stand, I leave it in first gear (I shift to neutral when starting it). If someone wants to steal the bike (usually what the locking bars deter), than they can steal it-why I have full coverage on both my C50 Boulevard (with 94,000+ miles) and NC700x (with over 50,000+ miles).

 

[XA4av8r]

pg.13 of owners manual! Maybe the OP read it and just didn't remember. But it says turning the bars right while on the side stand reduces stability.

 

[Dennis M]

Harley's you turn to the right all others turn to the left. I just leave mine straight ahead most of the time.

 

[Jt105]

The natural geometry of a motorcycle causes the front wheel to turn left when leaning to the left.

Try an experiment with a bicycle:

Try turning the wheel to the right and lean the bike to the left. The bike will tend to roll forward and away and slide out from under you.
This forward motion could cause a side stand to fold backwards and allow the bike to fall over.

Now try turning the wheel to the left and lean the bike to the left. The bike will try to roll backwards and rotate in towards the side stand.
The backwards motion will keep the side stand extended to the forward position and results in a more stable situation.

JT

 

[frozenpoet]

In the 10+ years of riding, I've locked my forks probably 5 times... To see if the locks worked on my various bikes.

 

[New Commuter700]

Yea, put me in the lock the forks camp, but the reason that I turn the bars to the left is because it just seemed more stable on a flat surface. I've always done it like that and I have little doubt that my Dad told me that's how you do it and I have forgotten that he told me that.

 

[potter0o]

Fork locker here. I usually keep them left 99% of the time. Angle it that way to transfer the weight towards the side stand. Only reason I go the other way if I am compensating for a uneven ground that puts more of a lean towards the centre stand in that I feel it is more stable if I lock it to the right to compensate.

 

[SilverRocket]

You all must not like your bikes very much. Or else you are trying to create more crime.

Always lock your forks by turning your Japanese bike's front wheel to the left. I know it's a tiny hassle to have to turn the key a little further and make sure it's lined up right, but when you leave a bike's steering unlocked you are contributing to that bike's eventual theft, higher insurance rates for all of us, and even if you don't care, you really think it won't be a hassle having your bike stolen? Do you really not care about your insurance rates and deductible?

I live in a high crime city, so the thought of just locking my steering would be a relief. I have to make sure I attach a disk lock to the front disk almost every time I'm away from my bike. And put the cover on it.
I won't have my bike stolen because of something I didn't do.
Please rethink these lax habits and help reduce theft.

 

[lootzyan]

From owner's manual:

 

[ld_rider]

You all must not like your bikes very much. Or else you are trying to create more crime.

My head exploded after this logic bomb entered my brain ^^^

 

[Mainsail]

95% of the time that I'm away from the bike, it's parked on a quiet military installation. Front wheel pointing straight ahead.

The few times I've parked it in town somewhere I *usually* lock the forks after parking it somewhere the rolling the bike away to the left would be difficult or impossible.

 

[Madison Sully]

You all must not like your bikes very much. Or else you are trying to create more crime.

Please rethink these lax habits and help reduce theft.

Um, yeah. Two word sentence enters my mind. First letter "F", I'll leave the rest to you.
I like my bikes a lot, I don't "try" to create more crime, I leave that to the criminals.
As to lax habits, well, there's another sentence coming soon to an internet site near you.

 

[670cc]

It seems that most bikes I’ve owned can be locked in either direction. Based on your post, I went out and tried it, and just discovered after owning f NC for almost 7 years, that it does seem to lock only when pointed left. Isn’t that something!?

I've never had a stock bike that would lock anywhere other than left.

Wait, can we lock the steering when it's pointed to the right? I thought it had to be pointed left. I've never tried to the right.

So, to check my sanity on this left vs right fork angle locking capability, I went to the garage and tested a few Honda’s. My findings:

GL1800 (1st gen), locks to the left and locks to the right.
Reflex 250 mid-size scooter, locks to the left and locks to the right.
NC700X, locks to the left only.
CRF250L, locks to the left only.

So I wondered why some can lock either way, and some can lock only to the left. Two thoughts:

1) The two bikes that can lock either way come standard with a center stand, whereas the two bikes that lock left-only do not come standard with a center stand.

Or

2) The two bikes that lock either direction are older than the two that lock left-only. Perhaps Honda is cutting costs (maybe half a dollar) and phasing out the right lock capability.

Either way, I lock the steering so seldom I couldn’t tell you which way to turn the bars.