Editing Motorcycle (section)

===Dynamics===
[[File:Aleix Espargaró leads the pack 2021 Sachsenring.jpg|thumb|Racing motorcycles leaning in a turn]]
{{Main|Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics}}

Two-wheeled motorcycles stay upright while rolling due to a physical property known as [[conservation of angular momentum]] in the wheels. Angular momentum points along the axle, and it "wants" to stay pointing in that direction.

Different types of motorcycles have different dynamics and these play a role in how a motorcycle performs in given conditions. For example, one with a longer wheelbase provides the feeling of more stability by responding less to disturbances.{{sfn|Gaetano|2004|pp=34-25|ps=&nbsp;"[W]ith the same disturbance, the rider with a longer wheelbase will feel less oscillating movement on the handlebars, and therefore, will have a perception of greater stability on the motorcycle."}} [[Motorcycle tyres]] have a large influence over handling.

Motorcycles must be leaned in order to make turns. This lean is induced by the method known as [[countersteering]], in which the rider momentarily steers the handlebars in the direction opposite of the desired turn. This practice is counterintuitive and therefore often confusing to novices{{spaced ndash}} and even many experienced motorcyclists.<ref name="Steering in bicycles and motorcycles">{{cite journal |journal = American Journal of Physics |volume = 68 |issue = 7 |pages = 654–59 |date = July 2000 |author = Joel Fajans |title = Steering in bicycles and motorcycles |url = http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~fajans/pub/pdffiles/SteerBikeAJP.PDF |doi = 10.1119/1.19504 |bibcode = 2000AmJPh..68..654F |access-date = 4 August 2006 |archive-date = 1 September 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060901081011/http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~fajans/pub/pdffiles/SteerBikeAJP.PDF |url-status = live  |issn = 0002-9505}}</ref><ref name="Hurt">{{Cite web |first1= H.H. |last1=Hurt |last2= Ouellet |first2=J.V. |last3=Thom |first3= D.R. |author1-link=Harry Hurt |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA |title=Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, Volume 1: Technical Report |date=January 1981 |url=http://isddc.dot.gov/OLPFiles/NHTSA/013695.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140823225106/http://isddc.dot.gov/OLPFiles/NHTSA/013695.pdf|archive-date=23 August 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Crouch |first = Tom D. |title = The Bishop's Boys | year = 1989| publisher = W. W. Norton| location = New York| isbn = 0-393-30695-X| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ytw11Bmxcz8C&pg=PA170 | page = 170}}</ref>

With such short [[Bicycle and motorcycle geometry#Wheelbase|wheelbase]], motorcycles can generate enough torque at the rear wheel, and enough stopping force at the front wheel, to lift the opposite wheel off the road. These actions, if performed on purpose, are known as [[wheelie]]s and [[stoppie]]s (or endos) respectively.