It's just like riding a bike...

...except this time, it's not.

This is fascinating:

http://www.dailyliked.net/backwards-brain-bicycle/

I've ridden a bike just like that. It was hard.

i could see it being really hard to learn to ride that bike but i call BS on not being able to go back to a regular bike. If left has been left and right has been right for your entire life then i wouldnt think 8 months would throw that knowledge out the window.

but i still struggle with left and right so maybe im not one to talk

Just discovered I inadvertently did this to my Beetle...

Its not easier in a car, let me tell you.

The first tiller I mounted on the jet boat was backwards from every tiller outboard I've ever driven. I spent the entire test drive turning the wrong way and damn near hit the dock at the landing. Read the FWD/RWD thread. 30 years of doing things the same way is a hard to change. Pretty sure that bike would make my shoulder look like Tom's.

Good video. Thanks for sharing.

I just saw that last night, almost posted it. So... ALMOST REPOST!
The cool partnwasnthat the young child, whise brain is more imprintable, learned soo much faster

When I was about 6 my dad scratch built me a yard cart. If you turned hard enough the bellcrank on the steering would overcenter and flip, leaving the steering reversed. After the first time that happened I used to sometimes drive that way and leave it for the next driver. LULZ usually ensued.

Interesting experiment. I could feel the frustration as he tried the reverse bike for a while and with the return to the normal bike too.

...except its a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes.

Interesting story, whoda thunkit.

Reverse the pedal drive rotation for a complete mind berkeley.

fasted58 wrote: Interesting story, whoda thunkit. Reverse the pedal drive rotation for a complete mind berkeley.

Thats actually what I was expecting. The reverse steering was cooler...

In reply to edizzle89:

Agreed: I was driving in Australia for 28 days. Driving on the left REALLY made me think about everything I was doing. After about a week, I was pretty fluid on the road. When I got back I had minor hiccups for about a month. I'd do things like go for the widshield wipers but stop and second guess myself then lose focus on the road. (in Australia the wiper and blinker switches are swapped). Roundabouts made me think a bit too, but not too much...

But these were minor hiccups, I didn't "forget" how to drive a car on the right side of the road. I think he was exaggerating his "relearning" a bit.

That's interesting...

I wonder if skilled equipment operators would have any better luck?

When I am operating an excavator, I have a (kind of) similar experience. When you rotate the cab around, the controls reverse. Forward becomes reverse, right becomes left.

I have a similar "click" in my brain. I have to reconnect the wiring to my hands, and stop thinking about what I am doing. Thinking about the movements does not control the movements. The movements determine the movement.

Some people don't realize that smooth equipment operation requires moving in several directions at the same time. Digging a level bottom ditch can't be done by pulling a lever. You have to pull the arm toward you, while curling the bucket, AND lifting the boom. (And sometimes also track rearward at the same time). Otherwise, your ditch will have a scalloped, arched bottom. When the controls reverse, it gets a little hairy.

And I am only an average operator. There are guys who are so natural at the reversal thing they amaze me.

But (of course), that excludes the balance component. I don't think I could ride that thing.

In reply to Woody:

Thanks for that link. Good stuff.

DrBoost wrote: The cool partnwasnthat the young child, whise brain is more imprintable, learned soo much faster

Yeah, the one thing they left out (which I was really interested in) was how well he now does with a normal bike. I wonder if he can flip back and forth easily?