Handlebar controls

[Chad Smith]

Used some old handlebars from a dirt bike and got the twist throttle and front brake working.
Have my wheel mounted facing the ground and upside down.
It's not pretty but I feel like it bring the enjoyment up some.
Just throttle and brake cables from the dirt bike also.
Drilled holes in the bottom of the pedals and then through the pedals.
Video explains and shows my not so good driving   

[Chris_Beeves]

I love it!
Not sure how much you can adjust the wheel, but I found the less movement you have the less unnatural the inverted steering felt.
Also, maybe you could try putting your bars a little bit in front of the center of rotation of the wheel instead of behind like you have now.

Keep going man!

[doubledragoncc]

I used a steering wheel to start development and found 40% the max for turning the best.

Keep the bars behind the center of pivot or it will get even move unnatural in feeling

Best of luck for the future of building

DD

[Chris_Beeves]

Keep the bars behind the center of pivot or it will get even move unnatural in feeling

That depends on how you use it. With force feedback the swivel motion makes no sense at all. I think your system is pretty spot on for non-directsteer, that really doesn't require a force feedback wheel.

There is no universal truth in this, so keep testing. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with @Chad!

[Chad Smith]

Currently I have 40 degree of rotation. I may be pushing a little past the limits with all the leverage I have though.
I will be experimenting with the location of the bars on the wheel.
It's quite a fun project and is not quite as easy as I thought.

[Chris_Beeves]

The overpowering is what makes directsteer so hard, you don't get a feel for what you're actually doing.

Are you playing through steam or standalone? If stand-alone I'd suggest you to try version 19 (not b). It had much stronger force feedback code and made directsteer less impossible (though more erratic).
If running directsteer I'd deffo move the handlebar to on top of the rotation point or in front of it. That would give you two attachment point too = more solid feel.

[Chad Smith]

I have noticed that not having much feel of resistance in the wheel has caused problems with being smooth with my steering inputs through the corner.
On a real bike when countersteering there is a nice force pushing against you at the handlebar grip. To try to recreate that, I have turned spring centering up, moved the handlebars to the top of the wheel with a pivot point directly in the middle, and now have added springs from each side of the handlebars to the steering wheel.
It's not perfect but getting better.
I currently have the standalone demo, I will have to check which version. I will be buy the full games soon though.
I feel like I need ffb dampening on which goes against everything sim racing. But when I try to turn it on in my steering wheel settings it does nothing in the game. Not sure if there is an override or something. 

[Chad Smith]

[Chris_Beeves]

http://www.cawsteam.com/Downloads/GPBikes/gpbikes-beta19.exe

Try running this version instead, it has more powerful force feedback. Makes it much easier to control.

I'd move the handlebars even closer to the center of the wheel.
Also when calibrating in gpbikes, try not using the full rotation. This could give you shorter throw and more feedback earlier. Could make it a mess to though.

The steam version is a bit cheaper, but doesn't give you the option to run older versions so not ideal at the moment perhaps..

[poumpouny]

I found it way easier to ride in Direct steer mode with the late beta's if you reset the virtual rider default front/back lean more in the back (i'm using Vr i don't know if it work on standard scree). You can lean more easily when the neutral standing of the virtual rider is more backward !

[Chad Smith]

Demonstration of version 2 and a lap in a much slower bike!

[Chris_Beeves]

That's an interesting approach. I like the low speed detail! The high speed approach I'd have to try, sometimes what looks a little awkward works real good. Nice progress man!

Doesn't autoclutch work well? Maybe it doesn't slip enough..

[Vini]

Looks interesting. Like a mix between DD's swivel design and regular steering column.

[Chad Smith]

The auto clutch works, it must be because of the lower powered bike or something. If I press C and get the revs up it will take off just fine.

It's definitely not perfect, but I can at least make a full lap now, so I'm pretty happy.

Next step is to start working on peripherals!

[Chris_Beeves]

Cool!
What peripherals are you going for?