Why can a motorcycle in a parking lot often steer around a cone with the front wheel pointed into the turn, even though road-speed turns use countersteering?

Answer: Direct steering works at low speed

Direct steering works at low speed ✓ — Correct. At walking or parking-lot speed, riders can point the bars into the turn and still keep the bike upright and under control. Once speed rises, the quick countersteer-to-lean pattern becomes more useful and more noticeable. The same motorcycle is not obeying two physics systems; different effects dominate at different speeds.

Leaning the body alone works — Leaning helps, but by itself it is not the whole parking-lot trick. Slow maneuvers can use direct bar steering because the balance problem is different from a road-speed curve. This is why a cone weave can look unlike a faster turn even on the same motorcycle.

The road-speed rule applies — Applying the road-speed rule too literally is the misconception. Countersteering can exist at many speeds, but it is not usually the most visible parking-lot move. At very low speed, direct steering and balance management dominate; at road speed, the brief press becomes the efficient way to create lean.