Getting a knee down ?

[danny86]

Been trying for the life of me to get my knee atleast 1-2 inches near the pavement when taking a turn. I have a HUGE space where I can practice safely but it just seems like I cant for the life of me do it.

I know the body position should always be striaght
Tuck the head down and close to the rear view mirror
But Im not sure if it has to do with flexability but the moment I slide my weight to either the right or left of the bike my outside legs thats suppose to be sticking out just wants to hug the bike ?

Thoughts?

[Paul_E_D]

trackday?

[mrezra]

Non-expert opinion: I equate it to ski racing.... people in Slalom and GS always want to know 'how to hit the gates.' When you start skiing fast enough on the right line, you have no choice but to block the gate from hitting you in the face. On motorcycles, knees go down as they have to. I'm dying to do a trackday myself to learn better body positioning. Not to get my knee on the ground, but to become a better all-around rider.

[nt650hawk]

trackday?

It is hard to describe w/out seeing what you are actually doing. . It might be best to experience this with some coaching with a ARC course &/or track day. I think it is harder to do this in a Parking Lot.




"I know the body position should always be straight. To some point. But loose.


Tuck the head down and close to the rear view mirror. Getting there

But Im not sure if it has to do with flexability but the moment I slide my weight to either the right or left of the bike my outside legs thats suppose to be sticking out just wants to hug the bike ? The outside leg holds you in place and takes the weight and pressure off you arms and your inside leg is able to drop. Loose is the name of the game.

[Doc]

Been trying for the life of me to get my knee atleast 1-2 inches near the pavement when taking a turn. I have a HUGE space where I can practice safely but it just seems like I cant for the life of me do it.

I know the body position should always be striaght
Tuck the head down and close to the rear view mirror
But Im not sure if it has to do with flexability but the moment I slide my weight to either the right or left of the bike my outside legs thats suppose to be sticking out just wants to hug the bike ?

Thoughts?

Get to a trackday.

[toocrazy2yoo]

Doc's right. Track. That knee thing, that's for a purpose. Besides, lots of guys that never drop a knee to the pavement (especially on the street fer corn's sake) will get down the road a hell of a lot faster than someone that's always got the knee down. Plus, on the street, you get the knee down, you're mostly outta slack if something happens ahead. If you're tappin' the pegs in turns and draggin' a knee, you're already ON the ground.

Not a good stance on the street. Lots can happen, all of it bad. Get to the track.

[Doc]

Or get a pitbike.

[Boston Rexer]

Trackday, yes. Skiing is a good analogy--I equate it to ice skating. When you start getting very confident in turns with the correct body position, it will just naturally happen. Have you scraped a peg yet?

[Ken C]

ARC, then track day... or just track day.

Your description of how your inside knee wants to stay against the tank suggests that you are rotating around the tank and are probably "crossed up". Can't tell without seeing you in action.

Getting your knee down is a product of good technique in conjunction with speed (lean angle). It comes naturally once all the pieces are in place.

[Doc]

Is this on the RMZ?

[GixerJockey]

trackday?

Get to a trackday.

's

[OreoGaborio]

Getting your knee down is a product of good technique in conjunction with speed (lean angle). It comes naturally once all the pieces are in place.

Bingo. Dragging a knee happens as a RESULT of those two things above (proper technique and carrying good cornerspeed). You need those two things to get it down. If your concentration is being spent on sticking out your knee and forcing it down, it's probably not going to happen.


And if it makes you feel any better, I've never dragged a knee either.

Well, at least not anywhere other than a track

[obsolete]

Couldn't it also lead to bad technique/habits if you concern yourself with just getting your knee down?

[Ken C]

Couldn't it also lead to bad technique/habits if you concern yourself with just getting your knee down?

I believe so. You see people working hard to touch their knee that ironically they cannot achieve the proper position to get a knee down.

[ultraTwist]

Bingo. Dragging a knee happens as a RESULT of those two things above (proper technique and carrying good cornerspeed). You need those two things to get it down. If your concentration is being spent on sticking out your knee and forcing it down, it's probably not going to happen.


And if it makes you feel any better, I've never dragged a knee either.

Well, at least not anywhere other than a track

I personally would never attempt to drag a knee anywhere other then a track. When I do it I believe I'm going really fast, way faster than I want to crash in a parking lot or on the road. Also, if you are not used to going that fast and that low, you are not going to really know how much reserve you have in case some thing bad happens.

[OreoGaborio]

If your knee's on the ground, how much margin of error do you think you have? Virtually none.

[Paul_E_D]

If your knee's on the ground, how much margin of error do you think you have? Virtually none.

While I agree for street that you're just waiting for the crash to happen, it's possible for there to be some/a lot of reserve while dragging a knee. I know I'm out of reserve on the track when I'm dragging a knee while simultaneously pressing it into the pavement with the fairing of the bike. There's actually quite a lot in reserve for me when my knee first touches down.

I suspect that the serial knee draggers on the street are stretching so far to touch the knee that they do have some amount of reserve. I have never done it though. The width of a lane is just not enough to do it safely IMO. Using both lanes is not something I'm ever gonna do.

[OreoGaborio]

Right... I should have specified in my last post that I was talking about street riding. Margin of safety on the track is quite different than margin of safety on the street.

The point I was trying to make is if you've never dragged a knee anywhere in your life... and you're trying to get it down on the street and succeed... your margin of safety is non existant... you're riding over your head.

[RyanNicholson]

agreed about the riding over your head thing if you're doing it for the first time on the street.... or at least trying to do it. Reason being would likely be that most people don't get off the bike enough at that point, which seriously reduces the margin for error.

[OreoGaborio]

And how about road & traffic conditions, tire compound/condition/pressures, suspension settings, etc?

EDIT: Uhg... we're letting this turn into a lecture.

Do whatever ya want... I have fun on the street, but I don't drag knee there for the reasons stated above. We kinda told ya how (more technique, more lean) now it's up to you to make your own choices about what you wanna do.

[ultraTwist]

Right... I should have specified in my last post that I was talking about street riding. Margin of safety on the track is quite different than margin of safety on the street.

The point I was trying to make is if you've never dragged a knee anywhere in your life... and you're trying to get it down on the street and succeed... your margin of safety is non existant... you're riding over your head.

I agree, I feel that I have quite a bit of margin with my knee down. I actually feel better like that on the track then I do on the street at much less lean. But really if you've never done it before how are you going to know that on the street when a turkey or a cat or jumps in front of you. Also, do you remember the first time you did it? I was actually scared and didn't know what was happening to my suit.

[Pigman]

I don't think that anyone said it but you may wanna try a TrackDay?????

[FireboltEric_MA]

Ive put a knee down twice in my life....



Both times I had to pick my bike up off the ground.

[ZOG]

[Ken C]

It's interesting to see this diagram from several years back. While the physics hasn't changed, technique has evolved a bit. Look at the lower left photo and you'd say that this guy has it closer to correct than the guy in the lower right photo. Look at Ben Spies and he "looks" more like the left photo.

The point they are trying to make is that being low and OVER the tank will result in the need for more lean angle. True. But, a lot of current racers carry their upper torso low, the difference is that their head and shoulders are located farther to the inside than the guy in the lower left. This allows the bike a bit more cornering clearance and seems to help hook the bike around the corners better.