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Dragged a Knee today - - First Time!
- Thread starter Mishi
- Start date
A track is always the best place to hone your skills dragging a knee comes with progression while cornering more track days you do the better your going to get it is a controlled enviroment and if any thing bad was to happen you will get assisted quickly one thing about track days especially your first don't worry about keeping up with others or getting passed for that matter hold your race line and things get sorted fairly easy .... of course this only my opinion .
RBnumber20
New member
No probs Shrek everyone has a different opinion I guess about whats safe and what isn't and for me a place where I know a car or person or kid on a bike isn't going to come out of "nowhere" like a track is the best place for me.
sexyneverlefther
New member
I can't speak for others and experts or other may disagree with what I do.
For me, it's easier to have the same body position in pretty much all cornering situations. That is to say that I always put my buttcrack right at the edge of the seat, my outside arm stretched with the outside elbow rested on the tank, the outside knee pressed against the tank, weighing on the outside peg, etc. With all that, the body position relative to the bike is pretty much locked in. The only difference is that I might tuck the inside knee in a little if I need a little more lean angle. Or I may move my body a little forward if I'm trail braking, and then slide my ass all the way back while cornering to give the rear tire a little more grip.
To further control the line in corner, I would either slightly roll off the throttle (to tighten the line) or twist it a little more (to widen the line).
In terms of margin of safety, in most cases, I'd stick with no more than 40 to 45 degrees of lean angle with my knee on the ground. By keeping the same body position all the time, I know that when the puck lands, that's right about 40 to 45 degrees without the need to guess where I'm. And I can then focus on the track and the cornering line and throttle adjustments. Very rarely would I push it out beyond 45 degrees of lean angle, even though the tires can handle well in excess of 55 degrees.
And I might not get the knee down if the corner isn't tight enough. For example, in that big sweeper between turn 2 and turn 3 at Fontana, I would be doing 110 or 120 mph, hard accelerating with the bike in a no-more-than-20-degree lean angle. But the BP is still the same.
So there you have it. Again, that's how I do it; others may have different opinions on how to do it.
For me, it's easier to have the same body position in pretty much all cornering situations. That is to say that I always put my buttcrack right at the edge of the seat, my outside arm stretched with the outside elbow rested on the tank, the outside knee pressed against the tank, weighing on the outside peg, etc. With all that, the body position relative to the bike is pretty much locked in. The only difference is that I might tuck the inside knee in a little if I need a little more lean angle. Or I may move my body a little forward if I'm trail braking, and then slide my ass all the way back while cornering to give the rear tire a little more grip.
To further control the line in corner, I would either slightly roll off the throttle (to tighten the line) or twist it a little more (to widen the line).
In terms of margin of safety, in most cases, I'd stick with no more than 40 to 45 degrees of lean angle with my knee on the ground. By keeping the same body position all the time, I know that when the puck lands, that's right about 40 to 45 degrees without the need to guess where I'm. And I can then focus on the track and the cornering line and throttle adjustments. Very rarely would I push it out beyond 45 degrees of lean angle, even though the tires can handle well in excess of 55 degrees.
And I might not get the knee down if the corner isn't tight enough. For example, in that big sweeper between turn 2 and turn 3 at Fontana, I would be doing 110 or 120 mph, hard accelerating with the bike in a no-more-than-20-degree lean angle. But the BP is still the same.
So there you have it. Again, that's how I do it; others may have different opinions on how to do it.
Raven Faust
New member
So, by establishing body positions (which is done by referencing where certain body parts are on the bike, also done in conjunction with knee positioning) and knowing which body positions to use for different types of corners and speeds will allow the rider to focus on other elements of the track and riding
That's makes sense to me!
That's makes sense to me!
gaia_fanatic
New member
That's pretty much the idea.... For me, the BP is pretty much the same regardless of the corner type (well, for most corners or turns), the knee is just a "lean angle meter", used to "measure" the lean angle. By tucking the knee in just a little, more lean angle is required for the puck to make contact with the ground, hence the quicker and sharper the turn. Then I use throttle modulation to further fine-tune the line.
MeltandFlow
New member
Thanks for the clarification and advice
jonatinho1
New member
I gotta say that a parking lot is just fine, if you ask me. As a matter of fact, there is a large church parking lot right down the street from my new house. Too bad there is a school there as well, or I might be inspired to roll over there and hone my skills.
With the rash of deaths and bad accidents we fellow members have encountered over the last few months, it's really saddening to see people giving Five shit about his accomplishment. He's taking steps to become a better rider and people are pissing on his efforts. Sorry we're not all as accomplished as you "tier one" riders.
Keep it up, Five, awesome work.
With the rash of deaths and bad accidents we fellow members have encountered over the last few months, it's really saddening to see people giving Five shit about his accomplishment. He's taking steps to become a better rider and people are pissing on his efforts. Sorry we're not all as accomplished as you "tier one" riders.
Keep it up, Five, awesome work.
Bud,
Correct body position lowers the motorcycle's center of gravity and moves the center of gravity towards the inside of the turn. As your body position improves, your knee sliders will make contact without trying. That's why teachers always tell you to focus on body position rather than getting a knee down. Once you have the right body position, your knee sliders will make contact all the time.
Having a lower center of gravity moved towards the inside of the turn allows you to take the turn with less lean angle. That's why dragging a knee makes you faster. It allows you corner at any given speed with less lean angle. And less lean angle means you can get on the gas harder and sooner as you exit the corner. If you were taking the same turn at the same speed but were seated up on top of the bike as opposed to hangin' off, you'd have to lean the bike over much more to keep the same line.
It's counterintuitive, but draggin' a knee is all about less, as opposed to more, lean angle.
Elton
Correct body position lowers the motorcycle's center of gravity and moves the center of gravity towards the inside of the turn. As your body position improves, your knee sliders will make contact without trying. That's why teachers always tell you to focus on body position rather than getting a knee down. Once you have the right body position, your knee sliders will make contact all the time.
Having a lower center of gravity moved towards the inside of the turn allows you to take the turn with less lean angle. That's why dragging a knee makes you faster. It allows you corner at any given speed with less lean angle. And less lean angle means you can get on the gas harder and sooner as you exit the corner. If you were taking the same turn at the same speed but were seated up on top of the bike as opposed to hangin' off, you'd have to lean the bike over much more to keep the same line.
It's counterintuitive, but draggin' a knee is all about less, as opposed to more, lean angle.
Elton