Getting the knee down advice?
 

Okay. So here's a shot in the dark...
I used to race Downhill mountain bikes until I got something with an engine and never looked back, so i get the whole 'loosen up and let the bike do what it wants' logic.
I do the whole 'look where you need to be and not just 5ft in front of you' and feel like I'm just missing that one little bit of advice to actually get my knee down because at the minute I'm no where near but feel like I SHOULD be, until I'm told by my friends that I'm not.
I'm just wanting some advice on how to inspire confidence round the corners? I'm riding a naked k6.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Boring I know - but save it for the track....

If you want to get your knee down there.... cool!! How to do it.....some of it is body positioning, some of it is speed, most of it is confidence. Having an instructor on track to show you lines and build up your speed and confidence works wonders. Haslam Race School Premier is well worth the money...

Getting the knee down advice?
 

Oh! I'll bare that in mind. I'll take a note of Haslam.
I know it's confidence but I'm wondering why I can't built my confidence in corners? Never had an off or even a near off in a bend to scare me..

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Lew,

If you wanna give it a try PM me and I can tell you what I know. I have not done a track day, but, confidently get k/d most of the time I ride.

The issue is that getting k/d on the road is a can of worms in this place. There seems to be a lot of new riders recently who post "got k/d on roundabout today" shortly followed by "lowsided today on a roundabout."

Confidence is one part, being smart is another. Knowing where and when to is very important. It can be done, just be careful when doing it.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

I guarantee that if you ride with really good riders on road you will find that this isn't necessary to ride as fast as possible.

On the other hand, if you just want to do a knee down for no other reason than it looks cool its simply a matter of practice. Find somewhere safe and preferably deserted. Get your tyres nice and warm and gradually, smoothly work on leaning the bike more and more whilst getting your body position correct.

Its definitely a mental thing, unless your footpegs are quite high (as is mine) which makes the distance to the ground greater. Remember the knee down is really a lean guage. If yoiu're already at sufficient lean to get the optimum line around a corner then you technically don't need to get the knee down.

I did 200+ miles on Sunday led by a Triumph Tiger rider and there is no way he gets his knee down. Yet I regularly watched him waltz of into the distance just through great road positioning.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

i didn't get my knee down today :D becuase its raining :( have done previously though and i just kept going round and round on a big, open roundabout and just kept sykeing(not sure if its spelt like that) myself out until i leant over just enough to feel it scrape the floor :) practice makes perfect and now my sliders look well used

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

*Psyching

Wanna know about k/d in the rain? Ask TheOnlyNemesis (then laugh at him)

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

thanks haha im guessing something went wrong then??

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

I've never got my knee down and I've been riding for nearly 4 years now. I recently watched all of this and its helped ALOT with my cornering, with all these techniques in this, your bound to get the lean angle soon on decent corners!
I wouldnt try it on a roundabout as you have to keep backing off the throttle as you go round and round and round.
It makes more sense to find a decent set of bends in your area and just practice there when its not too busy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsAQZ_x0Xzg&sns=em
It is VERY cheesy but do watch all of it, it REALLY helped me!!

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Personally, do a track day first, learn the limits of your bike in a safe environment, and then play on the road if you still wish to.

It's how I got my confidence up in terms of lean limits (ie, so far over that the pegs start to push up on the track), and then gave me more confidence when and where I could apply it on the road.

As for getting your knee down on the road, hang off your bike... sounds crazy, but that's essentially what you have to do to do it on the road (And find a very quiet, but moderate sized roundabout with very smooth surface to practice). If you've got mates who are trustworthy, they're also handy to have standing by to let you know if you're not far off.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Go do 3 sisters charity track evening, if you can't get KD there you won't do it anywhere... and no bus stops/kerbs/children etc. And it's cheap!

Mostly about pointing your knee down (not just out) and having your torso in right place not twisted.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Long tight 270 degree slip roads are always good. Always fun if they flick back round on themselves too.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

In order to get your knee down, you will need:

- good quality tyres (standard sv tyres will not do... basically they're shiit)
- decent suspension (standard sv suspension with fresh oil may be ok for you if your weight is suited, but if you're like the rest of the uk population then something a bit firmer and with heavier weighted oil will make the bike more planted)
- a track day where you can practise the same corners over and over all day long, progressively getting quicker trying different turn in points & body positioning, maybe even some instruction from one of the pro's...... oh and also the other benefit is being able to use the full width of the track rather than half a carriageway with on coming traffic and crap on the road..

:)

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

As you can see, there are differing view, this is why I said "can of worms"...

:twisted:

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

roundabout knee downs are lame

as PT6 said, do a trackday its more fun, you'll also learn what your bike is capable of

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Says those who can't do it :smt062

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Save it for a Track day
Most common reason why people don't get knee down is there not hanging off enough. Make sure ya ass is only one cheek on the seat, ball of foot on peg and force knee out and down. Lock opposite leg into tank.
Practice makes perfect

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

I can do it they're easy and i still think its lame. They're forced and slow, a trackday knee down is relatively effortless if your body positioning is correct and the added speed makes it feel so stable you feel like you can go way faster and thus then realise what your bike can actually do. I've only knee downed on a roundabout twice because i was with some chums going round them on a ride out.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Buy some of these....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Knee-Slide...vip=true&rt=nc

Ykims, to some anyway. ;-)

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Weren't far off it when I was behind you on Sunday :)

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

i know but i was ring twitchingly close to tomor

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Never bothered me personally, perhaps on the track it'd see the ground more but im usually too busy picking a line which is quick and keeps me away from people running wide the other side of the road.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Knee down ffs, elbow down, well i've not done it yet Lol

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

There's a lot more to it than just hanging off and hoping for the best.. alot of people take it for granted once they become more experienced but I remember as a novice rider, listening to as many experienced riders/friends as I could and reading stuff on the net/magazines, soaking up all their advice, very much in line with good roadcraft and programmes such as the california superbikes school/ron haslam race school etc. all about

• getting the bike set up before the corner
• i.e. braking to the correct speed
• then off the brakes
• engine in the right gear and fixed on constant throttle - not slowing/not increasing in speed.. so it's all nice and balanced..
• body position gently moved to the right place with ass across the seat slightly
• ball of your inside foot on the pegs
• countersteer gently to encourage the bike to tip in
• look for the apex and through to the exit, then turn in
• once near the apex gently start to power through....

all this combined together will eventually result in knee down if you practice it enough.

Knee down looks and feels good, but is just a by-product of being smooth and disciplined in your cornering technique. Practising good technique and body position will be better than actively hanging off in pursuit of trying to get your knee down, with forced body positioning you'll cause the bike to be less settled because you're more tensed and not naturally guiding the bike.

Hence why in my experience a trackday provides the best arena to go and practise cornering and getting your kneedown. No worries about muck/diesel/crap on the road, police handing out section 59's, adjoining traffic not anticipating your coming round the roundabout at faster than average speed while you're focussing on hanging off and hoping for the best etc.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7...41010_1459.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-E...41010_1812.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...41010_1919.jpg

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

What ^ said .
Some cheap track days if you search about at the moment.
ps We need a good rain and the pot holes fixed before you attempt it on the public highway.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

My 1-piece came with elbow sliders that are begging to get used

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Im desperate to get my knee down but and its a big but.........
I think I should buy some leathers first :):):):)

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

I'm always looking for an excuse to post this pic of me at Donnington on my ZX6. Track days are the best place to get your knee down no doubt about it;

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...0Stuff/zx6.jpg

http://forums.sv650.org/<a href=http...y-ninja/zx.jpghttp://forums.sv650.org/<a href=&quot;<a ...pg&quot;/></a>

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Kneedown in the wet is the next step, just before crashing ;)

http://i758.photobucket.com/albums/x...5/DSC_0040.jpg

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

they're not if you do them in Kevlar jeans.

Nothing lame about ambulances and screaming.

Disappointingly I had to hold back on sun to keep an eye on where everyone else was.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

I've only just had my knee down on a handful of occasions, however I scrape my toe sliders on roundabouts all the time and have scrubbed in the back tyre right to its edge. Probably need to hang off more? (longer legs would help too....)

Aside from bragging rights, I want to get comfortable doing it as to me it's another aspect of bike control and makes you an overall better, more experienced rider with more understanding of the physics involved in riding.

I've practiced stoppies and wheelies (on deserted private car parks) for the same reason.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...G_0637_DxO.jpg

Have someone learn you the right body position(yes yes the big ******* on the to small bike in the picture does not have the 100% right position, I look better on the gixer :rolleyes:), get used to the speeds involved, and practice, practice, practice, like any sport, some take it really quick, others need hard work and practice.
I read someone say you needed better tyres, for just getting your knee down that's bs in 9 out of 10 times, 99% of the people here ride with tyres they don't have the skills to use to the maximum, and to many "pub-experts" to top that. You need good tyres if you want to push hard, like riding on the edge with small/mini-slides when you just go a touch to hard. For just a knee down moment you can do that on just about any touring tyre, if you know what your doing. But for confidence and psychological effect buy the best tyres you can find, book not just one trackday, it takes more than one to get "there".


Think this is a bit more than .05 pence, maybe 0.2pence?

Good luck, and good hunting.
https://plus.google.com/photos/10311...34025370689730https://plus.google.com/photos/10311...34025370689730

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

0.2pence?

We'll need five more then to pay you a penny.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

You can't get your knee down on a Tiger. The seat is too high and the pegs are too low. I've been getting over to the last 5mm to 1cm of my chicken strips, toes and pegs scraping in Wales. To get my knee anywhere near the ground I'd have to be so far off the bike with the pegs grinding away and even my lanky limbs would struggle.

As you said, knee down is a lean gauge and on a tiger the pegs making contact is the limit. On a few corners I was getting two wheel loss of traction and slipping across the road without peg contact, so the pegs are definitely the limit on normal roads!

As a side note, the suspension on the Tiger is incredible and so confidence inspiring when cornering. I could never get an SV over like the Tiger, nor hustle through the tight twisties as fast. As such, I don't think an SV is really an easy bike to learn knee down on, so fair play to those of you who find it easy to do.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

ever wondered why different bikes have different sized 'hero blobs' on the pegs, well they are there as an indicator that on a standard road bike you are running out of tyre profile. to get further over you will need proper race profiled tyres.

as for the subject of getting your knee down on the road well i find it quite funny when i come across people like this as i'm usually trying to get past them. i have seen very very few riders on the road capable of doing it properly. it's a skill that is handy to have in certain situations if implemented right but in most cases it's just not necessary on public roads.

'knee down' learn on the track, use it when needed on the roads.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

There should be more than 5 others around here somewhere..
But nothing wrong with being cheap, never had problems with girls being cheap in my pre-married years ;)

Bilbo: heroblobs touch down far to early on most bikes, the sv is no exemption, they are far of the limit of any sport tyre. You right on the money with the: on the road you don't need to be kneesliding to be fast.

Mike Hailwood was stupid fast without knee sliding.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

Mmmm, the point being he never tried to get his knee down and was faster because, as you mentioned, the bike is so good in the corners.

And those that stick with the D220 are using a tyre that isn't capable. Good tyres are simply tyres that offer good grip. Touring tyres offer good grip. The point being don't go out to practice knee down on worn or rubbish tyres.

Everyone wants to be right, but "right" is what's ok for you. Just pay attention to the comments and work it out. If you see anyone riding on road constantly doing knee downs through twisties in this country then they're either amazing or rubbish.

Re: Getting the knee down advice?
 

To further divide opinions, nothing feels better than passing a guy kneedown on a sportsbike with your leg out on a supermoto\\:D/\\:D/