Getting the knee down advice?

[LewSpeight]

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.

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...

[LewSpeight]

Originally Posted by LankyIanB

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...

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..

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.

Originally Posted by LewSpeight

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..

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.

i didn't get my knee down today 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

Originally Posted by granty92

i didn't get my knee down today 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

*Psyching

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

Originally Posted by Cymraeg_Atodeg

*Psyching

thanks haha im guessing something went wrong then??

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!!

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.