Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Hello all,


Getting your knee down.


Last years snowy ride i notice quite a few riders getting their knees down well nearly all the way down on the ride to the various locations.


Looks good......whats involved in getting to that level.


Is the aim to keep the bike as upright as possible and let your body hang off as a counterweight?


Those that know how to knee down properly please convey to this grasshopper your wisdom of kneedown and how this grasshopper can start learning to do so.

I have given it a go on some quiet roads and my brain is telling me to NOT lean the bike or the tyres will give way and i will go down....i guess this is a normal feeling....actually thats that i cant get out of my system that the tyres may lose traction and down she goes. I am trying to get more confident on tight cornering which is my main weakness at the moment. And I must ovecome it.

What i mean by me leaning is not as low as valentino rossi but your average cornering low angle



Cheers


Roc

Get yourself booked in to a few track days and you'll have your knee down in no time. Trying too hard to get it down on the road is a sure fire way of punting yourself into a nice shiny piece of Armco!

Some of the fastest blokes I've ever ridden with rarely stick their knee out, let alone touch it down.

Good advice aardvark... at the track is the best place for this sort of shenanigans basically the more upright you can keep the bike the more corner speed you can have, so obviously the faster you go the more lean angle you have & the easier it is to get your knee down

what if you get your knee down but then got passed by someone sitting upright

it makes nice sight though, I know few who can do this on public roads "at will".. even carpark. They all have long legs

Some people overdo the knee down thing........ Ive nearly run into the back of some tosser who was knee down in a corner.....

javaman wrote:what if you get your knee down but then got passed by someone sitting upright

Then you end up looking like a tool...

When I went to Germany to test ride the K1200 pre-production bikes, the German BMW test rider who was with us put us all to shame. He was flying around the Nurburgring, sitting upright on the bike, with one hand on the bars. Meanwhile, I'm hanging off the bike, knee scraping trying to keep up with him!!

I've never got a knee down on the road but don't have any probs at all on the track with getting it planted! I just reckon if I get a knee down on the road I'm trying too hard (or being a try hard?) too many variables on the road to go doing that kind of stuff .... IMHO
now that I no longer have the Ducati and have a KTM640 I reckon if I get a knee down I'm in serious trouble!

ducati_paul wrote:I've never got a knee down on the road but don't have any probs at all on the track with getting it planted! I just reckon if I get a knee down on the road I'm trying too hard (or being a try hard?) too many variables on the road to go doing that kind of stuff .... IMHO
now that I no longer have the Ducati and have a KTM640 I reckon if I get a knee down I'm in serious trouble!

mmm knee down on the KTM? you would want long legs

ok i understand the advice you guys are giving but whats the correct technique for taking corners....on the last snowy ride i was getting overtaken by literally anyone who came up from behind....why?????....well i put it down to i was goingt he posted limit as the roads were moist/wet andi have never been in that part of the country b4.


12 of us in a group and i was the last to arrive. I found it intimidating and embarrassing.......i wasnt riding like a granny...but i wasnt carving up the corners like the rest either.


I am trying to build up confidence on my cornering and most riders if not all that were going on the road were really leaning beyond what my brain was saying is safe............how do i get rid of the chicken in me with regards to cornering?

the snowy ride wasnt enjoyable for me in respect to the twisities in the mountains as it was more a ride of survival for me instead of fun....you know the situations where your thinking" how long is this gunna take to finish...i want off asap"

i find myself slowing down what i would consider too much in readyness for tight corner...where most others seem to arrive and scoot staright out of them with little effort

I am trying to get more confident on tight cornering which is my main weakness at the moment. And I must ovecome it.

I think you should concerntrate more on getting confidence in corners and getting them right before you even look at trying to scrape your knee.
Also like every one else above getting your knee down does not equal to taking the corner faster. It is also not always the safest thing to do on the road. You will not realise this until it will be too late either.
Try to get your knee down on a track. That kis the safest place to do it.

so correcting myself then....i should be asking for tips on cornering.


I just seem to percieve those that get their knee down seem to execute the corner better than me being more upright

rocco wrote:so correcting myself then....i should be asking for tips on cornering.


I just seem to percieve those that get their knee down seem to execute the corner better than me being more upright

Bingo.... but cornering practice is easier & quicker to learn at the track as its more predictable then take thin new found knowledge & then carve up your local canyon eg superbike school / advanced rider training will teach you the right way

robracer wrote:..... eg superbike school / advanced rider training will teach you the right way

Yep, do this, you will learn much more than anyone can just tell you because they can show you, watch you and provide feedback. You can try to figure it out by yourself, but if you are doing something wrong and don't know it, you'll just end up making it a bad habit.

Secondly you have to remember that you should always ride at the speed you are comfortable and don't give fuck whatever anyone else thinks about it. People fall off and hurt themselves when they try to ride beyond their abilities. If the people you are riding with don't like waiting for you then they are knobs and you should find someone else to ride with.

Also remember that no matter how fast you get, there will always be someone faster than you.

1 word... Trackday.
You'll be scooting around & next thing you know... ssccccchhhhh WTF was that !!
Everybody I know who's ever touched their knee down shits themselves the first time - including me

Mick C wrote:

robracer wrote:..... eg superbike school / advanced rider training will teach you the right way

Also remember that no matter how fast you get, there will always be someone faster than you.

Yeah, just ask Valentino