Discussion
I've just bought some new leather trousers, only my 2nd pair since passing in November last year. Only problem with them (apart from being bloody tight around the thighs despite the stretch panels) is they're the RST pro series and they come with some nice shiny knee sliders that will stay that way unfortunately for a while yet. Although I have almost no chicken strips now, getting my knee down still seems a long way off despite hanging off a little.
What I don't want to do is to look like an "all the gear and no idea" bloke..So how many on here have untouched knee sliders and how many get they're knee down on a regular basis?
To me rightly or wrongly it's something I'd like to aim at, as biking is just for pleasure for me and every ride out is a chance to work on skills and get more experience. Plus there is far more to riding a bike fast than I ever imagined and it's this that I enjoy trying to master.
I presume that if I do a few track days then I'll get them looking as they should be but in the meantime I'll be road riding only until next year. I ride a naked btw and not a sports bike so it could be worse.
What I don't want to do is to look like an "all the gear and no idea" bloke..So how many on here have untouched knee sliders and how many get they're knee down on a regular basis?
To me rightly or wrongly it's something I'd like to aim at, as biking is just for pleasure for me and every ride out is a chance to work on skills and get more experience. Plus there is far more to riding a bike fast than I ever imagined and it's this that I enjoy trying to master.
I presume that if I do a few track days then I'll get them looking as they should be but in the meantime I'll be road riding only until next year. I ride a naked btw and not a sports bike so it could be worse.
WarnieV6GT said:
Although I have almost no chicken strips now, getting my knee down still seems a long way off despite hanging off a little.
What I don't want to do is to look like an "all the gear and no idea" bloke..
You should care much less about what other people think of your chicken strips and knee slidersWhat I don't want to do is to look like an "all the gear and no idea" bloke..
HustleRussell said:
WarnieV6GT said:
Although I have almost no chicken strips now, getting my knee down still seems a long way off despite hanging off a little.
What I don't want to do is to look like an "all the gear and no idea" bloke..
You should care much less about what other people think of your chicken strips and knee slidersWhat I don't want to do is to look like an "all the gear and no idea" bloke..
“almost no chicken strips now”
There is always some controversy to this I find for road
On track of course I do it every corner but as you go faster (for me atleast) after it touches I keep leaning until my toe which is tight into the peg touches and try lift/skim my knee slider. It works well for me but Im no elbow down hang right off kinda guy (I have mates that are but I find it all a bit silly really)
As for the road you dont get the same angles and alot of the time through the twisties/lanes you just cant as each corner is blind however the roads that you can see into the distance or nice sweepy roundabouts that are clear and go onto a nice stretch of road I often get my knee down
Find a quiet area and practice - dont think about it too much or you'll never do it, just go fairly quick, get your nuts up the front of the tank and your arse off (I use the crease of the seat where I sit in the middle) and stick your knee out
Once you do it once you'll be laughing, honestly its not difficult
Enjoy!
On track of course I do it every corner but as you go faster (for me atleast) after it touches I keep leaning until my toe which is tight into the peg touches and try lift/skim my knee slider. It works well for me but Im no elbow down hang right off kinda guy (I have mates that are but I find it all a bit silly really)
As for the road you dont get the same angles and alot of the time through the twisties/lanes you just cant as each corner is blind however the roads that you can see into the distance or nice sweepy roundabouts that are clear and go onto a nice stretch of road I often get my knee down
Find a quiet area and practice - dont think about it too much or you'll never do it, just go fairly quick, get your nuts up the front of the tank and your arse off (I use the crease of the seat where I sit in the middle) and stick your knee out
Once you do it once you'll be laughing, honestly its not difficult
Enjoy!
Birky_41 said:
Find a quiet area and practice - dont think about it too much or you'll never do it, just go fairly quick, get your nuts up the front of the tank and your arse off (I use the crease of the seat where I sit in the middle) and stick your knee out
Once you do it once you'll be laughing, honestly its not difficult
Enjoy!
See I can’t get my knee down if I’m right up to the tank, I have to sit quite a long way back so that I can actually slide sideways rather than rotate round the tank which brings my knee back in. It’s annoying as generally I ride pretty far forward as I like a lot of weight on the front. Once you do it once you'll be laughing, honestly its not difficult
Enjoy!
I only do it on track, never done it on the road.
You can always go on a training day, and get your knee down in safety on track/airfield .....once you are well practiced at it, its up to you if you ride like that on the road.
www.i2imca.com do a knee down course thats very popular, I did it a few years back and everyone was riding around by lunchtime dragging their knees.....
www.i2imca.com do a knee down course thats very popular, I did it a few years back and everyone was riding around by lunchtime dragging their knees.....
patchb said:
See I can’t get my knee down if I’m right up to the tank, I have to sit quite a long way back so that I can actually slide sideways rather than rotate round the tank which brings my knee back in. It’s annoying as generally I ride pretty far forward as I like a lot of weight on the front.
I only do it on track, never done it on the road.
Just uploaded this for this post only. Its my fat, vertically challenged brother being taught last week. He had to hang off a bit but even he, after 30 mins and a dozen trial runs did itI only do it on track, never done it on the road.
https://youtu.be/vGofSzFgL_o
Birky_41 said:
There is always some controversy to this I find for road
On track of course I do it every corner but as you go faster (for me atleast) after it touches I keep leaning until my toe which is tight into the peg touches and try lift/skim my knee slider. It works well for me but Im no elbow down hang right off kinda guy (I have mates that are but I find it all a bit silly really)
As for the road you dont get the same angles and alot of the time through the twisties/lanes you just cant as each corner is blind however the roads that you can see into the distance or nice sweepy roundabouts that are clear and go onto a nice stretch of road I often get my knee down
Find a quiet area and practice - dont think about it too much or you'll never do it, just go fairly quick, get your nuts up the front of the tank and your arse off (I use the crease of the seat where I sit in the middle) and stick your knee out
Once you do it once you'll be laughing, honestly its not difficult
Enjoy!
Great advice, cheers birky On track of course I do it every corner but as you go faster (for me atleast) after it touches I keep leaning until my toe which is tight into the peg touches and try lift/skim my knee slider. It works well for me but Im no elbow down hang right off kinda guy (I have mates that are but I find it all a bit silly really)
As for the road you dont get the same angles and alot of the time through the twisties/lanes you just cant as each corner is blind however the roads that you can see into the distance or nice sweepy roundabouts that are clear and go onto a nice stretch of road I often get my knee down
Find a quiet area and practice - dont think about it too much or you'll never do it, just go fairly quick, get your nuts up the front of the tank and your arse off (I use the crease of the seat where I sit in the middle) and stick your knee out
Once you do it once you'll be laughing, honestly its not difficult
Enjoy!
bogie said:
You can always go on a training day, and get your knee down in safety on track/airfield .....once you are well practiced at it, its up to you if you ride like that on the road.
www.i2imca.com do a knee down course thats very popular, I did it a few years back and everyone was riding around by lunchtime dragging their knees.....
Cheers.www.i2imca.com do a knee down course thats very popular, I did it a few years back and everyone was riding around by lunchtime dragging their knees.....
Before that I'll find a few empty roundabouts so I can at least get the right knee down ...
If it bothers you, buy some worn ones off ebay. Back in about 2003 when Carnells disappeared up its own arse, I bought a load of new Dainese sliders for £5 a pop, got 8 or 10 sets. Put my old knackered ones on ebay, and they sold for about £29 or so!! So went out and marked a few up then sold a few sets for a tidy profit!
I think I got about £30 for a set of old sparky ones that were banned from track days too.
I think I got about £30 for a set of old sparky ones that were banned from track days too.
poo at Paul's said:
If it bothers you, buy some worn ones off ebay. Back in about 2003 when Carnells disappeared up its own arse, I bought a load of new Dainese sliders for £5 a pop, got 8 or 10 sets. Put my old knackered ones on ebay, and they sold for about £29 or so!! So went out and marked a few up then sold a few sets for a tidy profit!
I think I got about £30 for a set of old sparky ones that were banned from track days too.
Really! I’m just about to bin a few used ones. 🤔I think I got about £30 for a set of old sparky ones that were banned from track days too.
Birky_41 said:
Just uploaded this for this post only. Its my fat, vertically challenged brother being taught last week. He had to hang off a bit but even he, after 30 mins and a dozen trial runs did it
https://youtu.be/vGofSzFgL_o
Eh!? I’m 6’4” but despite being only 26 I’m not overly flexible, I just find sitting forwards rotates me round the tank and pulls my knee back in. https://youtu.be/vGofSzFgL_o
Or is it the fact I don’t do it on the road?
The trick is to get your body position right, and as you start to lean more into corners, touching down your knee will come as a natural progressions (You want knee down to be a result of good body position and lean angle, not the result of poor body position and a massively stuck out leg as that's only going to end one way)
Use your upper body to lean off initially and make sure that you lower body isn't leaning off more than your upper body. You'll find that you struggle to do it sat forwards as you probably have (in the case of a right hander for example) you're lower body hanging off too far, and your upper body twisted to the left to compensate
Do a good search of any modern GP rider covering, and you'll see that their upper body is actually more directed into the corner than their lower body and their knee and/or elbow down is as a result of a high lean angle rather them actually reaching it out.
Like others have said above, the road isn't the place to be learning this, but if that's all you have (and you can't get to a track) find a nice big, smooth roundabout and just concentrate on getting your head down by where you mirror is, and the rest will come naturally
Hope this helps ?
Use your upper body to lean off initially and make sure that you lower body isn't leaning off more than your upper body. You'll find that you struggle to do it sat forwards as you probably have (in the case of a right hander for example) you're lower body hanging off too far, and your upper body twisted to the left to compensate
Do a good search of any modern GP rider covering, and you'll see that their upper body is actually more directed into the corner than their lower body and their knee and/or elbow down is as a result of a high lean angle rather them actually reaching it out.
Like others have said above, the road isn't the place to be learning this, but if that's all you have (and you can't get to a track) find a nice big, smooth roundabout and just concentrate on getting your head down by where you mirror is, and the rest will come naturally
Hope this helps ?
poo at Paul's said:
If it bothers you, buy some worn ones off ebay. Back in about 2003 when Carnells disappeared up its own arse, I bought a load of new Dainese sliders for £5 a pop, got 8 or 10 sets. Put my old knackered ones on ebay, and they sold for about £29 or so!! So went out and marked a few up then sold a few sets for a tidy profit!
I think I got about £30 for a set of old sparky ones that were banned from track days too.
Awww Carnell’s as a Donny lad that name brings back a few memories. £7000 for a new R1?....oh those were the days. I think I got about £30 for a set of old sparky ones that were banned from track days too.
OP, trackdays are the way to go. Corner, repeat, corner, repeat....you’ll have it nailed in no time 👍
When I first got a licence I taught myself on a local roundabout. But pretty pointless for normal riding as bends that are slow enough to get your knee down at normal speeds you generally
can’t see enough and those with a clear view you would have to be going very quickly. Best kept to the track.
can’t see enough and those with a clear view you would have to be going very quickly. Best kept to the track.
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