No knee down - but scraping pegs

[Robertjp]

Ok, after watching the youtube knee down video i decided to try this again and with the good weather today i decided to give a few corners a go

Well, surprised myself in that its such good fun trying! the adrenalin hit is pretty special, starting to wish i had learned to ride years ago - but glad i didnt cause restraint didnt used to be in my vocab...

BUT....i am a bit bewildered!! really, really cranked over and my knee still isnt down!! the REALLY bizarre thing is the fact that my footpeg was !! Now, i stood in front of the bike when i got home thinking - how the hell did i scrape that and not get my knee down???

Im riding an SV650S - i found myself looking at the exhaust worried i had scraped that - but i havent. I cant really believe the angle i must have been at , but NO KNEE DOWN!!! GRRR!!!

Hints and tips on a postcard!!

Edited by Robertjp on Friday 4th July 19:13

[Hooli]

get your arse further off the bike. watch the racers, they almost have their outside thigh on the saddle at times.

[lawrence567]

Take your hero blobs off your pegs & get your arse right off the seat and toes on the pegs!

[Chilli]

Tis all in body positioning... One ase cheeck on te seat and try to head butt your mirror.

[RizzoTheRat]

lawrence567 said:

Take your hero blobs off your pegs & get your arse right off the seat and toes on the pegs!

I'd be inclined not to take the hero blobs off until you've got plenty of practice of scraping them. Dunno about the SV but on some bikes the exhaust or centrestand will be the next thing to touch down and they don't fold up like the pegs.

[Carl-H]

If you try to keep your body farily upright while cornering you will scrape your pegs all day. Thats how I got rid of my chicken strips when I first started riding and didnt know what I was doing, put a new tyre on and always have about 10mm left but I go ALOT faster now than I did then.

Hnaging off makes a massive difference to the bikes lean angle. Once or twice when I have hit diesel (sand once) mid corner I have literally took my arse right off the seat and hung off like mad so the bike is nearly upright. Always works.

[m3psm]

As above really. You really have to hang right off.

Since doing 4 years on the TDM I tend to ride sitting upright now and kept scraping the pegs on the VFR.

Now I'm getting the hang of the VFR I'm starting to hang off it and the pegs don't touch anymore and I find my knee very close. As I wear textiles though, I find myself pulling the knee in. With the leathers and sliders though I recon I'm about there.

My problem is that I'm supposed to be slowing down nowdays, not getting faster

[Rubin215]

Could it just be that you're "generously proportioned?"

Extra weight on soft suspension will bring your footpegs closer to ground much faster at any lean angle.

Either jack up the suspension, or lay off the pies!

[moto_traxport]

RizzoTheRat said:

lawrence567 said:

Take your hero blobs off your pegs & get your arse right off the seat and toes on the pegs!

I'd be inclined not to take the hero blobs off until you've got plenty of practice of scraping them. Dunno about the SV but on some bikes the exhaust or centrestand will be the next thing to touch down and they don't fold up like the pegs.

Do not take the hero blobs out. Knee scraping intiallly is all about technique not extra lean angle and more corner speed. Hang your arse off (bum crack just off the seat) but keep your upper body in towards the tank and push your knee forwards and down at the same time. The whole thing is a bit of twist of your body in the beginning and it feels desparately un-natural but as soon as you "find" the floor you can develop your technique.

http://s44.photobucket.com/albums/f8/moto_traxport...

Photo above is me farting around trying to get my elblow down at Albacete (and failing!). This is on road tyres (Metz M-1's) and the entry to the corner is damp so its all about hang off and minimise the lean of the bike so the same techniques applies to you learning for the first time. If you can also deliberately go through the corner a gear higher then normal this helps stop your slightly unfamiliar body postition screwing up throttle control.

Do not listen to people who say just go faster / lean over further if you are already decking the pegs - hello hospital / Norwich Union claims dept.

It is worth repeating over and over when learning this stuff it is NOT the ultimate speed or the lean angle (you do need a fair bit of both) but the TECHNIQUE. When I first got my knee down I went through a set of sliders a weekend just for the fun of it but it had nothing to do with corner speed. 10 years later I went racing for a year (and won a championship with BMCRC) and I can still see the manufacturers name on my sliders to this day. I've got my knee down at an indicated 174mph (blah, blah, blah but true at Monza) and way less than 10mph (equally as hard - kneescraping around those 6 foot radius painted dot roundabouts - seeing if you can you join up you yellow line all the way round) - however the best speed to learn is about 35 or 40mph.

Edited by moto_traxport on Saturday 5th July 00:16

[Jimmy5]

I don't claim to be an expert but a few photos from a recent trackday emphasise the previous points and show the difference between hanging off and not





Yellow bike has a bigger lean angle but knee is further from ground



Note right arse cheek completely of the bike


Moto-traxport love the style in that pic, I've really got to learn to stay tucked in when cornering. Elbows sort the men from the boys

[Robertjp]

Thanks for all rhe advise guys, i will put into practice!

I had already established that it wasnt about going faster or leaning more - scraping the pegs pretty much told me i was just about as far over as i could be!!!

BTW - Hero Blobs? sorry about the newbie question! My pegs have nothing 'removable' on them?

Going to practice hanging off a little more - i will get there!!
Although will have to wait until another day, have a uni assignment to finish


edited to add: i know what hero blobs are now, and the bike does have them

Edited by Robertjp on Saturday 5th July 17:57

[Farky]

If your pegs are scraping then you've PLENTY enough angle to get your knee on the deck. Like what most have said already, change your technique.

[Hooli]

Robertjp said:

BTW - Hero Blobs? sorry about the newbie question! My pegs have nothing 'removable' on them?

under the peg. the blob that hangs down screws in.
pegs down isnt max corner speed btw, hang off further & you'll go faster for the same angle of bike lean. pegs down is just max speed with how you currently sit on the bike.

[Hyperion]

IMO think these are the four things needed for a perfect knee down...
(Assuming a right hander or roundabout)
1: Your left leg should be locked into the tank. (Imagine letting go of the handlebars, and using your left leg to keep you from falling off)
2: Your bum should be half off the seat.
3: The tips of your feet should be on the pegs.
4: Your head should be looking around the fairing and through the corner.