grrr i just carnt seem to get me knee down! help!

[chalky143]

Right my m8 whos got a bandit 1200 can get his knee down on my rs50 and ive just tryed and tryed and i carnt get close. Im leaning as far as i seem to be able to and i also posision my wieght right but still nothing...Ive been tryin on a certian corner and i get 2 about 45 and turn and still im quite far off from what i can tell but knowone has atully told me how far i am lol. I kept going round the biggest roundabout i kno of thats near me and im still not getting anywere help?

thankyou
leon
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Current bike :: sv650 minitwin race bike
Previous bikes::cbr600 steelie race bike, 1989 Honda vfr750f, 2013 Honda fireblade, 2013 Ducati multistrata 1200s, 2012 Triumph street triple R, 1999 yamaha r6, vfr 800, ducati 600ss, vfr 400x2, ntv 650, bandit 600, cagiva mito 125, aprilia rs 50, honda c90x2, honda hornet 600x2, cbr 600, aprilia rx50, suzuki katana
My bike pics: https://www.bikepics.com/members/chalky143/

[KevTM]

know how you feel, i can get my toes down even though i've got the tips of my toes on the pegs so nearly pegs down but i can't get my knee down, probably just wrong positioning even though i'm hanging one cheek off and letting my knee drop to the floor.. it beats me..

frustrating but i'm not too bothered anyway i know i can lean the bike as far as it'll go (no chicken strips) so kneedown means nothing really to me.. just curious as to why it wont happen

So your issue is probably the same as mine on the roads though you don't generally go that far down anyway unless it's roundabout material.

Sorry i can't help but atleast you know you're not alone lol

[chalky143]

[BorderHooner]

I have 2" chicken strips either side of the back tyre
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Benelli. Happy as a pig in cacky.

[bazza]

[Davo]

It might be worth getting someone to take a digital camera with you and take some photos, even though you think your banked over as far as you can and hanging off like a monkey, chances are you aren't.

[Finglonga]

Why do you want to get your knee down?
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Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Cos it's fun.

Try bending your knee backwards, rather than outwards, if you can understand what I mean. Further knee is back the further out it will stick.

[Finglonga]

[Zimma]

Try this
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-Zimma

[Zimbo]

Hang off the side of the bike more.
Once you've done it once, you'll be able to do it any time.

[jay12329]

https://www.bikechatforums.com/files/pict0019_190.jpg

You dont need to lean the bike, just hang off like a monkey. In this pic i have my whole ass off the seat, and my leg pushed out. Then the un starts, getting your peg down is the next step. The doing it with rearsets. Then you can start rideing rarther then trying to get you kd.
J

[Rookie]

[Blunet600]

what are chicken strips?

[Rookie]

[the grim reaper]

I've posted this before but I'll post it again anyway.

A trick to getting the right body position for knee down is to wheel your bike up close to a wall (as in less than 1mm from the mirror to wall) on the right hand side and then put the bike on it's sidestand. Get a mate to hold the bike while you get on it and hang off towards the wall. Try to touch the wall with your knee slider, yuo'll find it's quite a stretch. This is the correct position for knee down.

Now go and try and you should find it easy.

I take no responsibility for anyone crashing while trying this out, it worked for me but there's no guarantees.

Cheers

Grim
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Adverts don't always work: Remember that advert, where the army are running across the desert and they have a wounded man on a stretcher. They get to a ravine, the bridge is down and a caption pops up that says, 'What are you thinking?'. I don't know about you but I was thinking, 'Christ, I'm glad I'm not in the f***ing army'.

[colezxr]

[craigs23]

I've never got my knee down and don't expect to on the road.

There shouldn't be any pressure to do so, just ride in a style that comes naturally to you. Desperately leaning off like a chimp for the desperation just because you want to graze a kneeslider seems a tad ridiculous; unless you want to keep the bike as upright as possible when riding in snow/rain/etc.

Road awareness/positioning/brake/turning in/apex/etc seems far more important to me and I would think are more important skills to learn and develop when riding on the public highway.

[Huambo81a]

yeah, i`ve never tried either.

Infact, i dont really hang off the bike at all when i`m corning, more like shift my weight and countersteer, i.e i stay upright, and the bike tucks underneath me, i dont know if thats bad technque, but then i`m not interested in being the fastest guy in the corners, i enjoy things at my own pace which is by no means slow.
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Present: 2017 KTM Super Adventure S
Past: 97 Bandit 600 / 05 Bandit 1200 / 03 ZX6-R / 2006 Tuono R / 2001 VFR 800 / 2010 Street Triple R / 2013 Speed Triple S / 2017 S1000XR

[Delbwoy]

Hi all,

[_Will_]

Go find a roundabout with a heavy camber
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Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[KevTM]

i just try now and then to see if i can "make" an excuse to buy a set of leathers and get rid of these damned textiles i've had for so many years (for the slow-minded.. ruining my textiles by tearing the knees on the trousers )

[Squiffy_The_Wombat]

This is a copy from the thread i wrote on the vtr forums, i hope it helps:

Well, summers finally here and i thought i would try to help out some people in return for the wealth of help ive been given here. So many people ask me how i do it, the amount of time ive heard "i can scrape the pegs but cant drag my knee" is just silly.....

This is based on roundabout surfing...sorry yanks et al.

1) WARM UP YOUR TYRES...if you dont have warm tyres you are going to crash, there is no leeway here, they need to be nice and toasty, if need be you need to stop and put your hand on the tyre itself, it should be warm like a radiator!

1a) WARM UP YOUR TYRES!

2) HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOUR BIKE....Its possible to get your knee down on anything so dont let some nob down the local roundabout tell you its not possible without X suspension or such and such add on...not true! A well maintained bike with good tyres will serve you well.

3) TYRE CHOICE.... Well differenet tyres offer different grip we all know that but some are going to be a totally difference experience when pushed hard "to the wall" (edge of the tyre). If you have sticky tyres such as BT010's, diablos or supercosas then skip this section. For those of you running tyres like 020's and dunlops 208's it is important to understand how your tyre works and how it feels under stress. A less grippy tyre is going to squirm and "squiggle" around the road, this is fine and nothing to worry about but will be slightly un-nerving when your learning. I would advise riding round gradually increasing your lean so you can feel the tyre move with you.

4) SPEED...how fast? a question oftern asked! Normally you would expect to be going at least 40mph, anything under this will mean an increased angle of lean or not enough puff to get you round. Going over this will just be dangerous and your likelly to over run and end up in the curb! extra speed is gained by controling various variables which wont become apparent untill you learn to safely touch those sliders.

5) BODY POSTION..... This is THE MOST IMPORTANT PART! Relax your body, stiff muscles result in panic and the loss of fluid movement. Start slowly round and build your up speed gradually, the more it increases the more you will naturally push your body out to the right.

Shift your body right so that your left bum cheek is on the seat and the right one hanging in the air. Dont bend your knee yet! Now place the ball of your foot onto the right peg whilst using your left leg to support you by pining it to the tank.

Bend your right elbow so its facing the deck, this should allow your body to move forward. Ideally you want to be trying to hit the wingmirror with your chin. Now your knee should natrually be pointing towards the deck.

If your scraping the pegs, your leaning too much and your body postion isnt correct, check that your trying to headbutt the wingmirror and that your elbow is bent, if that arms straight your knee wont touch!

6) THE FIRST TIME.....It will make a very odd sound to you and feel very odd, 99% of people instantly right the bike. But even if its a 1cm tiny scratch it still went down...go back and pratice..

7) QUICK TIPS....Dont learn using titamuim sparkies these are catchy and will not be pleasant. Dont pratice somewhere theres lots of cars, a quiet roundabout where theres no bikers or cars is perfect. Do wear sliders, the extra 3 inches they stick out will mean alot when you are starting!

AND REMMBER ALWAYS LOOK AHEAD, NEVER EVER EVER EVER TRY TO LOOK DOWN AT YOUR SLIDER WHEN SURFING....

Any questions, comments or flames...feel free to reply here. Ive prolly missed a few things, ill have a re-read when im not so tired!

...just my 2pence!
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Squiffy_The_Wombat
Eagles may soar but wombats dont get sucked into jet engines

[RealNinja]

I absolutely guarantee it's your body positioning thats letting you down.

To begin with you really do have to hang off like a gibbon a riding whippet, if it takes you to have both arse cheeks off the seat then do it, you will find that once you have got the confidence in the bike you will hang off less and lean over more.

Get someone to follow you round, preferably some one that can KD, 9 times out of 10 they will be following you round with their knee on the deck while you haven't, although this sounds like they are taking the p*ss, they won't be, it just proves that your speed/lean are good enough.

Push your knee back towards the back of the bike, not down. Sounds wierd but if you push down, your knee will actually come in towards to fairing, if you push back it will come out.

Use the balls of your feet on the pegs, not your arch. Not only will this give you more flexablilty, it naturally puts your knee out further.

Find a nice, clean, quiet roundabout to practise on. Preferably one away from prying, police calling people. We have a set of them on Stoke that form a link road from a main road to a retail park and on a Sunday they don't get much traffic. I have one in Stafford that is completly clear during the day, cos it's in the middle of a housing estate and there ain't nobody home during the day

'50p' the roundy. Make sure there is noone up the inside of you on the approach to the roundabout, get in the left lane, indicate right (just in case) run round the outside of the curve and then pitch in hard and fast WITH WARM TYRES, to get used to the sensation of the fast lean angle, if your knee doesn't go down, pick it up and run wide again, then tip in again, until you knee goes down, this will give you your angle and body position. Once you have taught your body where it needs to be you will find the angle too.

Why do it? On the tracks it's about lean angle and feel, on the road it's about showing off , me I can't do wheelies or stoppies, but I can KD pretty much any roundabout straight on and off and it brightens up my day

I don't know where you are from, but if you are ever in my area, shout and I'll help
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You will become my force of retribution. Where you tread, doom will follow. Go now and claim your destiny

[Zimma]