I want to get my knee down this summer

No I found it on the net and liked it.

Now back on topic.
You may want to read this little diddy by Nick. Nick is a very good rider. I've raced against him back in the day. The pace is harder than you think and will build your skills for the street. http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/pace You need educated on riding period as most do. Get a copy of Twist of the Wrist II. This will give you a better perspective on how to ride if you want to go fast.

The street presents all kinds of problems when trying to go fast. Not only the texture, make up of the surface but also the guy that has dropped a light amount of sand, oil, fuel or what ever in a corner that you can't see until your in it. Do you know what to do then?

"Getting a knee down" is a bragging rights buzz phrase used by novices. Even if you want those bragging rights then it should be done on a track where things are more controlled. Not on the street. There are very few places to even be able to do it on the street even if you can. At least though your buddies can say at your passing, "Well he got a knee down" like he wanted to. To bad the rest of him went with it.

 

I couldn't agree more. There are a number of courses and techniques available to help you get the knee down but I don't think I need to list them all. As an MSF RiderCoach, Virginia Rider Training Program QAR and Lee Parks Total Control instructor I am a big advocate for motorcycle skills training. In my humble opinion touching a knee down should not be the metric; proper use of body position to make cornering more efficient and safer while providing you with more overall control should be the goal. All that said, I have had many Total Control students touch their knee down for the first time during the course. Now that did not happen immediately as there is usually much to learn about how a rider needs to maintain the psychological, physiological, and mechanical aspects of riding.

Knowing the world if full of unexpected hazards hiding around any given curve there are few instances on the street that one can safely ride a pace that requires dragging a knee. The value of professional instruction on a closed range/course cannot be overstated.

If you would like any info on courses just ask.

 

The question might be, where the hell on the street does anyone need to hang off that far on a bike?

The old "two kinds of riders" saying gets more weight on the "will go down" side. I bet somebody can find some vids of dudes getting FUBAR on the "stunt" areas trying to look like the fast guys.

 

Form follows function.

If you need to drag a knee, you will.






.

 

if u have access to a warehouse parking lot after hours and some cones you can burn off your chicken strips and break-in your sliders at 20 -25 mph doing figure 8's

 

Please keep you avatar ! A lot of times I just log in to see it

 

Rachel Williams Slow motion: http://youtu.be/QT0i8VKLzLg
Dont mean to offend anyone but this is a wounderful learning video

 

Sign in, sorry I tried

 

I was so offended, I watched it three times.

 

I click on it and it says confirm my age WTF???
PRETTY dang edumacational

 

Too funny...me too!!!

 

If you start trying to "hang off" by contorting your body far enough just to drag your knee you're gonna bust your ass!
The knee touching down is simply the result of lean angle, corner speed and body position. Done properly the knee becomes a sensor.
Set your skill goals higher than simply dragging body parts on the road. The smartest way to achieve this would be some basic instruction at a trackday.

 

That's an awesome lean angle shot, Shamrock, that's how it's done! Whoever earlier in this thread had wondered if it could be done on a VFR need wonder no further. I've seen guys at track days drag knees on Hayabusas and gigantic Honda XX's, if one can drag a knee on those beasts then a VFR is a no-brainer.

And to support more of what's been added, trackday practice is priceless and will do more for your riding ability than any mechanical or electrical modification you could think up. The Pace is also a beautifully written article, I remember reading that years ago, it helped me as well.

 

Can we now move on to elbow dragging?

 

Like this?

 

The smaller the bike the easier it is. Your closer to the ground to start with.

 

I only use a knee as a kind of feeler and only at the track.

 

Use of my knee usually is the first thing I do to get back up once I have fallen.

 

And a hand with a bowed head waggling while wondering how I fucked that one up. lol It often happens so fast its hard to remember all the events that lead up to falling. Other times I remember a crash in explicit frame by frame slow motion.