I'm obsessed with dragging my knee

[Rob MacLennan]

And just to support Rob's comment....

 

[SkyRider]

dragging knees are boring, u aint got skillz until u start dragging elbows without crashing lol

 

[kneedragger88]

And just to support Rob's comment....

And Kana can whoop 95% of the riders on this site. The others are right dragging a knee for me is a gauge and a save for a front end tuck (hopefully). Like the others I touch down and pull back a touch. Sliders get expensive if you start burning them up.

 

[SunnY S]

TMP...allows you to have your centre stand on!!!!!!......now I've heard everything.....WTF

Yep! did a Turn 2 day, and GWB day both at TMP and they were ok with it.

 

[GRAYZ]

You don't need to be going fast to drag a knee ... I've dragged a knee going 40kph before in a parking lot just for kicks...

Yes but that wasn't my point. For a given corner, taking it faster will require you to lean more. Trying to drag a knee at a corner speed that is too slow just makes you a poser.

 

[TomC]

And I can't seem to do it.

I've been riding for a while and think of myself to be a competent rider. I've been practicing proper body positioning for quite some time, and at my last race on a CBR125, I was so far off the bike that my bum was no longer on the seat. I was so low to the ground, I could almost taste it! But that knee never touched. My toes did a few times (reminding me to bring them further in) as did my feelers.

I tried to do the same on my 250, except in a parking lot at slow speed. I need to find a bigger and more flat parking lot because I kept getting freaked out even though I was keeping it at 30 km/h. My circles were not tight at all.

The biggest reason I want to do this is to be faster at my race on Aug 13. I'm back on the 125, and I want to be dragging knee this time. It's a brand new track with fresh asphalt. I can make this happen.

The issue I was having was simply stepping out of my comfort zone. In the tight infield at TMP, I can keep my speed up no problem, and that's where I was getting really low. But the fast corners is where I let off. The 125s barely top out at 120 km/h, especially with my 210lbs self, yet I'd still let off the gas and slow down into the corner. Apparently, the other guys were going almost flat out into turn 1.

How can I just get over this hump and get my knee down?

you can try shortening or raising your pegs assuming they are adjustable (which probably will not happen on a racer5 rental), if you are dragging pegs, then you should be able to get the knee down with little effort. For us short people, that knee doesn't go very far out, but even at 5'5 touching down regularly after a handful of trackdays became routine, but also realizing that many times, it was throwing off my balance. I personally don't like the feeling of dragging hard bits (pegs, boots). If you are not short then i dunno...

 

[chiller]

dragging knees are boring, u aint got skillz until u start dragging elbows without crashing lol

That's the only time I've dragged elbows . Front end went and I dragged elbows about a sec after I realized I wasn't hero'ing it. The bike was sliding next to me haha

 

[Dino Z]

This may sound weird but left and right turns for me are executed differently. You may want to experiment with the following which has worked for me.

On right hand turns (throttle side), i keep my elbow tucked in and touching my leg, this helps alleviate any aggressive inputs to the throttle and at the same time i use my left knee to force the bike down. Because it's the throttle side i find the "weaker" my right hand is the smoother the turn.

It is however the total opposite on left hand turns, i "grasp" the left clip on and pull it down while at the same time pulling the bike down with my right knee.

I could be going against fundamentals but it works for me.

I also find laying your torso on the tank helps.

Don't fret, you'll find it soon enough and you don't have to exagerate your knee out.