My first knee drag

[otwo_91]

I have been watching Motojitsu on youtube and finally got my first knee drag. God did it feel amazing. Something about the risk of flattening the bike, while trying to knee drag, makes it so rewarding when you feel it scrape.

Anyhow,

This was done in a private parking lot that was level and completely empty. Just kept trying over the past few weeks, constantly seeing what I was doing wrong and adjusting the body position till I got it.

I was in second gear, at like 35 km/h or so. Just doing circles.

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Anyhow,

For those who have some experience with knee dragging, I wonder about the physics behind it,

Is it true to say that, the wider (and longer) the turn, the slower you could go and knee drag, and that the smaller the bend on the road, the faster you would have to go. I have not attempted to do this outside of the parking lot, but I dont understand how people seem to be able to do this without going really fast on winding roads, just feels like you would only achieve these lean angels if your also carrying speed.

I am deafintely excited for 2022. Going to try to sign up for one of those track school courses and hit the track a few times.

 

[justride]

Definitely a confidence boost for sure!

 

[GreyGhost]

Is it true to say that, the wider (and longer) the turn, the slower you could go and knee drag, and that the smaller the bend on the road, the faster you would have to go. I have not attempted to do this outside of the parking lot, but I dont understand how people seem to be able to do this without going really fast on winding roads, just feels like you would only achieve these lean angels if your also carrying speed.

I am not a knee dragger. The physics don't work the way you described. You need to balance out centripetal force with turning force due to lean angle (assuming you want to come back up, obviously you can fall over for max lean angle at any speed or radius). The larger the radius the higher the speed to maintain the same lean angle. Now, the bike/rider is a composite object. Conceivably you could lean the bike right, hang really far off the left and drag a knee going in a straight line at any speed but it would be stupid and awkward. The extension of that is to have more fun, the rider could hang off a lot more than necessary in any given corner.

Have fun and ride safe.

 

[Amazon]

You lost me at Motojitsu. Dude is a tool who talks out his a55 and isn't half as good as he claims.

 

[Lightcycle]

I was excited at my first knee down at track, then a racer told me that while newbs try so hard to get their knee down, racers actually try to tuck their knee out of the way so they can get more lean angle while hanging off.

Knee down is primarily a lean angle indicator. Racers wear double pucks in wet weather races so their lean angle indicator is adjusted for less lean. Body off the bike is the real way to keep the bike more upright when cornering at higher speeds. You can still accomplish this without stretching your knee all the way to the ground.

Fun though.

 

[Gary]

Who here drags their head?

skip to .59

 

[otwo_91]

I was excited at my first knee down at track, then a racer told me that while newbs try so hard to get their knee down, racers actually try to tuck their knee out of the way so they can get more lean angle while hanging off.

Knee down is primarily a lean angle indicator. Racers wear double pucks in wet weather races so their lean angle indicator is adjusted for less lean. Body off the bike is the real way to keep the bike more upright when cornering at higher speeds. You can still accomplish this without stretching your knee all the way to the ground.

Fun though.

Agreed. And yes its mostly just the fun factor.

 

[voyageur]

Is it true to say that, the wider (and longer) the turn, the slower you could go and knee drag, and that the smaller the bend on the road, the faster you would have to go. I have not attempted to do this outside of the parking lot, but I dont understand how people seem to be able to do this without going really fast on winding roads, just feels like you would only achieve these lean angels if your also carrying speed.

I am deafintely excited for 2022. Going to try to sign up for one of those track school courses and hit the track a few times.

If knee dragging is something you're interested in, check out Supersonic school (Toni Sharpless). She runs a course called learn to lean which is for knee dragging.

I don't think lean works like what you have mentioned. From the little knowledge I have, the purpose of leaning - you're leaning so that the bike can stay upright. Basically, more tire patch contact equals more traction. In rain, you hang off the bike even more forcing the bike to stay even more upright for more traction. Also, like Lightcycle mentioned many professionals use it as an indicator to judge how much usable tire contact is left. The speed you negotiate a corner will depend on the corner itself. Irrespective of the corner type, if you have your body position correct you'll be dragging your knee or close to it.

Hope that makes some sense My actual experience on track is close to nil, but there are a lot of experienced folks here...

 

[Saitou^.~]

If knee dragging is something you're interested in, check out Supersonic school (Toni Sharpless). She runs a course called learn to lean which is for knee dragging.

I don't think lean works like what you have mentioned. From the little knowledge I have, the purpose of leaning - you're leaning so that the bike can stay upright. Basically, more tire patch contact equals more traction. In rain, you hang off the bike even more forcing the bike to stay even more upright for more traction. Also, like Lightcycle mentioned many professionals use it as an indicator to judge how much usable tire contact is left. The speed you negotiate a corner will depend on the corner itself. Irrespective of the corner type, if you have your body position correct you'll be dragging your knee or close to it.

Hope that makes some sense My actual experience on track is close to nil, but there are a lot of experienced folks here...

I recommend Toni's school for learning and practicing knee dragging..lol I just came back today. Other than lapping and focusing on body position. I practiced more on the circle drills and was able to get both knees down on their tiniest bike (50cc?). I went back on the 110cc... almost got it but it's taller and I need to commit to it. I'll get it sooner or later.

 

[Saitou^.~]

Got some photos from the super sonic road race school. This is one where I'm sliding my knee

 

[Gary]

Got some photos from the super sonic road race school. This is one where I'm sliding my knee

Nice. But. You're going hard left into a right hander!

 

[Saitou^.~]

Nice. But. You're going hard left into a right hander!

Lol I'm going against all rules of the track!
J/k - practicing the circle drills in an open area of the track