Getting your
knee down.
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First off all we have to
determine whether you are leaning the bike over far enough to
even consider it. The easiest way to check is to go for a blast,
do a few laps of your favourite roundabout and then pull into a
lay by. Look at your back tyre, feel it touch it, yeah baby more
more…oo er! Does it have a shiny border between the centre of
the tread and the edge? There is a ridge right at the edge of
most tyres where the sidewall meets the tread, this stays shiny
so ignore it. If you have a shiny area wider than this join
(about quarter of an inch) then you are going to have to give it
a bit more speed in the corners first before you try for knee
down. If you have just black sticky stuff all the way to the edge
of the tyre then you are already leaning the bike over far
enough.
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No Shiny
Bits. Lovely!
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The
main technique for getting the knee down is to hang off the bike as
far as possible without falling off, then stick your knee out as far
as it will go. Seems simple eh? Well this is not quite the end of the
story. When you are on the bike and you are lunging your knee ground
wards, are you actually sticking your knee in the right direction?
You see many people go round and round roundabouts thinking that they
are hanging off the bike and pointing their knee straight down when
what is actually happening is that they are moving their bodies so
that they are twisted on the bike, which feels like hanging off but
really they are hanging around rather than off. To combat this you
have to examine the way you hang off. The best way to do this is with
a mate and the side stand. Park your bike parallel with a wall that
is taller than the bike. Park it so that when the bike is fully
upright the right hand mirror nearly touches the wall. Now get on the
bike while on it’s side stand, hold on to the bars and hang off a
bit and stick your knee out. Can you touch the wall easily with your
knee? Adjust your position until you can, I might add at this point
that if you have had a hip replacement you should forget all about
knee down cos you have to be pretty supple in the groin area to get
you legs wide enough, you arse should be only half on the seat and
the balls of both feet should be on the pegs. The top half of your
body should also be leant off the bike as well otherwise you sit
twisted which brings your knee in towards the bike rather than away.
Get used to this position and practice moving from normal to that
position without looking at your knee because if you look at your
knee whilst cranked over on a roundabout you’ll be selling you bike
for spares in no time. Try the new riding position when going round
roundabouts, it will feel extremely odd at first but you will get
used to it. Now it’s time to build up some speed and get that bike
leaning. Because you are now hanging off the bike the centre of
gravity for the bike has moved towards the centre of the roundabout,
the result of this is that to get the same amount of lean you have to
be going faster than if you were sitting upright, or to put it
another way you corner faster without leaning any further which is
cool eh? All you have to do now is accelerate gradually (use a high
gear it’s easier to control) whilst hanging off and keep the same
line round. Remember to look round the bend as far as possible and
not at the bit off road right in front of you. Try to relax,
if you are tense you will get nowhere. If your footpegs ground down
before your knee then don’t lean any further, you are already
beyond the angle required for knee down so it’s just a case of
getting that knee into the right position. Keep at it. The first time
is always the hardest, once that’s over it gets a lot easier until
the point where you can stick your knee on the ground at will.
Then it’s time to get some
sparky sliders!!!
Where should I practice?
The
best places are quiet roundabouts with a nice smooth, grippy surface
and very little traffic. You also want the roundabout to be large
enough so you don’t get dizzy but small enough that you don’t
need to do 120mph. If you see police cars, exit the roundabout at the
next available opportunity and look as if you are going somewhere.
Police officers are not too keen on people whizzing round and round
continually so be considerate to other road users, don’t blat up
the side off cars and then cut in front just cos they’ve ruined you
perfect line. If the Police see you doing that they’re more likely
to nick you than if you were being considerate and safe. That’s not
a guarantee though, rotten apples etc.
Disclaimer
What you do with your bike
is your business. I take no responsibility for accidents resulting
from following the above advice. I intend this article to be a rough
guide only and cannot guarantee the activities mentioned within as
either safe or lawful. Any criminal/civil prosecution resulting from
such activities are the sole responsibility of the participant.
In English that means if you
bin you bike or get arrested trying to get you knee down following
the tips I have given don’t come crying to me. Bikes have a
tendancy to fall over on occasion and the Police are known to dislike
them generally. You have been warned