Whee (I got it right this time) got knee down!

[Mikkel]

Another lovely day at Ruapuna Speedway allowed me to achieve this the most holy of motorcycle grails - the legendary knee down. And on both sides! :D

This was a most awesome day - got on the track at 9 am this morning and did 7 half hour sessions. After that the fingertips on my left hand started going numb and my right wrist feels a bit tender as well. Legs are shattered and if tuesday is anything to go by I'm going to have trouble walking down stairs on sunday... :rolleyes: (Mental note to self: get fit, it'll improve your acceleration as well!)

I'll post some images of my knee sliders, rear tyre and left footpeg when I get home and get my hands on my camera.

[007XX]

*****HURRAY!!!!*****

Well done you!:niceone:

[skelstar]

Awesome dude. Been having a quiet wee crack myself.

[Mikkel]

Cheers guys. It's a spacey feeling when you feel that rubbing against you leg... takes a while to get comfortable with it. But after that it becomes much more easy to convince yourself that it'll be ok to lean out a bit more, and a bit more, and a bit... ;)

However, I'm surprised at how much hard work it actually is. Big respect to the guys that just do it effortlessly on every corner - and all the way around the corner as well. It's a real eyeopener to be training on the same track as some of the best riders (actually the current national champion was there - fuck he was going fast) in the superbike class. Pushing your little screamer the best you can and you just feel as if you're stationary when they rips past within arm's reach... :D

[kiwifruit]

Good fun innit, well done :)

[homer]

Great
would like to take the bike to the track my self not to get the whole knee down thing going but just to be able to see what the bike is really like .
Like a car when you start to really open them up in a out of corners they come alive

[Sully60]

Good one man!:2thumbsup
I love these posts, it always takes me back to my first time, the gentle carress..... hang on I've said that before.

Shit man you seem to be down at the track a lot lately, and during the week.
I must admit to the smallest amount of jealousy there, where is that green smiley?

[Lteejay]

Awesome man - must be thrilling. Post some pics so we can see the master at work.

[Mikkel]

Awesome man - must be thrilling. Post some pics so we can see the master at work.

Heheh - it'll be some time before I become cool enough that I can take photos while having the knee planted in the tarmac I think ;)

Dunno if the video transalper took will manage to show some of it since it was taken later in the day when I was starting to get a bit tired... I'm possitively shattered now - 3.5 hours of intensly focused riding in a day is much harder than I'd expected.

I shall try and post some photos of my molested knee sliders, footpeg and tyres tomorrow


Shit man you seem to be down at the track a lot lately, and during the week.

Being a student has its advantages :D

[onearmedbandit]

Well done mate, great feeling indeed.

[Mikkel]

Uploaded a few photos... (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/5890/ppuser/13646) :)

Dunno how to attach them as thumbnails to this post - but the link will take you to my photo uploads.

[HenryDorsetCase]

So you're going out on the Tuesday/Friday free practise sessions?

I have been trying to organise that for myself but just can't seem to make the timing work. :(


did you get your right knee down on the infield carousel as well?

[Mikkel]

So you're going out on the Tuesday/Friday free practise sessions?

That is correct - dunno if I'll make it out there this week. But I will surely try :)
Besides my right wrist is still rather sore from my trip out there friday... don't want to risk a carpal tunnel!


did you get your right knee down on the infield carousel as well?

Got knee down on the first corner, the hair-pin, both sides of the right-left combination leading up to the infield sweeper and finally on the sweeper onto the main straight.
Most knee sliding action happened on the left knee as can be seen from the pictures. I guess I'll move the sliders around next time to get a more even wear.

[Edbear]

Goodonyer mate! I keeps tryin' but for some reason my knee is too far aways when everythin' else is scrapin'...:done:

[Maha]

Most knee sliding action happened on the left knee as can be seen from the pictures. I guess I'll move the sliders around next time to get a more even wear.

Same cannot be said for this boot......:shit:
Damn rubbish Norfland roads....:shifty:

[jade]

yea its a good feeling huh, I also did it first time at the track
then when I did the short track at taupo ...every single corner

[Mikkel]

Goodonyer mate! I keeps tryin' but for some reason my knee is too far aways when everythin' else is scrapin'...:done:

That could be related to your bike. I had a chat to transalper and we agreed that getting knee down on, let's say, an adventure bike on a flat road would mean something had gone awry ;)
But even then, I was surprised how far down it was from my small ZXR250. Not only did I have to hang off the bike as far as I could stretch my arms and bend my inside knee. I also had to move weight forward (kiss the mirror) and make sure to hit the corner at rather high speed or I couldn't lean her over enough to get the knee planted. I had the backwheel step out and almost lost it during one corner where I let off the throttle while sliding on my knee around a big sweeper. When I let off the throttle the bike just started falling over into the corner and it wasn't a nice feeling... :crazy:
I run fairly sticky tyres and have understood from what people are saying that getting knee down is not necessarily possible without spilling it if you haven't got rather sticky tyres.


Same cannot be said for this boot......:shit:
Damn rubbish Norfland roads....:shifty:

:eek: That's bad mate! Good to see you got some protection in place! :yes:

[onearmedbandit]

Taller people can get their knee down without having to lean much at all, so yeah even shitty tyres would let you slide your knee.

[imdying]

At my height and weight on the damn rgv I'm practically dragging both my knees in a straight line :crybaby: :rofl:

Check out the you tube videos of the gymkhana guys... they're decking their knees out at less than 25km/hish with no trouble... respect :yes:

[Edbear]

That could be related to your bike. I had a chat to transalper and we agreed that getting knee down on, let's say, an adventure bike on a flat road would mean something had gone awry ;):


Yeah, getting your knee down on a C50T could mean more than knee-sliders getting scratched...:whistle:


I did regularly scrape my boots on the GSX-F600, even two-up with the Missus on back and having my feet back on the pegs. I don't know whether that means I'm a good rider, or the GSX-F has somewhat less clearance than a modern sports bike... I did wonder about the wisdom of trying to get my knee down on that...

I guess one day I might get to a track day on a sports bike and have a go, but cruising's the fun right now.