How much does Height help Knee Down?

[wkid_one]

Obviously - the longer your bits are, the more likely you are to touch them to the ground (double entendre?)

I must say that I found it easy to touch my knee down (easier on the R1 than the VTR). Like TS - I actually find it weird to NOT corner like this now.....as I don't feel I have the same balance/feel

[White trash]

I'm niether tall nor short.

I ride as fast as anyone I've ever ridden with and my knee only ever touches the deck if I'm posing. I hang off a bit but not to get the knee on the deck.

Jimbo750 is about the same height, rides a little slower than me and gets his down on most corners.

He doesn't hang off like a spastic either, it's just down to cornering path and style.

I now own a bike that drags it's undercarridge at the first sign of a corner so I'll have to hang of like a retarded chicken just to get close.

[Paul in NZ]

I try hard to keep all my anatomy OFF the road thanks....

Paul N

Only gets off the bike at the end of the ride

[Firefight]

[QUOTE=Kwaka-Kid]Bahaha! SEE!! PROOF! thats it, no longer is a South Aucklander alowed to mock a Westie! We might be ruff but damn those suckers are all hillbillys! not to mention if i had a dollar for everytime i saw a punchup in smart-south-auckland id have a crapload more money then anyone in south auckland! -bahaha!

Interesting , I live in the north Waikato Logan,


F/F

[Kwaka-Kid]

FF you can call it what you like mate - doesnt mean it aint south auckland to me! :P hahaha!

and WT yeh - guess it does come down to cornering path aswell, see if im going to touchdown on a corner i dont really know or something ill just run wide and then once i can see the exit really well and know the corner/am in it ill pull the bike down late and jst bring her all the way down (the whole 10degrees that i lean it) and poomf, usually just tap down.

Shit me! one comment id like to make is these knee sliders on the new GPstar leathers i have are SOFT as, is that what plastic sliders are like? silent, smooth, and burn away so fast! stuff that, im gunna bring out the chopping board again and attach some harder teflon.

[Shade]

I think for us shorter folk (well me anyway) I can touch my knee down fairly easily, but only on the right corner, where as I see TS can touch his on almost any corner (lucky bugger) So i think there is some advantage in being tall.

[Ghost Lemur]

One question.

When you guys are talking about 'knee down' are you talking about sticking your knee out at a right angle to the bike and hanging off so you only need to lean a slight bit over to be scraping tarmac? Or are you talking about when you knee/elbow/pegs/etc are all scrapping due to the bike practically laying down so it's unavoidable.

I have seen the former quite a bit, and rightly or wrongly it doesn't wuite register with what I "thought" knee down was all about. It's more hanging off the bike so as to not have to tip the bike over. Where as i thought true knee down skill was the later where you are have the bike laying over to it's limits taking the corner to the max and getting you knee down because that's how close you are to the ground.

The reason I ask is, besides personal clarification, I think if the former is "knee down" then of course being taller is going to help you stick you knee out further. But if it's the former then height shouldn't come into play.

[Posh Tourer :P]

If you lean off, you have the bike more upright while cornering. This allows you to corner faster as there is more good contact surface of rubber on the road. So it does help if you hang wayyy of the bike. Generally, if you are really pushing it, you get to the point where not only are you hanging off, but also the bike is very leant over too. However, that is almost unachieveable for some of us, especially me on the beemer with a bloody great sidestand in the way. Knee down can help you get better contact on the road, but only really comes into it's own when the bike would otherwise be leant over a very long way I think.

[Kwaka-Kid]

ghost is see what your saying man - but on the street on street tyres? I didnt think that sort of riding existed short of motogp? and even then they hang off like mofo's in the wet dont they- stretching out and touching knee at minor tilt(comparativly speaking to their dry riding of course).

PT you go tthe idea i think man, but the biggest benefit i guess is when your leaned fully.

And lastly ghost i guess your exactly right, racing and i mean racing properly (not what i do) would not make much diff as i see how, but just dangling off on the street etc a taller person has alot less effort/more advantage.

[Motoracer]

I got my boot down today!

[FROSTY:Me]

I think it really comes down to the bike. On a bucket racer even a 5' rider will get his knee down. I could be wrong here but I think TS's little rg encourages knee down riding with its foot peg positioning

[wkid_one]

One question.

When you guys are talking about 'knee down' are you talking about sticking your knee out at a right angle to the bike and hanging off so you only need to lean a slight bit over to be scraping tarmac? Or are you talking about when you knee/elbow/pegs/etc are all scrapping due to the bike practically laying down so it's unavoidable.

I have seen the former quite a bit, and rightly or wrongly it doesn't wuite register with what I "thought" knee down was all about. It's more hanging off the bike so as to not have to tip the bike over. Where as i thought true knee down skill was the later where you are have the bike laying over to it's limits taking the corner to the max and getting you knee down because that's how close you are to the ground.

The reason I ask is, besides personal clarification, I think if the former is "knee down" then of course being taller is going to help you stick you knee out further. But if it's the former then height shouldn't come into play.

Gr8 point Ghost - I agree, anyone can knee down if they hang right off their bike. The trick is using the knee as a feeler as to how far you are leaning the bike - rather than just purely for the thrill of touching the knee down.

One of the scariest situations you can get in to is one where you are fully leant over, your knee is on the ground, your leg is practically against the fairing and you are drifting wide!!

The problem with cornering with your knee down is that if you get used to this style of cornering - it becomes habitual - however it also means you have little 'extra cornering' if you run in to trouble. Meaning if you are cornering with your knee down properly - and you start to run wide, you don't have many options up your sleeve to save the situation.

[DEATH_INC.]

Hmmmm,I'm as fast as most out there,but I've never got my knee down,despite hanging waaaay off the side.I've followed MR,TS and a few others with their sliders on the road,sometimes even closing on them,but have never managed to get my sliders on the road.
I'm a shortass,5'6 on a good clear day.....with short legs as well to make it worse.
Once hung My FZR from the roof with a chain(after getting really frustrated trying to get my knee down)and leaned it over 'till the peg touched down,jumped on,and there was no way I could reach the ground with my knee without lifting my foot from the upper peg and sliding the seat under my calf.Not really practical.
I guess it's just not possible sometimes....though it doesn't stop me trying....

[NordieBoy]

There will always be exceptions,so there is no point getting into an argument.But if someone was anal enough they could plot rider height of world champs from the year dot,I think the line would be below average,with tall riders just being random blips.

The main thing is that short riders are lighter than tall riders.
I'm talking the pro's here...

Power to weight - a shorter rider has a head-start on a taller rider.

[Two Smoker]

Well since i seem to be the main part of the convo, i will add my 2 cents..... I dont know whether it helps, due to me not having the knowledge of being short, i guess it does help a bit with being taller.....

For me it doesnt matter what bike im on, or how much i hang off the bike, i can get my knee down, and when going really hard, it comes up into the fairing whilst my knee is still on the ground

I hang of the RG like a monkey because if i dont, the pegs scrape but when on MR's GSX-R600, i didnt hang off like a complete monkey, yet still got my knee down, although i know i could probably sandwich it against the fairing if i rode it a bit more (aye MR lol)