Found this elsewhere on the net and thought it was bloody well written and informative.....
The fact of the matter is simple, you can hang off as far as you like but if
your body position is wrong, then the chances of you getting your knee down are
slim to non-existent.
You can carry extreme amounts of lean on your bike and have everything dragging
on the deck and still be nowhere close to scuffing your first knee slider. Let’s
get one thing straight right from the off, if you can drag your toe, footpeg, or
more then you have more than enough lean angle.
Let’s take a look at some basic facts.
If you ride around a corner and touch the pipe down, sooner or later it will
result in a crash as the undercarriage lifts the front or rear wheel off the
ground. With extreme lean you can’t use the throttle as hard as you might like because the further you lean the smaller the contact patch of the tyre becomes.
Smaller patch equals less grip equals useable power.
The only advantage to massive angles of lean is – none. There aren’t any. You
have less grip and the more upright the bike in the turn the more stable it will
be, the faster it will be and the safer it will be. Knee down might look fast
but it’s normally slower.
The proper reason for scrapping your knee slider on the deck is to gauge your
lean angle, not to impregnate your local roundabout with plastic. Racers do it
all the time because when their knee is on the floor then they use it to tell
how much further they can or cannot go before the bike loses grip and crashes.
Some racers are so good at this detection that they only use one set of knee
sliders over a whole weekend! Others have managed to save a crash by supporting
the weight of the bike on their knee when the front tyre loses grip. Journos do
it because it makes for a nice picture! (All lies – Ed)
Back to the body position. The biggest single mistake that most riders make
is to hang two buttock cheeks off the seat in an attempt to get their knee on
the deck. The further you hang your backside off the seat the less chance you
have of getting your plastic to the Tarmac.
The reason is simple; you twist your body. And the more you twist the more your
leg is moved into the bike and up along side the fairing until you have no
movement left in your hip and your knee simply cannot stick out.
There are other problems with this. As your body is twisted it means your spine
is twisted and on sharp bends this makes it very difficult to look into the
corner. It also puts pressure on the inside handlebar, which in turn (sic) makes
the bike handle badly. If nothing else it feels bloody uncomfortable too. All in
all, not a good thing.
Knee down enemy number two is to push the bike down and away from you
motorcross style. Your inside arm will be straight, the outside arm bent and the
bike will have a massive lean going on but because of your position you will think it's not leant that far over.
Enemy number three, bolt up right and just sticking your knee into the wind. Fat
chance. The only way you’d get your knee down is if you crashed.
The Cure
The key is to hang off a little, namely one bum cheek, and be able to have your
inside leg relaxed.
Easier said than done. Not really. It’s all possible with the use of anchor
points. A good one allows you to relax the inside leg, your upper body and
reduces input into the handlebars that will help the bike to handle better.
Your main anchor point is your outside leg. Ever wondered why sports bikes have
that sculpted tank? The reason is this - to wedge your thigh into that recess so
you can carry your weight on the outside leg. Don’t confuse this with weighting
the footpegs, this is another matter entirely.
The test
An effective but simple test for this is to put your bike on it’s
sidestand (Ducati owners will need someone to hold the bike as the
stand is weak), get into your hang off position and then see if you
can let go of the handlebars. If you let go and fall in an
undignified heap on the garage floor it’s a sure sign that you have
no anchor and have been riding your bike hanging on using the bars.
To get a good anchor you need to force your outside leg up and into
the recess in the tank. This may mean you have to put your toes on
the footpeg to get a really good lock. Another note to 916/996 and 748 owners – that lovely tank is hard to lock into. If you find that
your leg is pointed towards the sky, then you have it just right!
Now lift your hands off the handlebars and you should stay firmly in
place.
The position
So that’s the first stage. The second stage is to move your bum
across into the correct position. If you hang off more than one bum
cheek then it’s too much. The edge of the seat (on most bikes)
should be right where the crack of your bottom is. Now, let your
inside leg relax as much possible and let gravity pull it down
naturally.
This is the perfect position to have. Because your inside leg is
relaxed it can cope with any changes in road surface, like a bump or
dip, without upsetting you or the bike. Keep it stiff and it’s like
the suspension being too hard; it will upset the balance of the
machine as it transmits the road’s imperfections through you to the
chassis.
The perfect body position is one that keeps your spine inline and
parallel to the bike at all times. Okay, some riders, namely Mick
Doohan and Troy Bayliss are able to get away with their bodies
completely crossed up or twisted but remember that these boys race
on extremely sticky slick tyres, which have enough grip to be able
to cope with the odd riding position. Go to any club meeting and see
a rider try and do it and they normally end up in the gravel, as
their tyres aren’t good enough to cope.
A good body position will not only help you to get your knee on
the floor but it has several other advantages too. You will be more
relaxed and therefore less likely to make a mistake. You will be
able to look into a corner better and be more able to predict where
you want to be. And you will finally be the local riding God with
scuffed, not polished sliders.
All you have to do now is practice!
Thoughts????
Relax Officer Pig, It was just a wheelie
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Originally Posted by madbikeboy
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