September 19th, 2010, 06:21 PM | #1 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Ray
Location: Knoxville
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 1995 ninja 250 Posts: 52
|
Knee Dragging
so my brother and I went to Deals Gap this evening (him on his concourse and me on my 95 ninja 250) and I see many people there dragging their knees through turns. my goal one day is to do this! my toe drug the ground a couple times and I tend to ride with the ball of my foot on the peg so my toes aren't hanging over too too much. I've heard you can lean far enough to drag your knee before you can drag your toe...
any input suggestions or tips?
__________________________________________________
ride low ride low ride faster |
|
September 19th, 2010, 07:41 PM | #2 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Spooph
Location: Golden, CO
Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): '08 Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '15
|
Twist of the Wrist 1 + 2, proper safety gear and lots and lots of track time...
__________________________________________________
My therapist has 2 wheels and a seat. If you are ever in doubt to my tone, please refer to my avatar. |
|
September 19th, 2010, 08:02 PM | #3 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Ed
Location: NJ
Join Date: Dec 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2009 250r Posts: 157
|
|
|
September 19th, 2010, 09:49 PM | #4 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Ray
Location: Knoxville
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 1995 ninja 250 Posts: 52
|
I dont know of any tracks near me... Ive heard of people practicing in empty parking lots...
__________________________________________________
ride low ride low ride faster |
|
September 20th, 2010, 12:22 AM | #5 |
ninjette.org member
Name: b
Location: midwest
Join Date: Jun 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2008 ninja 250r Posts: 119
|
I'm getting some pretty good angles on the street. Next season I would love to go to a track day class and get some pointers. Never try to dram knee on the street imo
Posted via Mobile Device |
|
September 20th, 2010, 04:34 AM | #6 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Spooph
Location: Golden, CO
Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): '08 Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '15
|
haha, well then, Twist of the wrist 1 + 2, and full gear in a parking lot. Full gear = leathers, boots, gauntlet gloves, helmet and preferably a spine protector. As long as no cars will be entering your space you can learn alot about your bike in about 30ftx30ft. Circles and figure eights both counter leaned and counter steered to the extremes will get you very comfortable on the bike, and your knee down, and if you're not careful, will also slide the bike. So be careful.
__________________________________________________
My therapist has 2 wheels and a seat. If you are ever in doubt to my tone, please refer to my avatar. |
|
September 20th, 2010, 10:21 AM | #7 |
ninjette.org sage
Name: J.G.
Location: Austin
Join Date: Oct 2009 Motorcycle(s): '09 zx6r Green/Black, (ex-)Diablo Black '09 Ninja 250r Posts: 959
|
It only looks good when doing it properly on the track.
There are videos of people on youtube practicing in parking lots - their form is horrible. Draggin' a knee is all about cornering speed, not looking cool on the streets. The track or a little used turn on a decent road in the country. Road conditions are factors to proper form, but then again I'm all about proper form and speed. If you just want to drag a knee while hanging off the side of the bike, a parking lot will do, but look around for patches of loose gravel first. I just got through TotW II - decent info., but lacked precise details on body postitioning and form - still trying to digest the "Pivot Point" turning and utilizing the outside points. Have not picked up TotW I after reading some reviews of the two books - should I get it, and does it cover any topics not in II? |
|
September 21st, 2010, 08:21 AM | #8 |
Professional belly dancer
Name: James
Location: Toronto
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 1992 GSX-R 750 Posts: A lot.
|
Do you just want to be able to drag your knee...or do you want to be able to do this properly?
Look up youtube vids of people dragging knee on the streets and compare that to what you see on MotoGP or AMA. World of difference. |
|
September 21st, 2010, 08:55 AM | #9 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Ray
Location: Knoxville
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 1995 ninja 250 Posts: 52
|
I would love to do it properly, but I figure I have to start somewhere...
__________________________________________________
ride low ride low ride faster |
|
September 21st, 2010, 10:18 AM | #10 | |
Professional belly dancer
Name: James
Location: Toronto
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 1992 GSX-R 750 Posts: A lot.
|
Quote:
There's more to dragging knee than just dragging your knee. |
|
|
September 21st, 2010, 11:43 AM | #11 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
|
|
|
September 21st, 2010, 12:33 PM | #12 |
Professional belly dancer
Name: James
Location: Toronto
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 1992 GSX-R 750 Posts: A lot.
|
It's only cool if you have a ciagrette dangling out of your mouth while doing it.
|
|
September 21st, 2010, 01:09 PM | #13 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Whodat
Location: Ware Is.,MA
Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): I pass the wind! Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Mar '13, Jun '14
|
Draggin a knee on the street is a good way to break your knee.
__________________________________________________
If everything seems under control; you're just not going fast enough! |
|
September 21st, 2010, 01:24 PM | #14 |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
Blog Entries: 7
|
Why stop at knee? Dragging elbows while 2-up is what all the cool kids are up to...
__________________________________________________
Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered) |
|
September 21st, 2010, 03:58 PM | #15 |
Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: Too much.
|
|
|
September 21st, 2010, 05:17 PM | #16 |
Professional belly dancer
Name: James
Location: Toronto
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 1992 GSX-R 750 Posts: A lot.
|
|
|
September 21st, 2010, 06:22 PM | #17 |
Mr. 988
Name: Jeff
Location: Sandy, Utah
Join Date: Aug 2009 Motorcycle(s): One Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 1
|
Don't drag anything
__________________________________________________
"I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life, the way I want to" - Jimi Hendrix Cancer |
|
September 21st, 2010, 06:23 PM | #18 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Ray
Location: Knoxville
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 1995 ninja 250 Posts: 52
|
lol. thats crazy
__________________________________________________
ride low ride low ride faster |
|
September 29th, 2010, 12:35 PM | #19 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Chris
Location: California
Join Date: Apr 2010 Motorcycle(s): '08 250 Posts: 129
|
|
|
September 29th, 2010, 01:14 PM | #20 | |
Ninja chick
Name: Allyson
Location: Athens, GA
Join Date: Jun 2009 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 4
MOTM - Dec '13, Feb '15
|
Quote:
OMG, um, wow!?!
__________________________________________________
Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination. ~Drake Check out my Appalachian Trail journal, 2015! Postwhores are COOL! ~Allyson |
|
|
September 29th, 2010, 10:39 PM | #21 |
ninjette.org dude
Name: 1 guess :-)
Location: SF Bay Area
Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much.
Blog Entries: 7
|
I believe it's Michael Earnest (fast AFM guy, proprietor of Pacific Track Time). Not sure who's on the back...
__________________________________________________
Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered) |
|
September 30th, 2010, 07:30 AM | #22 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Spooph
Location: Golden, CO
Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): '08 Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '15
|
Brilliant! 2 up and hauling balls! One of my dreams.
I'm gonna play devil's advocate here and say that as I see the racers, both the local scene and the big money (MotoGP, etc), each rider has a drastically different style.... I just watched Driven, a docu-rama about the MotoGP, and it affirmed some of my opinions. Every rider is different. Their body is different, their mind is different, and although learning bad habits is a risk, I think a rider has to figure out how his/her body best responds. For instance, when I learned to drag a knee, I wanted to know what it felt like. I'm a bit jumpy, so I thought I'd freak out if my knee touched the ground.... So I went to a parking lot to try it out. And I jumped at the first touch. So I simply needed the parking lot (at the track, LOL), to get me used to touching the knee to the ground. I then played with body position and feeling what it felt like scootching my butt off the seat more and more. What I discovered is that dragging a knee feels weird, unless I'm all the way off the bike. I figured out what it feels like to be planted. Then I took it to the track, 30 yards away and it made sense. This was after trying it many times in other parking lots. Had I tried to figure out how to get a knee down while going around the track, I would have freaked out and probably crashed. Now, I have added that to my skill set, and can now start working on when and where I use it (on and off the track). Most of the time, there is no reason to lean off the ninja, especially on the open road. It's so light, and so forgiving on the road that it's just not necessary.... Raybot, the biggest piece of advice I think any rider can provide another is this: Patience. Practice. Perseverance. Just keep after it, and gobble up as much info as you can....
__________________________________________________
My therapist has 2 wheels and a seat. If you are ever in doubt to my tone, please refer to my avatar. |
|
September 30th, 2010, 08:26 AM | #23 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Whodat
Location: Ware Is.,MA
Join Date: Jan 2009 Motorcycle(s): I pass the wind! Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Mar '13, Jun '14
|
How do you know the passenger is a guy? In full leathers and a full face helmet it could be a girl.
__________________________________________________
If everything seems under control; you're just not going fast enough! |
|
September 30th, 2010, 09:08 AM | #24 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Ray
Location: Knoxville
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 1995 ninja 250 Posts: 52
|
Thank you spooph! This is all great info! That is exactly why I thought about doing it in a parking lot first. the first time my toe hit the ground going through the dragon it freaked me out a bit. I will get it one day. I don't really have many places to practice around here, and I don't know where the closest track is...
I hear people talkin about trying to do wheelies and all that... I'd rather learn to drag a knee than do a wheelie.. thanks again!
__________________________________________________
ride low ride low ride faster |
|
September 30th, 2010, 09:27 AM | #25 |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Greg
Location: Rhode Island
Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2013 ZX6R 636 Posts: A lot.
|
I prefer wheelying while dragging a knee. It helps with the manhole covers that stick a couple inches out of the ground. Just have to be careful as when the front wheel comes back down and compresses the fork you have to watch that the knee doesn't drop into a pot hole.
|
|
September 30th, 2010, 04:19 PM | #26 |
ninjette.org newbie
Name: Dan
Location: Pittsburgh
Join Date: Aug 2010 Motorcycle(s): Kawasaki Ninja 250r, MV Agusta Brutale 910s, Honda xl250r, Honda VTX1100 Posts: 3
|
Hey guys, I don't say much but... here's my opinion. Once you do start dragging bits, you can then sit down and look back through the varying angles burned into your toe sliders and knee sliders and see what you're doing wrong. I, for example, have realized that I'm curling the outside of my foot out too far, not my toes directly. This is affecting my knee, butt, spine, shoulders, etc... I think it's due to the fact that I'm so used to a different seating position when at the angle of attack (I have a recently broken MV Agusta Brutale that I used for all my high speed fun). I'm nearing 3000miles on my bike, so I've yet to fully ingrain this one versus my old bike.
I also blame the stock handlebar and rear set... set up. I need to get some woodcrafts, it seems. Anyways, it's rather fun playing detective on the adrenaline high of high speed racing. In fact, that'd be a rather interesting premise for a book: a detective that solves crimes on the high speed roads of the future... or something. Maybe with jet-powered bikes, too, eh? |
|
September 30th, 2010, 05:16 PM | #27 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Shaun
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Join Date: Aug 2010 Motorcycle(s): 09 Ninja 250R Posts: 16
|
IMO dragging your knees on the street is just a stunt, much like wheelies. it really doesnt make you any quicker through the hills. adnd from what ive been told if ur knee hits one of those cats eye markers on the road it hurts like hell
|
|
September 30th, 2010, 06:51 PM | #28 |
ninjette.org member
Name: Kevin
Location: Tampa
Join Date: Jun 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2009 250R Posts: 230
|
There's no reason to drag anything on the street. Just makes you look like a squid and attracts unwelcome attention from cops. Save it for the track!
__________________________________________________
Kevin 2009 Ninja 250R |
|
October 1st, 2010, 09:40 AM | #29 | |
ninjette.org certified postwhore
Name: Spooph
Location: Golden, CO
Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): '08 Ninja 250R Posts: A lot.
MOTM - Oct '15
|
Quote:
Raybot, yo welcome!
__________________________________________________
My therapist has 2 wheels and a seat. If you are ever in doubt to my tone, please refer to my avatar. |
|
|
October 1st, 2010, 10:22 AM | #30 | |
.
Name: rock
Location: greenville, south carolina
Join Date: Jun 2009 Motorcycle(s): black Posts: A lot.
|
Quote:
I'll just go ahead and say this... I've followed many riders up in the mountains on the heavy twisties that bad-talk riders that put knee to tarmac. I've watched them go through corners with technique so bad that it made me back off more because I was waiting for them to go down (but that knee wasn't even close to the road!)... and yeah, my knee was grinding away on the road, my body was relaxed but I'm the dangerous one
__________________________________________________
Always get a second opinion because most of these people are makin' this stuff up |
|
|
October 3rd, 2010, 08:22 PM | #31 |
ninjette.org sage
Name: J
Location: Oklahoma
Join Date: Sep 2010 Motorcycle(s): 2008 250R Posts: 771
|
I agree with some of the above in saying that most people who are "dragging knee" are doing it terribly wrong. The idea is NOT just to stick out your knee, which is what a lot of people think. The goal is to move your entire body toward the inside of the bike, so the bike itself can be more vertical for the same overal center of gravity. This lends to better cornering behavior and greater traction. You can get a lot of your weight off to the inside of the bike without even sticking your knee out, and in reality that is where you should start. Sticking your knee out is just the last step in getting your center of gravity as far to the inside as possible, and in getting your hips pointed more into the turn, if I'm not mistaken.
Here's a perfect example. Watch how the rider tends to shift his upper body to the outside of the turn (obvious because his head ends up near the outside mirror) just so he can shift his hips and knee toward the inside. The net effect is there is basically zero shift in his actual center of the gravity, so he isn't doing anything but wasting effort. That isn't to say he is a bad rider or whatever, or that he has no experience or whatever, just pointing out what is clearly (even to a just-learning newb) incorrect position. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S4RFbm3DFw But yeah, in a nutshell, the entire goal is to get your weight to the inside of the bike in order to keep it as upright as possible. http://stason.org/TULARC/vehicles/mo...side-Knee.html http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/fe...ging/index.htm "Having their torso on the high side of the bike not only neutralized the mass of their hips being off the bike, but actually raised the combined bike/rider CG-thus defeating the technique's main purpose." |
|
October 11th, 2010, 09:33 AM | #32 |
Never enough time
Name: Mark
Location: San Mateo, CA
Join Date: Aug 2008 Motorcycle(s): 690sm, ex250, kdx200, nc50, z50 Posts: 73
|
I hope to drag my knee one day, if you can drag your knee you are fast
__________________________________________________
"It's a lot of fun" |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Hitler and knee dragging | toua70 | Videos | 24 | September 2nd, 2013 09:03 PM |
I'm obsessed with dragging my knee | HorizonXP | Riding Skills | 25 | July 21st, 2011 07:06 PM |
Knee Dragging of Deals Gap | minuslars | Videos | 6 | May 21st, 2010 10:47 AM |
Dragging knee.....yeah | Beast | Pictures | 6 | April 21st, 2009 03:04 PM |
[motorcyclistonline] - Knuckle To Knee Dragging - Up To Speed | Ninjette Newsbot | Motorcycling News | 0 | June 19th, 2008 04:53 AM |
|
|