hey kneedraggers

[Katherine]

It took me 9 track days.

I'm 5' even with a 26 inch inseam. I hung off that thing like a spider monkey forever trying to touch knee. A racer talked me into just focusing on body positioning. In fact, the session when I finally touched knee, I was going much slower than I had been because I was focused on how to go into the turn instead of going through the turn as fast as I could.

Good luck!

[zortness]

Buy leathers now. Don't wait until you can "go fast". If you feel like you're going "fast", you're doing something wrong, probably not looking and planning far enough ahead. The track should feel like one fluid motion. Consistency is key to improving.

Here's some visual examples for ya...

Travis is pretty quick, done quite a few track days, but no formal training. On his day 1 video, you can see him fighting his bike.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...36778719357167
I was working on my own riding in the morning, so didn't get to work with him in the afternoon. We went over his video and talked about a few key points. Consistency, using his legs more, taking all of his weight off the handlebars, and lines. Now, watch his day 2 video and you can see a huge improvement in those areas.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...47514912413576

Jason is a track day junkie with no intention of racing. He's a big guy, like 6'6", 300lbs. He's done quite a few schools, and it shows in how smooth he is and how comfortable he is trailbraking. In his video, he actually catches me off guard at the beginning and I have to re-adjust, mentally, to follow him.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...99216404250748


Stephen is a guy I race against. He's really been working on his form and his corner exits in the off-season. We can't go above about 90% pace with the camera on my bike, because I can't tuck and it gets in the way. In his video, you can see a big difference in pace and riding style when compared with the other two.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...78478717817889

[Phenix_Rider]

Originally Posted by Trip

not really, your body position is going to need lots of work now that you can get off the bike and not worry about scraping the shit out of your knees. When I watched you, you were making the bike do too much work by not getting off any.

I'm sure I make mine work too much, but it's like OTB and No Worries say. If you're hanging off like a monkey, a cop is going to pick you off right away. If you don't look like you're trying to ride fast, you might get away with it.

[t-homo]

Originally Posted by zortness

Buy leathers now. Don't wait until you can "go fast". If you feel like you're going "fast", you're doing something wrong, probably not looking and planning far enough ahead. The track should feel like one fluid motion. Consistency is key to improving.

Nice clips. Now since I have seen those I know everything about how to do it right? PG would think so.

Seriously though, I am planning on buying leathers as soon as I can afford it. Should be over the summer. Maybe on May 22, my b-day, my rents will get me the teknic chicane suit if its still 300 bucks.

[Beefcake Morris]

Originally Posted by t-rock

I can't wait until I am finally good enough to get my knee down with correct body position. It's going to take me a little longer though cuz I'm only 5'8, not 6'2 like most guys.

I am 5'5 and from what I have been told is if I stuck my knee out I would be dragging it. Then again why would I want to do that on the street.

[Mr Lefty]

Originally Posted by Phenix_Rider

I'm sure I make mine work too much, but it's like OTB and No Worries say. If you're hanging off like a monkey, a cop is going to pick you off right away. If you don't look like you're trying to ride fast, you might get away with it.

but is getting away with it more important than having a safty buffer? if your making the bike work so hard your closer to it's limits... giving you less of a buffer to work with if something goes wrong...

personally I'd take the ticket over loosing the front end..

[Phenix_Rider]

Originally Posted by Ebbs15

but is getting away with it more important than having a safty buffer? if your making the bike work so hard your closer to it's limits... giving you less of a buffer to work with if something goes wrong...

personally I'd take the ticket over loosing the front end..

I'm not even close to the bike's limits on the street. I'll save that for the track.

[Mr Lefty]

your missing what I'm saying.... when your leaning the bike over... your getting closer to the MAX lean for that situation... if you make the bike work harder... and a unforseen circumstance arises... you have less of a safty buffer...

just as if your straight up and down you have more of a safty buffer than if your leaning even slightly...

I wasn't trying to imply that your riding too close to the limits of the bike...

just that you have less of a buffer to play with if your making the bike do the work

[Trip]

Originally Posted by Phenix_Rider

I'm sure I make mine work too much, but it's like OTB and No Worries say. If you're hanging off like a monkey, a cop is going to pick you off right away. If you don't look like you're trying to ride fast, you might get away with it.

I think me hanging off the bike is the least of my worries if I am riding hard enough to be trying to knee drag and come across a cop. If I am riding around town and not riding hard, I probably don't even need to lean that much even if I am hanging off the other side of the bike.

[Mudpuppy]

Originally Posted by mtp

How many days at the track before you put the knee down?

3rd trackday i got it down 2nd session.. 1st trackday i wasn't even thinking about it.. 2nd trackday i was trying and getting damn close just couldn't get there.. 3rd trackday i forgot about it just rode and it just happened.. scared the shit out of me too the first time i did it.. i thought something on the bike was dragging so i ripped the bike up straight.. it was funny too because a guy that had been to like 8 trackdays and was desperately trying to get a knee down was following me and boy was he pissed off..