Magny Cours about 20 years ago (minor puck scuffing) on the 851. Now on most corners on any track (but I haven't seen a track for 10 years). You don't actually think about it at all. You knees just naturally touch down. I get my knee down occasionally on some of the local bends around here. There's a very fast uphill two lane curve which is ideal (except that it's limited to 70 kph. I tend to be not too shy of 150 kph coming out of there. Sorry ocifer.) To be honest, once you know you can, you sort of feel that you should, that failure to do so on many bends is due to less than perfect body positioning. I know it doesn't make you any faster, but it is great fun and a good feeling!
It becomes a genuine gauge imo. I know I can go faster until I scrape. Then I know I can go faster until my toes scrape. Then I know the limit. Thats how I build up to going as quick as my talent, balls and body allow Wish I could wheelie properly tho and tbh thats far better than knee down :biggrin:
Never pulled an intentional wheelie. This is because I figure the following: Learning how to do something requires making mistakes. Making a mistake on my wonderful Ducati is going to be expensive, so I just haven't been there. If there was a local wheelie school I'd definitely attend. It looks like a great way to ruin your chain, sprockets and fork seals, but I would be severely tempted. Before I had a Ducati, I had a Honda CD175 and a Honda 400N. Both notoriously hard to wheelie.
Brands Hatch, Clearways, about '99 on my ZX-6R......I nearly got my knee down - I managed to scrape my right hand foot peg a couple of times but never stuck my knee out far enough. I'm a virgin and would never come close on the road as I don't slide all over the seat - can't see why! - I think I've probably got 3'' chicken strips! hahahaha!
I try all the time. Had my best ones on a ST2 with a top box and the old 1000 multi, which was great off the. Throttle and could get thru 3 gears before it came down. But thats not wheelying: wheelying is being able to blip the throttle and keep the bugger up in one gear
I have never pulled a wheelie on the road but occasionally managed coming out of the top of Surtees on Brands GP. Never tried Cadwell.
i agree with this, although I have fecked up more toe sliders than knees... Wheelies are a pig though. Can't do them and when I try its an embarrassment...
I'm a knee down virgin too. I'd expect warm tyres would be essential before attempting knee down. As the chicken strip area of the tyre barely gets used, how does it get warm? I'm guessing it would warm by generally flexing of the tyre + conduction, is that right?
The Far East, 1988, and as I keep reminding her, she has been lucky enough to be Mrs Bimble ever since....
That's the problem with my events , no warm up just flat out , and when you've been sitting on the line waiting and your tyres are cooling down (especially on a cold day) I seriously wonder what I'm doing there.
You don't need to be on the edge of the tyres to get your knee down. Basically, the knee down technique is about shifting body weight to the inside of the corner, in order to keep the bike more upright. It also means that for a given angle of lean, you can be travelling faster, hence its application to the track. You can also turn quicker, with the weight lower down and towards the inside of the corner. I still have chicken strips on the edge of my 190. it doesn't bother me in any way. As far as I am concerned, it's a safety margin, meaning that clearly, I could lean the bike over even further. It's a margin I like to keep on the road where it is unwise to practice the same lean angles you get on track. But I don't need to use those final couple of centimetres to get my knee down. Modern sticky rubber will easily get warm enough to allow to you plant your knee in safety. Obviously not really recommended at this time of year, but on a reasonably warm day, so long as you've been accelerating reasonably, and braking quite strongly (both of which warm the tyre), the tyres may not be like chewing gum, but they are easily sticky enough. You hear about racers' tyres cooling on tracks which only have a couple of right or left-handers, but you should be aware that these people are operating in an entirely different ball game, using all the stickiness that their rubber permits. It's not a problem that you or I are likely to have. So it's not as if the bit of the tyre that isn't getting much use is stone cold on the road. The heat spreads over it enough to keep you sunny side up.
Whoo! I didn't mean it as a guide to be a hero or manly!! I'm a pussy when it comes to road riding, but let myself go on track... Much to my physical, and mental wellbeing!!
What ever glidd said especially about not trying it in this weather. I did get carried away last year Feb and got my knew down, followed by my elbow and another knee....
