Never a good idea!... Been there and done it!... Sky, air, sky, air.. Ohh! That hurts!!... (Walks away with broken pride and bike)!
Last year, top of the m32 in bristol. Nice big flat roundabout, new tarmac, just come back from the TT. Dragged it round there, my first time. First bike with fairing ( rsv4 ). Once I knew my position did it again at the Lawrence hill roundabout 10 mins later. Once again after that in Weston super mare a couple of months later.....haven't been anywhere since where I've had the chance, although its fast approaching...
Telford has got an awful lot of deserted roundabouts if anyone is interested. At least, they used to be deserted, but it's been rather a long time since I was in that neck of the woods.
Telford still has an awful lot of roundabouts, unfortunately, these days they're mainly populated with doddery Honda Jazz owners. Thinking mirrors are something to check if their headscarves are on straight when they leave the hallways of their homes. Sadly oblivious to much else it seems. Gateway to the A5 for me, also populated with mucho rounabouts :smile:
86/87 round Gerards at Mallory. Most corners now on my rare track excursions and every ride out on the roads or I've been cheated. The best one was again at Mallory. Going round Gerards on the practise day in the wet, knee down on a TZ Yam thinking 'I'm the man' when some guy comes flying round the outside of me going considerably faster. Turned out to be Jim Moodie practising for a BSB round. Nearly always someone faster than you.
Sometime in the 80's for me, maybe '88 on the A28 riding a VF500. And like OGR, I had the same wake up call at Mallory, except it was John Reynolds on his works ZXR, he actually made me jump!
Druids at Brands is one of the best corners for knee down I think and my first place. My favourite place for knee down is Paddock hill bend though as you know your properly on it if you are knee down through there
Me too , only track I've ridden , I had the felling of the front going on two consecutive laps , came in to collect myself or I'd have ended up binning it. Funny though one bloke was with his nipper so he'd bought himself a gixxer 750 , track fairings and stuff , but left the road tyres on he'd got with the bike when he bought it. Binned it coming out of the pits on his second session. Knob that was his day finished , how I larfed in a discreet way , I mean tyres are more important than a track fairing.
Did you do much hillclimbing? I've done quite a bit, if you're getting your knee down on cold tyres then you end up like you did! Nice graceful exit though, 8 out of 10 for style :smile:. OGR
Yes mate quite a bit , we are allowed tyre warmers in the channel Islands , not sure if you use them in the UK , but they were Ok'd with the ACU after a numpty doing a burnout shot into the crowd and did some damage. So no cold tyres , theres always some warmth in them but it does depend on how long your held up on the line , what with accidents , normally caused by car drivers .
There really is nothing wrong with not getting your knee down. I don't think Geoff Duke ever got his knee down and he won 6 TTs. Getting your knee down doesn't make you a good rider.
Very underrated bike, future classic for sure. As for wheelies, I don't do them now, used to, but I'm scared of the repair bill these days. Same with kneedown, had to do it to prove I could, now don't see the point. Christ, even speed is only an option for me now, where before it was a preselected setting. I might be slow now, but by christ you shoulda seen me back in the day...:wink:
Never!!! I even went to a knee down school at Llandow and failed miserably. I don't have the right technique and tend to sit more (too) bolt upright than I should. I tried it at Brands at the California Superbike school and nearly slipped completely off the seat as my leathers were too slippery, tank grip pads were not on sale then. I know I would be quicker If I could get my knee down, I accept that it works. When I had a TZ years ago I used to wear my boots out incredibly because my toes would just kiss the ground on corners, I even wore my toe down once as I din't feel it go through the boot, all good fun!!
Another thing is how hard do you get your kneeslider down , once I feel mine touch I pull my knee closer to allow more lean , I only skim the tarmac , probably why I've had a couple of lowsides . Do you blokes firmly plant your knee , then no more lean wearing them right down .
That's what its there for, the slider is a gauge for how far you're over (assuming you get in exactly the same position each time). If you're really good, ie a racer, you can use your leg to push you upright if you lose the front. Well that's what Tommy Hill said to me anyway :tongue:
only once, at the beginning of a 4 day camping trip on my rd80. the right knee saved the bike. being the minger i am/was the jeans didnt come of for the four days and the dirty scab grew in to the denim. nasty.
Cant remember exactly where but I had tried to do it for ages and the more I tried the further away from the holy grail I seemed to get so I gave up. Then one day on a track day it just happened I nearly fell off in disbelief.
