Just got my first ever knee down! Who says L-Platers can’t ride?! (Seems her indoors didn’t appreciate being woken up at half four to hear about it, so I’m posting purely to vent stuff…)
Went round and round the A3 roundabout in third between Worcester Park and New Malden for ages waiting for a few clear trips round - who the hell else is there in Cheam who wakes up at four in the morning and decides “Right, I’m off to New Malden, then.”?! There obviously wasn’t much to do there, because there were an equal number of cars coming back - and I’m sure my technique is atrocious, too (all the wear is in the centre of the pad, rather than the outside edge), but I’m genuinely dead chuffed!
I went to the Kempton Park autojumble a few weeks back to get a cheap pair of leathers with knee sliders - but only arrived at about two, when everybody was packing up; so I ended up wearing rollerblade kneepads under a pair of tough old cargo pants - but even allowing for the difference in shape and position on the knee, I’m fairly sure I’m in the wrong position or something going by the wear, so still have something to work on.
There was one point when I was doing about thirty-five-odd around the roundabout with my knee to the ground at medium revs in third when the back end stepped out. I don’t know what I did - maybe just a greasy patch of road or else a road marking? (There are more white lines on that roundabout since it’s refurb than in your average coke den) I’m fairly sure I hadn’t reached the end of the tyre or anything because I’ve got the peg down before (without the knee, somehow) on more than one occasion with no loss of grip.
Despite my aim for the night being “kneedown or lowside it trying”, this scared the crap out of me, I backed off the throttle and the bike sat up quicker than my dad does when he remembers insert generic program about war or something here is on the other side but he’s lost the remote, so I decided to call it a day and head home after getting it down a few final times to reassure myself.
Congratulations, shocking how loud the scrap noise is huh!
Technique…tip toes on pegs, stay relaxed and smooth, slide you arse over so only one cheek is on the bike and bring your body across too, look as far through the corner as you can and get your head down on the inside of the handlebar, you can find instruction and example on youtube.
If it steps out reduce the throttle very slightly so the bike does not become unsettled and highside.
Hey dudeGood feeling isn’t it. Good to hear you didn’t get too overly confident and knew when it was time to go home (wish I’d had that insight my first time )
I know the roundabout well; dunno what it’s like since the refurb but the surface was pretty bad before. It used to have the forks on my old CBF see-sawing all over the place.
As for the rear wheel slipping out. There are a number of things that can cause it. Could’ve been the road surface, cold tyres, and being a bit ham-fisted with the throttle. Remember to keep it gradual, getting lower and faster each time you go round) so you heat the tyres up well on the nearside and ensure you’ve worn off the shiny surface to the edge giving you good grip. Be silky smooth with the throttle, only using minor adjustments along with weight transferring and counter steering to alter your path round the bend. And look where you want to go, right round the bend. For tips on body position see Youtube for some MCN videos on knee down tips.
…and watch out for cars pulling out on you! Only really push it when you have a clear route round cos trying to abruptly adjust your speed when leant right over is asking for trouble!
nice one mate! always feels good to do that you always remember your first time…
Difficult to advise more than what people have said here, but maybe (putting sensible hat on) now that you have done the knee down, you can start to work more on reading the road, setting up for real-world corners, etc that will actually make you a faster rider.
But (i can hear the shreaks of ‘pot kettle black’ now) of course I love getting me knee down, and big up to doing it on the bike you have got!
)
you always remember your first time…