http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42o9W6sjmu4I been practicing the last couple of days and today I filmed myself. This is my closest ride and as you can see my knee is about a foot and a half away…oddly enough watched the video again, frame by frame and realised…my foot is actually touching the floor, just checked my boots and yes, great big scratch marks all down the outside, awesome.
I can see from the video that I am clearly not hanging off the bike anywhere near enough, which is strange because when I am on the bike, it feels like I am barely on it, but clearly the video shows I am sitting too upright and that I am still a little bit twisted up.
What else? I feel I am really leaning the bike, the back wheel occasionally feels like it is sliding a little bit so I am not sure that it will go over anymore, but aside from the seating position which I will have to work on a bit, what else could I change to get this done?
Meet up with me and ill take you out and show ya how to do it.
that way i can offer advice there and then. step by step.
time my friend… i spen 4 days down at the local roundabouts and the 5th day i got it. slight adjustments. what ever feels confortable to you. Might be simple case, stick ya knee out more. physically push it down onto road!
lol I know! but I FEEL like my leg is massively sticking out! I actually been hurting myself a little bit and have had to start doing some stretching exercises first as my groin is painful.
Lewis, that would be awesome! If you know a good spot? PM and we can meet up anytime, I am done at Uni now so on my holidays so pretty much free at anytime, as I say I spent 2 days, not long maybe 30 minutes max, attempting it, but it is hard to judge yourself what you are doing, hence me filming myself. I think with some friendly advice from someone who knows what they are talking about, I think I can get this done.
Let it come naturally and it will come eventually. Keep the balls of your feet on the pegs nuts about a fist away from the tank, lock in the knee, turn the opposite shoulder into the turn and look through your wing mirror (this keeps you parallel to the bike rather than twisting around the tank)
try getting one whole ass cheek off the bike and try to get your head somewhere near your mirror. as elad says its better to do on track, one of the last times i did it on a roundabout i nearly crashed into the middle of it
Yeah I am in East London, but I am regularly at the Ace. As I say, I am on my holidays so free most of the time.
Cheers for the advice re the mirror will try that out as from the video it is clear that the top half of my body is still pretty much above the tank.
My arse is hanging off the bike, and my feet are on their balls on the edges of the pegs, but I think the top half of my body is stopping me from really hanging off. Will try getting my shoulder and head parallel with the mirror.
I know what you mean Kato, car drives don’t seem able to judge speed of a bike going round a roundabout, the number that pull out on me, even though I am travelling quite quickly and then do 10mph. Very irritating.
For the record though, my left thigh muscle and my right shin muscle are aching quite badly from where my body weight was shifted off the right hand side of the bike…so I think bottom half I am almost there, just the top half I need to work off the bike now.
Your deffo leaning enough, you just need to hang off:)
Maybe try it on a Track or a dis-used roundabout, as trying to get your knee down while worrying if a car will pop out or not might be too much going on
Yeah I am planning on just the knee down, not me arse.
I got an AC3K camera that I can strap to the back pegs and maybe get a view from behind that way, or maybe strap it to the luggage hooks under the rear seat. Will have a look see what I can do.
It took you 5 days to get your knee down?Yeah he’s the guy you want teaching you.The next week I’d suggest a child minding course with Beverly Allet or Myra Hindley.
i know that spot:D keep your indicator on, cars there are fairly used to people KDing there;)
looks to me like you need to hang off a bit more, tuck you toe up higher on the peg, and stick ya knee out…
Roundabouts are fairly easy, corners wether on road or track take a bit more workkng out, dont try it on road corners tho, i do it… but i dont really advise it, track is safer.
what Elad says about the wing mirror etc is good advice, i found my own way, but tips from Elad, Vegas, and Fooligan, helped me and i got mine down after thier tips!
i would say i’d come out and show ya but i’m a bit busy at the mo, tho if i;m free i’ll let you know as i’m east london based.
As you said, your body position is wrong. You also need to get your head down, past the mirrors, instead of trying to keep it in line with the bike. You seem to be looking through the corner OK, just need to force your head down, your body will follow. The whole point of KD is hanging off more so that you don’t lean the bike as much, keep it as upright as possible. At the moment, it seems like you’re almost doing the opposite.
Maybe not tomorrow, cause my knee hurts, my thigh aches, my shin muscle is screaming at me, but the next time I go up there I will work on my upper body positioning and use some of the hints and tips posted here to get a better position.
I think with the correct upper body position I will be able to get my knee far lower and therefore not have to lean the bike so much.
Ok. on the 5th day of trying i got it down. I didnt spend 4 whole days there. but i took it step by step, a little by little. New bike, new skill, new roundabout. lots that could have gone wrong. Its going back a few years now but if i try and remember I spent about 3 hours a day, with breaks every 2 laps. video checking etc. Police, other bikes. I feel i shouldnt have to try and justify myself on why i took the time i did. I was merely trying to get it accross to Kaos, that for some riders it takes a bit longer.I know at least 4 bikes that are at the roundabouts every weekened and weds night trying to get their knee down. Have been for about a year now. Still cant! They touch. panic, sit bolt upright, pull over for half hour and then try again.
Rome wasn’t built in a day !!