The other day I was in Cycle World looking for a few things and the young guy walks into the parts department and right up to the counter. “I want to know how to get a knee down†he asks. The two girls behind the counter looked perplexed but one tried to explain. “Well you get off the bike as far as you can and then reach down with the knee, but you have to be very fastâ€. Usually I just keep my mouth shut but this dude was getting first in line at the organ donor clinic! “So I asked why do you want to get a knee down?†He said it’s cool and some of his friends did it. So I start from the beginning:
“Well, most really fast riders don’t get a knee down much and almost never on a public road. MotoGP riders are different and if you think you can do what they do on the street you will be dead long before you get good enough to lean that much. The first thing you need to know is how to steer and how to brake. Do you know what counter steering is?†No, he replied. So I explained that. He didn’t believe me so we went out to his bike. I asked him “if you want to go left what do you do?†“lean the bike to the left†he said. “Ok so now turn your bars to the right and see what the bike does – careful don’t fall overâ€. So he turned the bars to the right and sure enough the bike leaned left. “You ever feel like the bike is not going where you want it to in a turn?†“Yes†Use counter steering and that will not be a problem. When you counter steer the bike has to fall to the opposite direction you are steering – no matter how fast it is going. Otherwise the bike gets harder and harder to force it to lean as it goes faster.â€
Then I asked him if he uses the front or rear brakes or both. “The rearâ€, he replied. “I have a couple friends who are into motocross and they say stay away from the front brake.†Wow, this guy is headed to road rash city! “dirt bikes don’t have much traction and are always sliding, that’s why the back brake works. But on the street 70% of your load is on the front tire so if you use the rear brake only the most stopping power you have is 30%. Also the rear brake can destabilize the bike if you don’t know what you are doing.†“I’m afraid I’ll flip with the front brakeâ€, he says. That’s why you have to practice. You have to train yourself to squeeze the lever smoothly until it takes up slack and starts slowing the bike, then add pressure as needed. The front tire will shutter when it begins to slip and if you are really flying it will chirp – but if you can make it chirp you better know what you are doing.†“Well I still feel better using the back brake.†“Your call, but you will crash when someone stops in front of you or it’s rainingâ€, I replied.
“So how do I set my suspension so I can drag a knee?†“You don’t. You setup the suspension so that the bike is as stable as possible then you fine tune it to your riding style/conditions†I said, thinking this guy is a total idiot. He then shows me that he has the preload all the way in on his forks, and the compression as stiff as possible and the rebound as light as possible. He asks “is this right?†I tell him “look, there is no way you can adjust this yourself, hell you don’t even know what’s right if you got lucky and hit that setting!†“So, you make the suspension as hard as possible to make it turn right, my friend told me race suspension is stifferâ€. I was done now and said “Take the bike to a dealer and have the suspension setup properly before you kill yourself. Race bikes have harder suspension because race tracks are smooth as glass, roads aren’t. Besides racers are going way faster than you are supposed to. One of the most important things you will notice about a good rider is that they don’t take stupid risks, they ride according to the conditions whether they are on a track or a road.â€
It truly amazes me that people like that are out on the road. They could even buy something like a liter bike or a Busa. It’s like letting a 5 year old play with a grenade!
“Well, most really fast riders don’t get a knee down much and almost never on a public road. MotoGP riders are different and if you think you can do what they do on the street you will be dead long before you get good enough to lean that much. The first thing you need to know is how to steer and how to brake. Do you know what counter steering is?†No, he replied. So I explained that. He didn’t believe me so we went out to his bike. I asked him “if you want to go left what do you do?†“lean the bike to the left†he said. “Ok so now turn your bars to the right and see what the bike does – careful don’t fall overâ€. So he turned the bars to the right and sure enough the bike leaned left. “You ever feel like the bike is not going where you want it to in a turn?†“Yes†Use counter steering and that will not be a problem. When you counter steer the bike has to fall to the opposite direction you are steering – no matter how fast it is going. Otherwise the bike gets harder and harder to force it to lean as it goes faster.â€
Then I asked him if he uses the front or rear brakes or both. “The rearâ€, he replied. “I have a couple friends who are into motocross and they say stay away from the front brake.†Wow, this guy is headed to road rash city! “dirt bikes don’t have much traction and are always sliding, that’s why the back brake works. But on the street 70% of your load is on the front tire so if you use the rear brake only the most stopping power you have is 30%. Also the rear brake can destabilize the bike if you don’t know what you are doing.†“I’m afraid I’ll flip with the front brakeâ€, he says. That’s why you have to practice. You have to train yourself to squeeze the lever smoothly until it takes up slack and starts slowing the bike, then add pressure as needed. The front tire will shutter when it begins to slip and if you are really flying it will chirp – but if you can make it chirp you better know what you are doing.†“Well I still feel better using the back brake.†“Your call, but you will crash when someone stops in front of you or it’s rainingâ€, I replied.
“So how do I set my suspension so I can drag a knee?†“You don’t. You setup the suspension so that the bike is as stable as possible then you fine tune it to your riding style/conditions†I said, thinking this guy is a total idiot. He then shows me that he has the preload all the way in on his forks, and the compression as stiff as possible and the rebound as light as possible. He asks “is this right?†I tell him “look, there is no way you can adjust this yourself, hell you don’t even know what’s right if you got lucky and hit that setting!†“So, you make the suspension as hard as possible to make it turn right, my friend told me race suspension is stifferâ€. I was done now and said “Take the bike to a dealer and have the suspension setup properly before you kill yourself. Race bikes have harder suspension because race tracks are smooth as glass, roads aren’t. Besides racers are going way faster than you are supposed to. One of the most important things you will notice about a good rider is that they don’t take stupid risks, they ride according to the conditions whether they are on a track or a road.â€
It truly amazes me that people like that are out on the road. They could even buy something like a liter bike or a Busa. It’s like letting a 5 year old play with a grenade!
