Total Motorcycle Community Forums

On a 15 MPH limit curve I went a 40 indiciated to the left and dragged my knee. When I came to my bike today I saw that my left tire still has a good 1/8th inch of unused tire. I've never dragged my right knee but there is no unused tire on the right side.
Which brings up the question... is my turning technique messed up? How can one tell if it is or not?

And before all the safety freaks tell me I'm not being safe, this is probably the safest curve you can encounter. From 100 feet before entering the curve you can see 1 mile of the road you are about to exit on to, so you can see any unforseen obstacles a blind curve might hide. It's slightly downhill so you can see if there is gravel.

Just means you can probably hit it at 42 mph and still have grip

well.. it's just weird that I've never dragged my right knee and my right side of the tire is ragged but the left side still has a bunch of tread left with dragging a knee.

intotherain wrote:well.. it's just weird that I've never dragged my right knee and my right side of the tire is ragged but the left side still has a bunch of tread left with dragging a knee.

It could be that you are leaning the wrong way in turns??? Not being silly, just having a hard time describing the action you might be using. Instead of getting your body "inside" the turn, you may be leaning the bike over while you shift your body mass to the opposite side of the bike

Did you push your knee out when you did this? Also could be that 15mph dragging your knee one time didn't put any wear on the tire, and you just favor right turns more aggressively in daily driving. I met a guy the other day at school that takes his bike to tracks regularly and the edges of his tires were shredded. He invited me out to join him so hopefuly I'll get some experience dragging my knee, I'm to scared to do it on the public roads around here I don't trust them

Well... anyways I have a track day at Laguna Seca set up for next week so maybe I can get things settled there. I lean into the curves but I think I might be hanging off a cheek or two in left turns and none on right turns.

Derail: I don't ride aggressively on a daily basis. The only times I get close to the edges of my tires are in a mostly controlled environment. I would hardly call a section of road which gets 1 car a day a "public" road.

I was dragging at 40 MPH, not 15 MPH.

Let me get this straight.

You almost dragged a knee at 15 MPH?

That's pretty good. Keep trying!

LoL, the idea to leaning off is to keep as much of your tire in contact with the ground as possible. Having chicken strips is no big deal, and if you can get a knee down. Congrats, I've never done that.

Don't worry about the chicken strips at all. The mark of an experienced rider isn't the amount of unused tire on his wheels, rather it's his ability to navigate the turns.

I have more respect for a rider that looks smooth and controlled through the corners then one that has no chicken strips.

Yeah, if you can navigate the corner without fully maxing out the tire, it means the bike can go faster. Personally, I try to keep my contact patch as fat as possible. On my fat 190 rear tire, I'll scrape my boots (and my knees) before I get to the edge of my tires. Granted, I could raise my pegs, but that wouldn't be comfortable for normal riding.

That is a good thing, by the way. You don't really want to get to the edge of your tires unless you really have to. By the time you are leaned over that far, you are compromising your traction, and room for error.

Sev wrote: Don't worry about the chicken strips at all. The mark of an experienced rider isn't the amount of unused tire on his wheels, rather it's his ability to navigate the turns. .

heh say that to the guys around here! It's almost like the culture here. I try not to listen but it reels me in. I was almost tempted to ride in a t shirt to fit in with the rest of the gang at my school.

Anyways, I hate riding like a racer in blind curves because I think it is dumb so I take just this one corner very hard. If I fall, atleast I know there is no cows or cars to run me over.