Grinding The Pegs Without Getting The Knee Down?

[ScrmnDuc]

Stoker, it has already been mentioned by others here that they try not to grind hard parts. I do not have any wish to grind hard parts on any of my bikes. Once you start grinding hard parts you are on the razor's edge and have no options left, no room for error! This is not the way to ride on the street and hope to live very long.

If you want to do this because of peer pressure form the group you ride with, then maybe you need to find another group or just ride by yourself! If you are curious about how it feels to grind hard parts is one thing, but being pressured into doing it is another. And being the another is not being very safe.

 

If it is a pressure thing then let them do it. Work on becoming a better rider.Being a better rider does not mean tearing up your equipment. Being a better rider is being able to do what they are doing faster and easier and not tearing up yourself and equipment at the same time.

 

You, will then win in the long run.

[Alfred.Rodriguez]

Damn! And she is a novice!! I must follow this thing closely.I see it as a way to tremendously improve skills with little investment, don't you think? No track required.Just some empty space and a host of skills get worked on.Thank you so much LNew.

 

I don't believe that Motogymkhana could ever be a substitute for track days, high speed riding, track and street racing and the associated proper couching and schooling; they are very different in essence.

 

As stated before, at those low speeds, the radius of turns and the closest distances between two points is way more important than speed; actually, just a little excessive speed messes up the ideal trajectory.

 

Techniques are also different: just observe how the rider moves her upper body to compensate for braking and acceleration and to help standing up the bike more vigorously, while her butt is kept as aft as possible.

 

These videos make it look easy, but believe, it is extremely hard to make the clock show a decent time after an "attack".

 

The set up of the bikes also differs: very deflated tires, higher handlebars and big rear sprockets (to increase acceleration as high speed is not needed).

 

The sport is very new in UK and is taking baby steps in USA; Japanese riders have been practicing this for more than 15 years; reason for which they are so proficient.

 

Finding a proper place that allows practice is also difficult, at least in USA.

I have been kicked out of many empty parking lots by owners concerned about their liability,.............even if nobody is around or I fall on my own.

 

Glad it helped with your question; you are welcome.

 

 

Yeah - I love Motogymkhana! Actually, being doing it before track riding (and my _first_ track was the CSS 2-Day Camp in Vegas last February)....

 

Here in Japan, I try to get at least one 4-hr practice session per month on it...! In the same track that you see in your video post (of course, not with the same complicated layout)...

 

In regards to your post on it being a substitute for track riding - not it is NOT, rather it complements... Ive known riders that are fast in the track; but terribly slow in low speed manuevers (ie., city riding). Or vice-versa... Basically, IMO, a balanced rider is one that could ride (1) track, (2) gymkhana, and (3) off road....

 

Nice video of Japanese motorcops:

 

https://vimeo.com/62663278

[Alfred.Rodriguez]

Well i put my knee out a bit but is there any way i can go max lean without getting my knee down and out?

 

You could refer to one of my replies to your thread on Hanging Off - I included a video of Shiga-san, one of Japan's top motogymkhana riders, with his Honda CBR600RR...

 

[Stroker]

I saw it, thanks a lot.

[EricG]

I, for one, ride straight up and lean in, a bit more each time. I haven't ground my pegs, but I did take over 1" off the bottom of my hiking boots... Got riding boots soon after, and hit the toe sliders all the time.

 

The gymkhana video is awesome! I wish O could be that good someday.

[rootkit007]

I did my first (dry) trackday about a month ago. My body position sucks - I dont hang off far enough and stay too high (http://www.gron4.net/2013/060913/nov/kawblu/) . Anyway I felt confident in corners, didnt slide out and was gunning it more and more towards the end. Until I scraped my peg hard in the very last lap. I ground off about 5mm off the curb feeler (yes, I know I should have taken them off). This resulted in some weight being transferred from the rear, and I lost traction. Somehow I managed to save it, but of course lost my line and went off the track, and down in the grass runoff - scratched fairings and that was it.

 

Please dont try to scrape your footpegs. If your feet are in right position you'll hit toe sliders first (I know I did), and that should be your early warning. Getting hard parts down is just outright dangerous, especially on street.

[EricG]

Stroker, I'm no way near that good, but I have scraped the bottom off my hiking boots, and routinely hit the toe sliders on my Puma Desmondos, on the street, all the time. Basically, I practice in a giant Sears parking lot wit lots of open space. Each pass has lower lean angle, sometimes just a matter of inches. I've gotten to the point where road snakes cause my rear tire to slip and I'm a bit nervous about that and won't go further.

 

But I have started to go slower and slower. In concentric circles, as well as swirls. At some point, you'll find that you need to counter-lean to keep the bike balanced or it will want to low side. BTW, I don't hang off, don't know how & reticent to try that on the street.

 

And this is on a 560lb K1300s. Smaller bikes like the ones you're talking about should be much easier to work, just use the rear brake and the friction zone with throttle & you'll find the sweet spot. Flip side is the light weight will make it easy to over compensate and lose it, so just take your time.

 

I really hope I'll be that good someday. Deluded, I know, but you've gotta,have a goal, no?

[faffi]

I think it depends on what kind of bike you ride. On my GS550, the pegs didn't fold, nor did the engine, yet I regularly scraped the alternator cover, pegs, stands and exhaust system without going down and the ancient rear tyre would only slide if I gave it lots of throttle while dragging hard parts. Of course, cornering clearance in the 70s is nothing like what sport bikes have today, which will greatly influence the outcome. I'm still surprised, though, the touching a folding peg could unload a tyre sufficiently to send it sliding unless your were already at the absolute limit of traction

[Stroker]

On cruisers and stuff you grind the hard parts easily and it is ok if you do so.On sports bikes, you are quite close to the limit if you are scraping the pegs ( if you hang off, your knee will be touching long before the pegs do ) and you maybe frightened or the tire may unload.

 

I want to learn to really get the bike down without hanging off if i could not hang off for some reason.Just good to know.