Tell me, how do you practice in a parking lot?

 

i don't do it but there are members of a local forum who do...
they set up cones...and work on positioning, braking, etc...

many of them have had their first keedragging experience at the parking lot...

how do i feel about it? it's great for a noob and what not, and great for the stopping drill, apexing, etc...but not for kneedragging.

 

Just watch out for those painted lines...they're slippery as Hell, and visually inspect the parking lot for holes and debris before attempting...oh...and watch out for the police...some business owners get cranky about sportbikers dragging knee in their parking lots!

 

i stay away...i personally think it's LAME...but i hate to sound opinionated but it's just LAME...why?
cause you tons of idiots sitting there running circles trying to get lower and lower each time until their pucks touch...or are way too focused on scraping knee...
then what happens when they hit the canyons or track? they can't do it cause it's all about fluidity and smoothness there...

 

Yes, we set up cones. And yes, it was my first knee draging experience.

Anyone who thinks that furthering your knowledge and experience on a bike, no matter where it may be is a bit naive. I don't pretend to be joe racer because I was able to drag a knee in a parking lot. I don't pretend to be joe racer because that knowledge transfered over smoothely to a track.

The parking lot we practice in covers several acres. You could easially hit triple digets down any of the edges, so for scale, it's bit. It is also at an old Target that closed a few years ago. The local police have been by and watched our sessions. In talking with them, they were fine with it and applauded our desire to learn more about ourselves and our bikes in a more controlled enviornment rather than a few minutes away in our numerous mountain roads.

I'm not much of one for biting when somebody trolls... but some of the above comments irritate me.

Now that a bit of time has passed, I have made some adjustments to my suspension as suggested, and even tho I have yet to be back at the track since then, I do notice the differences in how it handles once over. I can definately say that even tho it felt good, my suspension was previously set too soft. I'm slowly getting the feel for how it handles now that I have reset the sag and compression dampening. So essentially I believe my question has been answered. Simply a suspension setup.

I also got some video while riding, and in slower frames, could see that my front suspension was bottoming out too easy... even tho I never felt it clunk so to speak.

Hopefully these adjustments will be noticable once I'm back on the track. I believe they will.

And I don't think I answered this before, but for my lean angle in the parking lot photo... yes I am upright too much, but none of those turns probably exceeded 40mph. When I'm on the track my body position is much closer to the tank, and for the most part my head is in the position that the above people said. The next time I hit the track (within December) I will get some videos and stills and post them up.

Till then, Thanks to those of you who had something productive to offer.

- Pixel -

 

Ooh, and on a side note.

Went up to the hills the other day for a spirited ride with about 10 people. I was in about 4th position following a ducati.

We're taking a small blind sided right hand turn that immediately pitches back left shortly there after.

Being that we get snow in our hills there was a bit of gravel in some of the turns.

As I'm following the duc into the right hand turn, he notices a line of gravel mid lane, and decides to stay on the outside of it. We're both coming into the turn a bit hot.

The next thing I see is him square up, brake lights come on... and he lowsides in the right hander before the switchback. He completely lowsides in our lane... slides across the oncoming traffic lane, and puts it into the ditch.

Being only a short distance behind him, I see what he saw after glancing at his crash...

In the oncoming traffics lane, there is a TON of gravel, and he's already gone wide.

Practice in parking lots???

I blip my throttle under braking as I down shift coming into the turn. My tire sticks fine even tho I am already in lean. I see what he was freaked out about and lean my bike a bit past my normal canyon lean angle. I shift my body to the other side of the bike, and finish executing the turn back to the left... never leaving my lane. I then signal to the people behind me that I'm stopping to turn back around. Didn't even raise my heart rate... even tho I had to use up some of my reserve lean angle, while avoiding gravel, and being distracted by a fellow rider crashing.

I don't know how many videos I've seen of a lead rider being followed by a camera rider, where the lead rider crashes, and the camera guy following him pits it imediately after. Sympothy crash? Same bad line? Distracted?

Ill I have to say to sum this up, is that because I praciced in a parking lot to learn how to lean my bike over further... That lead me to hit the track. There I learned to lean it over further... trail brake... rev match... and know what my bike does when the suspension and tires gets upset.

That road lead me to a short Thanks Giving day ride, where I was able to avoid a crash because I took the time to learn my shortfalls. In hindsight? If I had been on this same ride a year ago, I most likely would have pitted my bike into the guy and bike that crashed in front of me.

- Pixel -

 

why do parking lot graduates get so upset when someone disagrees with the kneedragging portion?
i posted that everything else is great for noobs but as far as dragging knee...nope...it should come naturally but in a parking lot you have too many hacks just trying to get lower and lower and focusing on dragging the knee...that is what i've commented as being lame...everything else is fine...

kneedragging should come with fluidity, when one is in the 'zone'...which comes only with lots of practice...you can't get into the zone in a parking lot...nor can you practice fluidity...

lots are great for braking drills, and all the other MSF stuff...and that's about it.

FYI, my first knee drag was my first time at the track....and for the most part...dragging knee doesn't have as much to do with speed as most think...

as for your ducati guy...you said you were both coming into a turn hot...and that's why he went down...

just read your post...you got lucky you didn't go down...you downshifted while leaned...why?

see...all that stuff comes from riding, not from practicing in a parking lot...

all your braking, downshifting, etc...should've been done before you entered the turn...he panic'd and stood the bike up...another no no...how do you teach that in the parking lot?

 

I think this is a great discussion. Too bad I got in on it late.
II still haven't gotten my knee down, even though my speeds and confidence have increased substantially.

I would recommend against that the next time. Trust me, I just know.

 

jaybird...you haven't gotten your knee down but you did drag your elbow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! muahahhaha

 

Naw man, just a toe slider.