Hi All Just wondered if anyone has done the knee down course held at Mallory Park and if so how they rated it????
I've done 3-4 regular trackdays there and am thinking of doing a Jamie Whittham training day there, but don't have an issue getting a knee down at Mallory. Garrards can be tricky, but Edwina's left & right is the best place to start, as is the Shaw's hairpin. Occasionally touch down at the John Cooper Esses if I'm carrying enough pace.
Knee down,the holy grail Once you do it, its great, on track, I'm more concerned about standing the bike up as soon as I can to get on the power Rob
Have you any more info about this, link to site or anything, no matter how i try i just cant get touchdown, pretty sure its my body position but shouldnt mind having a go at something like this.
Get your arse of the seat more, stick your leg out and push the inside bar more until your hear/feel the scrape, sorted
Hi Andrew, I'm interested in this as well. I'm so close to touch down but just cant make contact However 3hrs @ £225 does seem steep. I think like most people its probably poor body position (and my legs dont seem to want to poke out any more!) I've got a trackday booked at Mallory in July so I'll have another go at it. But if you book it I'd be interested in your feedback (and success).
I'm intrigued with this infatuation to get the knee down. Admittedly with different riding styles and different body types (longer limbs etc) it will be far easier for some than others. From my own experiences, I think there's a point where for some riders the object of touching the knee surpasses effective cornering. What I mean to say is that some will not feel as in control of the bike with a lot of butt out of the seat whereas others will. Granted that road conditions are far inferior to track conditions, but I believe first priority should be to generate comfortable corner speed without the overriding objective of knee down. Taken to extremes, there are some ghastly sights of riders doing about 10 mph around a roundabout with the knee almost touching. I'd rather do 20 mph around the same roundabout with knee out, but not down. Once again, each to their own.
I agree with Nigel on his one, no need to get your knee down just for the sake it, it should automaticaly touch down on high corning speed with correct, off the seat, body position, but really is NOT that ness on public roads anyway, best saved for the track imho.
Foot position was the key for me. Loads of videos online showing you the 'correct' technique. It's one of those things that should be low on the list as many, myself included, thought it was the be all and end all of cornering but there was a lot I could have learnt before trying to dig my knee into the ground and I'd be faster if I had just concentrated on the basics first.
Let me explain .The purpose of doing the course is to gain the confidence and learn lines, body positioning so to get to the point of knee down being possible more than the scraping itself. I struggle with trusting the front enough and thought this would help. Plus as regards cost im sure we have all spent more on go faster goodies(exhausts etc) and surely rider ability is more use than another 3bhp?
As a friendly response @andreww , the course facilitators promote such courses as getting the 'knee down' over and above the multitude of other factors that contribute to fast and effective cornering. One look at a Google search tells all: https://www.google.com/search?q=kne.....69i57j0l5.4295j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 For those who want to learn confidence and fast, effective lines would, in my view, learn far more through the Ron Haslam Race School or the California Superbike School and similar.
Echoing the above, the Haslam Day, teaching lines and cornering speeds, it all happens and then knee down was just a thing that happened. This was back in 2011.
Done the 600 course at Ron Haslam (and scored 92.5%). I even ended up having 1:2:1 tuition for the whole 3 sessions as the other lad was "too big" for the 600. Instructor was good - but it was mainly about circuit lines, cornering speed and track position. We did very little on body position. Plus the "demo" bike was on paddock stands so you never got a perspective of lean. They probably focus more of body position on the Blades course.
Haven't done the Mallory Park one but I did do a similar thing somewhere else. As @tuktuk says foot position is important and in fact I was scraping my toes before I got my knee down. Basically get one cheek off your seat, get you foot on the end of the peg, and push the bars away from you so your head is out towards the mirror. On the day itself it was great getting my knee down, but I actually gained more confidence than I already had at low speed even though even on my DAS years ago I found the figure of 8 a doddle. I've not got my knee down since that training day, itch was scratched and I don't go fast enough on the road to need to do so. If you want to do it then go for it, any training is good and can give benefits in other areas of your riding. I also did a wheelie school day, not done any on the road but am a lot more confident about giving it a big handful if and when I want/need to. This is who I did it with https://www.i2imca.com/KneeDown.asp. and here's one of their pics showing the points I, and others have mentioned. They also provide the bikes so if you do drop it then you don't damage your pride and joy.
Fair and realistic points, BSS. No argument. I'll make a respectful comment on the photo though, as it 'pictures' what I was trying to say about bike control: the rider does not have a good balance point on the bike, so if the bike broke away from the rear, the novice would not be a quick to pick the bike up from that position than he would if not so far off the seat. Of course we see Marquez correct slides from such a style, but we are then talking a very accomplished rider. Perhaps one of the most unique and effective styles was that of Mick Doohan, who somehow managed to keep his upper body centralised with the bike whilst sliding only slightly off the seat. We see the knee down, but with the upper body mass centralised to correct any mishap. All in all though, the crux of your post offers the best advice: '. . . any training is good and can give benefits in other areas of your riding.'
Not at Mallory but did it at thruxton (about 20 years ago!) getting my knee down was the top of what I wanted to do, passed my test and headed down there. ok, so you can do a trackday and it will come, but for me it benefitted me. there was the classroom of body position, speed,entry etc, then we went to the "complex" at throuxton, rode it, when everyone was through turned round and went through it backwards. As it was one coner rather than a full track you knew "ive gone too fast that time", "too deep that time" etc until you get it. your not trying to learn a circuit, its a lot "quieter" and therefore I preferred it. did the same with a wheelie school, got into trackdays etc but if I was starting again I would go again. I dont know how many trackdays where people dont get their knee down and give the "you dont need to get your knee down to go fast". yes thats right but i still love it. get it booked
Find a large quiet roundabout at 5am on a Sunday, spend some time warming the tires and just go round and round, you'll touch down eventually.....well, something will touch down eventually! Ideally have a mate with a GoPro following so you can see your body position and how close you are. If you have almost 0 chicken strips, the bike is leant enough and it's your body position. Sliders are £25+ a pair so it can get expensive on track!
