Echo Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 have the suit have the sliders have the desire have (imo) mushy shocks what should i do and how bearing in mind i DO NOT have a manual or a brain. im under the impression that my shocks ought to be good n firm for this and that my tires ought to be maxxed out (42psi on pilot road 2). i dont have frame sliders so im looking to have all my OTHER ducks in a row before i give this a try. also if anyone has any technique tips for me Im all ears. ive watched everything i could find on google video and found the mcn instructional to be the most helpfull. here we go. save me from myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waytooslow Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 just stick the knee out :icon_snooty: it's fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbird Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Forget about dragging a knee and just work on your form and corner speed. Sooner or later you'll be surprised when your knee touches down- much like the first time you touched down a peg. Getting a knee down might be the final result, but making it the goal is a mistake, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 so im to understand that stiff shocks and firm tires are optimal. that being the case how do i go about stiffening my shocks? i adjusted the tension on the rear by twisting the big red thing when i first bought the bike. the front still seems a bit on the soft side though. should i look into replacing the shocks alltogether? i do beleive they are stock and the bike is a 99. as for letting it happen i dont have a good area to ride hard in except the osceola forrest. inorder to get a good lean out there id have to take the turns at over 120. id rather find a nice patch of clean pavement somewhere and practice in a big ass O so that falling off isnt as bad. on that note: is there a good track arround north florida? and if so how much does a day out there cost? btw. i bought some "chrome" deer whistlers so now instead of ignoring me as i ride past on 100 the deer stare at me. <--- new avatar. its a dick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redbird Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Research "setting sag" to get your forks and shock in the best shape possible within the limitations of stock equipment. A gross oversimplification of tire pressure- lower pressure= larger contact patch, more heat, stickier rubber. The goal is not to make things "stiff" or "firm", but to get all systems working in their optimum range for your weight and riding style. There's unfortunately no simple answer to your question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcrich Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Ummm.... getting a knee down just to say you did it, is well, just stupid. Trying to do it on the street, is another degree of stupid. If your purpose is to scuff your knee sliders, take a sander to them, a lot less dangerous. Jennings GP is off I-75, I think about $150 a day. Check out their website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon haney Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 btw. i bought some "chrome" deer whistlers so now instead of ignoring me as i ride past on 100 the deer stare at me. +1 on going to the track. BTW. My dad used to have those chrome deer whistles on his bike. I believe they are still in the ditch along with his broken windscreen where he hit (you guessed it) a DEER! Luckily he only got a couple of scrapes and was able to ride the bike home. We were on the way to a local bike rally on a route where at least a hundred Harleys had already been down. Two does were bedded down along the side of the road, and when we got close they jumped up and ran right in front of us. I think whistles are only good if the deer are already standing in the middle of the road, which is preferable to having them hide in the grass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vetteman Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 BTW. My dad used to have those chrome deer whistles on his bike. I believe they are still in the ditch along with his broken windscreen where he hit (you guessed it) a DEER! Luckily he only got a couple of scrapes and was able to ride the bike home. We were on the way to a local bike rally on a route where at least a hundred Harleys had already been down. Two does were bedded down along the side of the road, and when we got close they jumped up and ran right in front of us. I think whistles are only good if the deer are already standing in the middle of the road, which is preferable to having them hide in the grass. The noise from the harleys deafened the deer so your whistles had no effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwflorence Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I owned one of the first fireblades imported into Australia (1992) and I had no problems getting the knee down on both sides. The blackbird is a different matter. Ive got pretty long legs and ive only touched the sliders down once...and I had to really get off the side of the bike to do that. If you want to get the knee down then buy a sports bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Para045 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 +1 on going to the track. BTW. My dad used to have those chrome deer whistles on his bike. I believe they are still in the ditch along with his broken windscreen where he hit (you guessed it) a DEER! Luckily he only got a couple of scrapes and was able to ride the bike home. We were on the way to a local bike rally on a route where at least a hundred Harleys had already been down. Two does were bedded down along the side of the road, and when we got close they jumped up and ran right in front of us. I think whistles are only good if the deer are already standing in the middle of the road, which is preferable to having them hide in the grass. Yeah there were a few guys posting recently about the little whistles (we use them for Kangaroo's) and most that had used them felt they were useless and if anything just spooked the roo's and caused them to bound across the road if they weren't already on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaygermeister Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 have the suit have the sliders have the desire have (imo) mushy shocks what should i do and how bearing in mind i DO NOT have a manual or a brain. im under the impression that my shocks ought to be good n firm for this and that my tires ought to be maxxed out (42psi on pilot road 2).i dont have frame sliders so im looking to have all my OTHER ducks in a row before i give this a try. also if anyone has any technique tips for me Im all ears. ive watched everything i could find on google video and found the mcn instructional to be the most helpfull. here we go. save me from myself. NO!!! When I track my Bird I run 28psig front and 30psig rear cold. Also, the XX is a big bike and you must hang way off in order to get a knee down if not you can touch down hard parts, lift the front wheel and down you go............. trust me on this. You must have proper body position!!!! Rotating around the tank won't cut it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gourmet Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Listen to what all thes guys are saying and don't worry about knee down on the Bird on the street. I had a '98 Fireblade before the Bird and didn't have to think about it whereas on the Bird I have never had the knees down in 72000 k's of riding it. The track is the only place to do it if you are hell bent on it. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runner Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 A one or two day track scool would be a good option! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redxxrdr Posted April 3, 2008 Share Posted April 3, 2008 Ummm.... getting a knee down just to say you did it, is well, just stupid. Trying to do it on the street, is another degree of stupid. If your purpose is to scuff your knee sliders, take a sander to them, a lot less dangerous. Jennings GP is off I-75, I think about $150 a day. Check out their website. Was at Jennings last weekend as a spectator. Practice sessions only, but on turns 1, 13, and 14, I rarely saw anyone put a knee down. And they were on smaller bikes than the bird. I have put a knee down on turn 1. But my turn sucked because I was trying to do something wrong to look good. Get a couple of track days with instruction. You might get your knee down, but you will become a better rider and will probably not care about dragging one. Jennings has nice overruns, for those of us who are talent impaired. And trust me, you will have so much fun that your face will hurt for a week, just from grinning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rider99XX Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 I do track days on my XX once a month. If your intent on dragging a knee, you MUST get your butt off the seat, about a cheek and a half. I'm 6ft tall and I have to have most of my butt off the seat to get a knee down. Does dragging a knee make me faster, not really. Maybe psychologically it does. Rest assured...if you DON'T get off the seat YOU WILL DRAG HARD PARTS. Often times with BAD results. A lot of it depends on the track your on. Some tracks have more sweeping turns, others are tight and technical. I'm running Pilot Powers with 28 to 30 psi front and rear and stock suspension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooplehead Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 You are oversimplifying what you are trying to accomplish. The Birds suspension in stock form isn't so hot, and there is very little you can do without wrenching and parts replacement. Without knowing your riding style or weight, or road conditions, it would be a folly to recommend a set-up for you. Maxing the tires out doesn't give you the best grip, it just aids in keeping the tires from gettin too hot and slick. This may save you money. -Don't drag knees on the public street if you haven't just been through the same turn twice just before. I have managed to get both the front and rear tires to start a slide w/o being that far down. Take the bike to the track. As everyone else is saying, focus on gettin smooth turns at speed. Eventually you will drag a knee, just because your speed and ability will reach that point. Don't make your next post be one that says : I dragged a knee just before I dragged a bike, shoulder, helmet, tank, wrist, elbow, handlebars and eventually an ambulance dragged me then a wrecker dragged my bike. Just keep riding and reading. Bike set-up is an art form, and it takes a lot of research and trial/error to find the right combo for you. Worry about form and fun the knee's will come later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Para045 Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 WORDS Yeah listen to the Hooplehead - for once he is making sense NBL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 Fear not! I originally wanted to get the knee down cos I thought it would be a rush, but ive given it up. I havent dropped the bike yet and damn if im gonna do it like that. That and im putting it on craigslist later on today and I hear that scuffs dont raise the price enough for it to be worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodeRash Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 btw. i bought some "chrome" deer whistlers so now instead of ignoring me as i ride past on 100 the deer stare at me. Sounds like you mounted them backwards. Be careful. If they are mounted backwards, they will call the deer to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiona Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Funny ass thread! First thing I thought was "this moron is going to dump trying to touch a knee down in traffic" then I had flashbacks of FloridaSilverBird.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dano Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 If you just want to get a knee down for the sake of saying you did it, just find an empty large flat parking lot. Put something in the middle to look at, cone, jacket whatever and start doing circles. Adjust the radius with speed and in a couple of minutes you'll be able to get a feel how far off the edge of the seat a cheek has to be to drag a knee. Just don't be surprised if you foot buzzes from the peg hitting before you learn to hang off far enough to touch a knee. Have you shimmed the rear shock? No substitute for a track day instruction session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dotetcher Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Funny ass thread! First thing I thought was "this moron is going to dump trying to touch a knee down in traffic" then I had flashbacks of FloridaSilverBird.... You mean "Patch". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPXX Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 So how do you go from wanting to be a knee/knuckle dragger to selling the bike in just a few days? Are you going to go get the "sport bike" to make it easier to drag the knee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 After looking for a good spot I came to the conclusion that it was too risky to be involving my more expensive toys in this little fling. Every place I look theres patches of sand, glass nuggets, oil, more sand, old people (who frown on everything fun), etc. etc. Im just not secure enough in my abilities to be risking a (thus far unfuckedup) bike for this particular cheap thrill. As for my selling it ive just grown tired of "squeezing" onto my bird. I need something frigging huge. Im 6'6" and 385lbs afterall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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