| Author | Message | ||
     Xb12mel |
One of our local dealers had an open house and we were able to demo the 1125R. That's a pretty tall bike, compared to my 12Scg. How far over would a rider be leaning to get a knee down on that thing? And other then the test riders... has anyone else gotten a knee down on it?  | ||
| No_rice |
it is the same seat height as a 12R. my first time ever getting a knee down was on one of the preproduction 1125's when i was doing the dealer training at road america. but that was also my first HARD riding with my new 2 piece leathers. i never felt much like sticking my knee into the payvment with nothing but jeans on. | ||
| New12r |
I can get a knee down on a Uly, and that thing is sky high! | ||
| Ebear |
Second lap,second corner at Willow Springs.......(Streets of Willow) but still haven't on the Tuono.....It's a REALLY tall bike.... | ||
| Sethbuchbinder |
Its barely taller then the average XB or other sport bike. Pocono inside pass. ME  not a knee dragging pic, but one of my favorite 1125R pics so far, or in this case 3375RRR. MutationRacer, then ME, then one of the coaches from Private Track Time.  Seth | ||
| Bobup |
your coach wasn't putting his knee out as far or leaning (hanging off) into the turn like you two are... (Message edited by bobup on February 11, 2008) | ||
| Sethbuchbinder |
your coach wasn't putting his knee out as far or leaning (hanging off) into the turn like you two are... different technique I guess. Both work as the racing world proves, however he was in the back of the "pack"...  We were definitely motoring that day. Seth | ||
| No_rice |
hanging off is fun, i'll admit i hang off farther than i need to sometimes just because i want to. | ||
| Sethbuchbinder |
Hanging off the bike allows bike to stay closer to vertical which keeps the meat of the tire in contact with the road. On a probably more important note, the closer to vertical (less leaned over) the bike is, the better the suspension can work to absorb bumps along its traditional travel path rather than having to flex laterally to keep the tire on the tarmac. Theres lots more to the equation, but in general the less leaned over you are, the more grip you have, and the faster you can go around the corner. Yes its also lots of fun! Makes better photos too. Sorry to hijack there Mel. Leaning is fun!! Rain tires boggle my mind! Coincidentally, same corner as the above photos on the 1125R. this one was a bit soggy.  and not so soggy  Seth | ||
| Skully |
Good pics and good job in the rain Seth! Keith | ||
| Sethbuchbinder |
Thanks, found two more nice ones from that day. I cant wait to race one this year, its gonna be a spendy year,(any sponsors out there?) there so effortless to ride fast. Hope these answer your question XB12Mel. any excuse to post some pix.  Knee down, foot wave to the camera.  Seth | ||
| No_rice |
i am probably lucky that the tracks are to far away from me to make it feasable to do more than once in awhile! if they werent i would be flat broke and at the track all the time... | ||
| Baggermike |
Seth what riding gear do you use for the rain and what tires do you use. Mike | ||
| Ebear |
Seth...The Tuono is tall...not the 1125... | ||
| Mikef5000 |
The first time I ever got a knee down was on an 1125r demo bike. It was not difficult; that bike is amazing. | ||
| 86129squids |
Answer: about 48 degrees lean will touch down a peg. I've never been a knee dragger, but I understand how it can aid in determining inputs through corners. My left side peg on my XB9SX is squared off good- right, not so much. I'm definitely more aggressive on lefts more than rights. Deal's Gap is basically in my backyard. At Barber, it seemed like 2/3 of the turns were righties. Wonder what it would be like to run the course backwards? The 1125R COOKS on the track. I'd love to run one through the Dragon. Not in the budget yet... | ||
| Dre99gsx |
If your not dragging your knee by tghe time you scrape the pegs, are you not sticking your knee out far enough? At a 1125r demo ride, I could remember taking turns as best as possible, knee out ready for sliding. I thoguth I was leaning it WAY over, still not dragging my knee. I was looking for a drag to determine where the lean limit was. I may have not had enough speed around the corner to lean the bike far enough without feeling as if I was going to lowside.. | ||
| Chadhargis |
Ditto on knee dragging on the Ulysses. It's easy!  | ||
| Glitch |
New12r riding his Uly at Little Tally.  Ditto on knee dragging on the Ulysses. It's easy! (Message edited by glitch on February 15, 2008) | ||
| Xb12mel |
Well I guess that just means I'm just  "Inseam Challenged" Thanks for the pics guys and the info... Draggin a Knee on a Uly? ...you guys crack me up! (...When I grow up I want to be just like you ) | ||
| Sethbuchbinder |
Posted on Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 03:09 pm: Seth what riding gear do you use for the rain and what tires do you use. Mike Baggermike Sorry, be away for a few days. On rainy track days or race days, I wear my old set of Z leathers with a normal motorcycle rain jacket. I also usually wear rain pants, but I went out on that day with the intention of getting a photo with a knee down in the rain, you know( just to have it) I didn't want to tear a hole in a set of rain pants. i wouldnt ordinarily worry about dragging a knee but it made a great pic. The tires are old dunlops. all of the major tire manufacturers have great full rain and intermediate wet weather tires. The tires in the pic are actually 6 years old!! Most of the time, I use my knee as a gage of lean angle, It lets you know where you are on the tire. As others have said, if your dragging pegs before your dragging knees, its time to adjust your body position. After your pegs drag, the next part that drags may not bend and you will soon find your self sliding along the ground after your tire is leveraged upward. | ||
| Baggermike |
Thanks Seth do you tour with you leather suit and if so what rain gear do you find that works when touring? I plan on going to race school to get my license to do track days so I will learn how to ride better but the rain scares me but seen racers lean the bike over far and it is amazing, I will be picking up wheels that I can mount tires to and going to invest in a tire changer and have three bikes to maintain so it will pay for its self. Mike | ||
| Sethbuchbinder |
No more touring for me. Ever since I started riding at the track, my street riding miles have dwindled to almost 0. there are two reasons for this. Primarily, the process of swapping back and for the parts necessary for track/street use has gotten to be a PITA and on the more realistic end of it, riding my firebolt on the street has become utterly boring. at no point during legal riding, or within shouting distance of legal riding do the sensations ever approach 50% of what track riding is like. So rather then try to actually push the limits and put myself and others in SERIOUS danger, I just dropped my insurance and put the money towards race tires and entry fees. Dont get me wrong. I miss street riding terribly, but only on the rite bike. If I had the cash I would absolutely have a KTM 990 ADV in the garage for commuting and beating the S*&% out of. I wish I could say it would be a Ulysses, but the current versions just are not built for or road adventure ridign. More realistically, they handle so well on road (easily as well as any other XB) Im tempted to triple the speed limit constantly and hammer around corners dragging a knee. At least the knobies on the KTM will remind me when enough is enough. That way i can enjoy riding it and keep my license. to answer the question. when I used to street ride I usually wore a Vanson Buell jacket and the pants that went with it or the Buell two piece textile suit. rain gear was always HD goretex as I worked at a dealership and the pricing was "just rite". Touring jacket, pants.  Vanson Jacket and pants   Seth | ||
| Baggermike |
Seth I have head that allot of guys who go to race school and then stop riding on the street, maybe this will happen to me but got a few places I want to go this summer and then maybe I will, I do not see my self driving a car it feels weird and I hate backing up, I was born to ride not drive and my son is the same way and I did ask him that if he would want to just ride on the track then I would to but he said no, so I will worry and get over it. Mike | ||
| Blublak |
Hey Mike.. (hope you don't mind me interjecting here).. As Seth will tell you, I am a track day rider, not a racer. I go fast on track (not as fast as Seth, Mutant or that guy in the blue 'coverall' in the pics) and have a ton of fun on my street machine with minimum change over headaches. Depending on what you normally ride like, one of a couple of things will happen after you go to the track.. 1 - You'll decide that you MUST race. To that end, you will fore-go street riding in place of the new money pit called racing that you must feed. Plus, all the idiots on the road are scaring you since they can't hold a decent line and you'll give up riding on the street. 2 - You'll have so much fun and learn so much on the track that you'll try to make as many track days as possible while still riding on the street. Scaring some of the folks that ride with you as you blithely make moves with your bike that causes jaws to drop.. (Or at least scares them silly) 3 - The track will scare the bageebees out of you and you'll never go back (except to watch the crazies go round). I'm more in the 'Group 2' line and Seth is in the 'Group 1'... Simple huh? | ||
| Xb9 |
Yea, once you've been to the track, all other riding experiences pale in comparison. Street riding is still fun but becomes somewhat of a bore... | ||
| Chadhargis |
I'm in the #2 group. I did 7 track days last year alone, and I loved every one. Didn't take one long touring ride the entire year. Saved my cash, bought a used Gixxer 600, a trailer, a generator, some tire warmers, and a few other things and I've been a track ho ever since. I still like street riding, but I don't feel the "need for speed" on the street. I just get out and enjoy not pushing myself. I have to be careful since speeds that used to scare me now feel "slow" by comparison. So I can be on the street doing 90mph and feel like I'm going slow. It's a real challenge to keep it sane on the streets when you get used to wicking it up to 130-140mph on a track and dragging your knees through the turns. | ||
| Baggermike |
Hey guys yes I have heard this and can see how riding on the street is boring, I do not see myself having four wheels, I hate cars so maybe I will us the 1125 for the track and rebuilding a Blast for bad weather riding so maybe I will us that to tour can only go 90 on the blast like it is, I hope my son will also stop riding the streets it has gotten real dangorus from when I was his age, no such thing as a cell phone back then, I do think if I can ride like I use to when young I will build a race bike from the single cylinder dirt bikes, Roland Sand is coming out with a kit for this, will have to see how things go, but just do not like cars so some times going slow on the right bike is good to. Mike |
