[Kenny Sagawa’s column] Why riders want to drag their knees!?

[ Kenny Sagawa, Webike News Chief Editor ]

Recently I've been to "Twin Ring MOTEGI" to help the motorcycle track event sponsored by the motorcycle magazine, MOTO NAVI.

An event for recreational motorcycle riders

Although it was a track event, it was nothing like those racing festivals where riders measured their time or pursued their speed. It was much more like a relaxing type of event for recreational grown-up riders to gather around and have fun on the track field.

Still, the venue made most of the riders dress up neatly in their leather motorcycle suits. The event itself was carefully planned and the instructors who directed the event were all famous professional riders. I, myself, was in charge of one of the activities: "knee dragging" lesson.

Is "knee dragging" necessary?

"Knee dragging" is a riding technique in which drivers drag their inside knee while leaned fully when turning the corner. Most people often see this riding technique at road races. Yet, for those who do not ride a bike may view it is a foolish thing to do. Even motorcycle riders may feel that it can be hazardous, if that rider is not attuned to race riding or performance riding.

Actually, many people who speak unfavorably about knee dragging do say that "it seems like you are to likely to fall by leaning that much," or "I do not have to do that because I don't have to ride that fast." Of course, riders can have various ways of thinking, and "knee dragging" is an unnecessary thing to do on public roads.

Still, there may be some who are misunderstanding what "knee dragging" is.

“The fact that "it completely changes the riding image"

Let me get back on the track. About 10 people attended my "knee dragging lesson the other day. And 8 out of 10 actually succeeded in doing their first knee dragging in about an hour or so.

It's a little risky for beginners to try knee dragging with their own motorcycles. So the participants tried it with our 100cc mini bike at first. By using a small lightweight motorcycle, they can learn the sense of doing the knee dragging more easily and more safely, and they can minimize the damage on the bike or the rider in case they fall.

For your information, at regular lessons we take the whole day to master this technique, so we aim 100% accomplishment. We marked 80% this time, but I think it was good enough, for we didn't have that much time.

What I wanted to tell you here is the reactions of the participants. Those who had been successful all told me that "it feels more safe and stable now!" And those who couldn't make it said that "it has become easy to ride!"

I got a favorable report from some of them who succeeded to knee drag on their own bikes when they actually tried it on the track afterwards. How delighted to hear their radiant faces. That's the time I feel so lucky to be an instructor. But why does this knee dragging change one's riding image that much?

Know the limit of vehicle operation and learn specific image.

One reason is because the rider gets free of the fear against bank angles. By dragging their knees against the road surface, they know how much they are leaning their bikes.

Contrarily, if the rider keeps on closing his knees as he speeds up and leans , he will become more and more nervous about the upcoming limit and will eventually screw up by overstraining himself. Once he drags his knees, he will know the limit concretely and will feel more safe.

In order to do so, you need to learn how to always hang off (to drop off your hip inward) the motorcycle correctly. Put it another way, this posture leads to the dynamic physical movement, hold control of the outer foot, and the relaxing upper body posture required for sport riding.

Also there are lots of other merits. By dragging knees (meaning that he can shift your weight around the hip effectively), the rider can improve his turning ability and can cope with his sliding condition more accurately (meaning that he can disperse the load on the front wheel and his knee instantaneously).

The real merit of "knee dragging"

The lesson participants who gave me favorable comments probably noted this way because he actually felt these merits in his body. In other words, the merit of knee dragging is the "flexibility".

The joy of freely controlling this delicate machinery, and the feeling of becoming evolved as they become united with the motorcycle made them bring out these words. Or maybe it was just because it was "cool"!

As said before, "knee dragging" is a technique that is only to be used at safely managed closed courses, such as tracks. It shouldn't be considered as a safe riding technique used on public roads. If you want to enjoy riding a bike, come and join us on the track!