Inside foot position when hanging off

[bartman5impson]

I've been practicing hanging off the bike when cornering but I'm still having problems with scraping pegs instead of knee. I want to be able to touch knee before hard parts or toes start scraping so that I can use it as a gauge for lean angle. Every time I scrape pegs or even exhaust I panic and stand the bike up which messes up my line. I think my foot position is wrong because I am scraping the bottom part of the boot instead of the actual toe sliders which are on the side. How should my inside foot be positioned when hanging off? I already ride with the ball of my foot on the peg but I don't know if I should be tilting my foot some way since the FZ has relatively low foot pegs. Also I am a short rider with a ~30 inch inseam but I don't know if that makes a difference if I am trying to get my knee down.

[twf]

Sounds like your foot is not the problem. You need to raise pegs and whole bike if you have not yet. 

[D.A.]

I agree with @twf. I don't think it's you. I think it's the bike.

The footpegs on the sportbikes I've owned have been mounted several inches higher than the ones on the FZ07, with the net effect being the FZ pegs scrape long before a sportbike's pegs do. In my experience, to drag your knee on the FZ you need to hang artificially far off the bike.

Are you familiar with a guy on YouTube who calls his channel Motojitsu? He teaches a lot of valuable parking lot skills, including a demonstration on getting your knee down on a sportbike, on an adventure/tourer and on a big cruiser. Watching him drag his knee while riding the cruiser is pretty amusing! But it's also very informative. Check out the following YouTube video starting at 7:20.

 

[D.A.]

Hmm... I guess Motojitsu doesn't explain HOW to get your knee down in the video I linked previously, he just demonstrates doing it. Here are links to a couple of his HOW TO videos:

 

[mossrider]

Unmodified these bikes are a little drag queenish. The same things that make them universally great bikes on the street hampers them on the track. Low and forward foot pegs, long feelers, low seats and such make for aluminum stripes on pavement. Some things to help when you get everything lined up and ready;

* make sure the ball of your boot is over the end of the peg. It helps to have shorter pegs but the peg end should be centered under the center of your boot toe at the back of your second and third toes.

* make sure your foot is pointed in line with your leg/knee, in the direction you want to go. This requires that you point your foot away from the bike and find room for your heel up over the swingarm and will mess with bike/bodywork/swing arm somewhat. This also better aligns your toe slider to the pavement at lean so you don't grind away the side of your boot so much. 

* I think of myself as leaning forward, in the direction I want to go, more than leaning off the side of the bike. As my bike swings thru the arc of the turn I am leading it with my chin over my inside hand on the bars. I imagine myself pushing down on my inside peg while pulling inward with my outside knee. This has the added benefit of making me soft on the bars and controlling the bike with my lower body which in turn allows the suspension and steering to function properly w/o tying up the steering head with tension.

Here's a good pic of things lined up, one butt cheek off the seat, toe pointed with knee, under elbow, under chin, pointed downrange...

Sharper corner, more point, knee closer to earth, (harder to see but not more lean off the bike; same butt cheek, toe, knee, hand, chin point even at max lean 

As far as getting a knee down that is a function of speed and corner radius and will come as necessary. 

Good luck!

[D.A.]

I could be confused but I think you guys are talking about two different things.

@mossrider gives excellent advice and describes how a rider's knee will touch the ground if he's going fast enough around a tight corner, whereas it sounds like @bartman5impson is talking about intentionally dragging his knee even when lean angle and speed may not warrant it. The former happens somewhat organically but I classify the latter as more of a stunt maneuver because it requires you to hang artificially far off the bike, with your lower body further from the bike’s center than your upper body, when the opposite should be the priority in my opinion. Intentionally knee-dragging, though, is not useless: it is great for getting accustomed to the sensation you feel when your knee touches the ground organically.

On a hardcore sportbike I am able to position my foot exactly as mossrider describes it. But when I ride the FZ07 I cannot because the pegs are too low. There's not enough of an opening for my heel to get inside the frame and over the FZ07's swingarm, which means if I point my toes outward in the direction of the turn, they will be sticking out well beyond the peg and hit the pavement long before the pegs do (and eons before my knee gets that low). I discovered this early on with the FZ07 when my right foot was nearly yanked off the bike going through a tight corner.

So, when going through tight curves on the FZ07 I have to alter my technique a bit by keeping my inside foot tucked tightly against and almost parallel to the frame and heel guard. It's slightly awkward and uncomfortable because my knee will point outward while my toes point forward, but it's the only workaround I have been able to come up with using the stock pegs. I don't know how it works for other FZ07 owners, but that has been my experience with the stock pegs.

Of course I certainly don't claim to be an expert at any of this. I still have lots to learn!

Also, I may have totally misunderstood you, @mossrider. Were you saying bartman5simpson should first install aftermarket footpegs on his bike, then use the technique you described? And @bartman5impson, you might have been asking specifically about riding an FZ with raised rear sets. If so, please forgive me for interjecting! (Or for stirring the pot, depending on your perspective!)

Either way, intentionally dragging your knee on the street is cool and fun but if it's not happening organically, to me it falls under the category of stunt riding. They differ the same way having your front wheel come off the ground when accelerating does from wheelie-ing down the road at the balance point.

There's a pretty noticeable difference between the following two knee-dragging techniques. Obviously these are extremes but they nonetheless both qualify as "getting your knee down". Unfortunately the bottom example is not doable on a stock FZ07. But the top example is!

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by D.A.

[D.A.]

Damn! This thread has me thinking I need to buy rear sets for my FZ07. The thought had never even crossed my mind previously.

This is exactly why I should never log in — the site is a bad influence on my wallet. 

[mossrider]

15 minutes ago, D.A. said:

 the site is a bad influence 

Quit your wabbin. 

[Spatt]

Shameless self promotion but the stock peg location stinks for the track.  No option for kick stands though.

[D.A.]

55 minutes ago, Spatt said:

Shameless self promotion but the stock peg location stinks for the track.  No option for kick stands though.

Those are beautiful!

[D.A.]

Hey @bartman5impson:

Any luck getting your knee down?