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knee down on klr
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2001 11:05 am
by Jeff Gronert
I think I should give a word of caution about KLR's with road tyres. You can
generate a lot more cornering force with road tyres, more than the chassis
was designed to handle, there's quite a bit of flex/spring in the chassis
and energy can be stored up. When that energy is high if the front tyre
breaks traction that energy can be released all at once and the tyre will
move out like it was spring loaded and not hook up again. The riders
perception is that everything is fine through the turn and then suddenly the
bike spits out from under him. This is why modern sportbikes have a more
rigid chassis and are more forgiving.
http://www.rdrop.com/users/deanw/KLR_down1.jpg
http://www.rdrop.com/users/deanw/KLR_down2.jpg
http://www.rdrop.com/users/deanw/KLR_down.mpg
Be safe out there guys,
\\|//
|O-O|
+-----------oOO-(_)-OOo-------------+
~CaffeineRacer, VTR/KLR,
When life throws curves...lean into them!
knee down on klr
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2001 11:21 am
by thesquasher@hotmail.com
I have the Dunlop 604 tires. I can get good traction around corners
with them. The problem I run into is those raised bumps/dots in the
center of the road. If I drift over the center while cornering and
the front tire hits one it will slide out and scare the S#!T out of
me. came close to dumping it a few times.
--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Jeff Gronert" wrote:
> I think I should give a word of caution about KLR's with road
tyres. You can
> generate a lot more cornering force with road tyres, more than the
chassis
> was designed to handle, there's quite a bit of flex/spring in the
chassis
> and energy can be stored up. When that energy is high if the front
tyre
> breaks traction that energy can be released all at once and the
tyre will
> move out like it was spring loaded and not hook up again. The riders
> perception is that everything is fine through the turn and then
suddenly the
> bike spits out from under him. This is why modern sportbikes have a
more
> rigid chassis and are more forgiving.
>
>
knee down on klr
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2001 11:25 am
by richardm@gowinnt.com
--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Jeff Gronert" wrote:
> You can
> generate a lot more cornering force with road tyres, more than the
chassis
> was designed to handle, there's quite a bit of flex/spring in the
chassis
> and energy can be stored up. When that energy is high if the front
tyre
> breaks traction that energy can be released all at once and the
tyre will
> move out like it was spring loaded and not hook up again. The riders
> perception is that everything is fine through the turn and then
suddenly the
> bike spits out from under him.
I wonder how much of this stored energy is due to the fork tubes not
compressing equally. Perhaps a fork-brace would help a little?
RM
knee down on klr
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2001 3:48 pm
by Jeff Gronert
From: richardm@...
I wonder how much of this stored energy is due to the fork tubes not
compressing equally. Perhaps a fork-brace would help a little?
RM
I bet it would help a lot, probably even more in this application than
offroad,my bike doesn't have a fork-brace.
~CaffeineRacer ~ VTR996 / KLR651~
knee down on klr
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2001 10:23 pm
by gyb@sprynet.com
From: thesquasher@...
>I have the Dunlop 604 tires. I can get good traction around corners
>with them. The problem I run into is those raised bumps/dots in the
>center of the road. If I drift over the center while cornering and
>the front tire hits one it will slide out and scare the S#!T out of
>me. came close to dumping it a few times.
If you have to go over the center line (i.e can't keep it in your
lane) while cornering on the street you are going faster than
you should. I'd say you should either slow down or improve
your cornering technique. Otherwise, one day you'll become
the squashee rather than the squasher...
YCorneringTechniqueMV,
Gustavo
knee down on klr
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2001 10:54 pm
by brettonwolfgang@hotmail.com
--- In DSN_klr650@y..., gyb@s... wrote:
> From: thesquasher@h...
> >I have the Dunlop 604 tires. I can get good traction around
corners
> >with them. The problem I run into is those raised bumps/dots in
the
> >center of the road. If I drift over the center while cornering and
> >the front tire hits one it will slide out and scare the S#!T out
of
> >me. came close to dumping it a few times.
>
> If you have to go over the center line (i.e can't keep it in your
> lane) while cornering on the street you are going faster than
> you should. I'd say you should either slow down or improve
> your cornering technique. Otherwise, one day you'll become
> the squashee rather than the squasher...
>
> YCorneringTechniqueMV,
>
> Gustavo
Cafeine sent me his video of him doing a knee dragging super bike
turn. Trust me, he knows what he is doing. Crazy?-probably. Knows
what he is doing?-hell yes.
knee down on klr
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2001 11:32 pm
by geoffluttrell@yahoo.com
Hello All,
Not to be preachy, but I have to agree with Gustavo. If you are on
the dots, you are either too wide in a right hander, or leaning into
opposing traffic in a lefty. This puts you in the path of opposing
traffic either way. This is not only unsafe for the rider, but for
others on the road as well. I am no knee dragger, but I had a class
at Sears Point last week on my Nighthawk S and had a blast. It was
great to be able to push on the track, eliminating most of the
hazards of riding fast on the street. I saw squashers video, and it
is damn impressive. I just am not sure the street is the place. But
there is no denyin', riding fast is fun, so who am I to say.
Ride safe,
Geoff
--- In DSN_klr650@y..., brettonwolfgang@h... wrote:
> --- In DSN_klr650@y..., gyb@s... wrote:
> > From: thesquasher@h...
> > >I have the Dunlop 604 tires. I can get good traction around
> corners
> > >with them. The problem I run into is those raised bumps/dots in
> the
> > >center of the road. If I drift over the center while cornering
and
> > >the front tire hits one it will slide out and scare the S#!T
out
> of
> > >me. came close to dumping it a few times.
> >
> > If you have to go over the center line (i.e can't keep it in your
> > lane) while cornering on the street you are going faster than
> > you should. I'd say you should either slow down or improve
> > your cornering technique. Otherwise, one day you'll become
> > the squashee rather than the squasher...
> >
> > YCorneringTechniqueMV,
> >
> > Gustavo
>
> Cafeine sent me his video of him doing a knee dragging super bike
> turn. Trust me, he knows what he is doing. Crazy?-probably. Knows
> what he is doing?-hell yes.
knee down on klr
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2001 10:39 am
by gyb@sprynet.com
> If you have to go over the center line (i.e can't keep it in your
> lane) while cornering on the street you are going faster than
> you should.
Bretton:
> Cafeine sent me his video of him doing a knee dragging super bike
> turn. Trust me, he knows what he is doing. Crazy?-probably. Knows
> what he is doing?-hell yes.
I think you are mistaking two differnet (fictitious, as usual on this
list...
charachters who have posted on this issue. But,
nonetheless, even if the rider shown in the video often goes over the
center line, I'd say he is riding over his limits, and that is very
unsafe for him, his riding buddies and the poor schmuck who is going
to turn him into a hood ornament... I'm not against riding fast, au
contrair, as some of our friends here would say, but I don't like
riding with people who ride out of control. It makes for some really
lousy ending rides.
YRiskTakingMV,
Gustavo
klr photo history link
Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2001 6:32 am
by Don Detloff
Pat,
That will be a handy reference.
Don Detloff
Fair Haven, MI A14
