Ask any motorcycle course instructor what’s his opinion on dragging knee on the public streets and you’re going to be thought a lesson about how dangerous that is. And you can also watch the video below to see the possible consequences.
The action itself isn’t dangerous, but the conditions for such maneuver to be performed on public roads are what makes it perilous. Doing the speed limit on a twisty mountain road (like the Snake here) doesn’t force the rider to tilt his/her bike as much as it would need knee-dragging action.
Usually, if you need to hang out of your saddle while riding public roads means you are speeding. Speed and an uncontrolled environment like mountain backroads means danger as there are a lot of things that ca go wrong.
For starters, you could commit to a corner, knee-down, only to find out there’s dirt right before the apex. Or wet leaves. Or gravel. You name it! At that tilting angle, a simple rear wheel slip at speed could send you airborne into a high-side and regret it in a hospital bed later.
Or, human error could intervene, like in the clip below, and get out of the corner too wide hitting whatever lies on the side. In this case a huge rock formation. The Ducati 1299 Panigale rider managed to dodge it at the last moment, but still had part of a bumpy ride that hit him right in the family jewels.
And he was actually trying to drag elbow on that road. Honestly, I don’t understand how some people afford a 20 grand sportbike, but can’t pay for a safer experience down at the racetrack, where there are no rocks to the side of the road, the asphalt is always clean and smooth, and if something goes wrong, there are paramedics on standby.
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