Just street siding, not the track: Knee Sliders or NO Sliders?

[truckinduc]

I WISH I had been wearing pucks in the event of my 35mph low side. My left knee cap was used on the ground instead.

You know the feeling of your kneecap hanging out of your leg but inside your pants sure is an interesting feeling.

[Raux]

although my outer knees did not suffere damage form my recent excursion with roadside metal, i would have liked to have had the extra protection. i didn't have pucks on due to the thinking i would never get low enough on the street to have to use them.. i was wrong. in that emergency situation i could have used the extra safety sensor to know if i could have gone even lower in the turn.

[Spidey]

wouldn't a puck act as extra armor and protect your proximal fibula knee from an impact? how could more protection ever be a bad thing?

I don't know that they provide any more protection to your knee.  They're not really absorbent, so they'd just translate the force to the knee armor. 

What I've found is that having pucks does protect your leathers from more damage in the event of a crash.  I've scraped the hell out of pucks (oops, had a funny misspelling there until I corrected it  ) during a crash, but had the knees of my leathers escape largely unhurt because the pucks took the brunt.  So I keep 'em on.  I don't really care about what they look like on the street or what officers think about them.  I've never put a knee down on the street, so don't need them for cornerning. 

That said, it's confidence-inspiring to know they're there if I want them.  If I'm cranked over and my rear slides out on gravel or whatever, it's nice to know I can try to put my knee down.  I've stuck my knee out on a coupla occasions like that, but haven't had it touch and haven't had to use it lever the bike back up.  Still, I go into turns knowing that I can do it if necessary (and ignoring that there's no way I'll actually save a crash that way ).  As a psychological thing, it helps.  Still, if I had gear without pucks, I'm not sure I'd pay the extra $ to purchase pucks and then sew velcro on.  Not worth it. 

[Holden]

Look, officer: no marks on these babies—I'm a responsible rider!

[Desmo Demon]

In some situations, it depends simply on the person and their style of riding.....

My wife cannot physically slide off the seat to drag a knee, but if she could, she would. She knows she will never get her knee down, but she leaves the pucks on her suit, regardless. Sitting upright in the seat, she will drag her pegs and toe sliders, even on the R1, though....

I can ride as fast, or even faster than my wife, even when the ST2 (because I can gain more ground clearance from sliding off the seat). If I sit upright, I can drag hard parts far too easily, so I was forced to get off the seat. With sliding off the seat, I will often stick my knee out and drag, but it is not a requirement. Actually, when I'm going at the higher speeds through the twisties, I usually don't touch my knee down at all, but sometimes I get surprised when it touches and I don't think I'm leaned over that far. Now, there have been a few times when I was dragging knee and toe where I think it may have been a little mandatory.....this is when I had the knee on the deck and the rear end would do the little slide-catch-slide-catch-slide-catch thing (usually from not letting the tire warm up enough to stick well). I wouldn't doubt it if I would have lost the rear end had my knee not been on the ground...

Then, we have a buddy who drags his knee in just about every curve he comes across. I've seen him drag his knee on the Blue Ridge Parkway while turning into an overlook, and he's told us stories of being downtown and dragging his knee throguh intersections....

It's really funny to watch the three of us ride together, especially when my wife is leading. She'll be going through the curve while sitting upright in the seat, I'll be behind her occassionally dragging a knee and often not, and then our buddy is behind us dragging in every curve, but.....we are all pretty much going the exact same speed and taking the same line.

It just has a lot to do with riding styles as to whether you can drag a knee or need to drag a knee. In many situations, dragging a knee has nothing to do with excessive speeds nor being "on the edge". There are several curves on the roads around here where you "can" drag your knee in a curve while doing the posted speed limit. You may not "have" to drag a knee, but you can. I also love the folks who think that because you are dragging a knee, that you are committed to that line and are going to crash if anything unexpected happens....well, that may be true if you freak out (with or without a knee on the ground), but you can drag a knee and change your line or even hit your brakes...or both. I have no problems having my knee on the ground and being able to make changes. I think this paranoid dillusion of being "too committed" stems from people who have never gotten a knee down.

Anyway, I leave my pucks on and would never take them off unless to rotate them or replace them. Matter of fact, I try to make it a point to drag a knee and hit 100+ every time I take a bike out (there's one road I can do both at the same time). It may be a little, lazy, tight 20 mph curve on a deserted back road when I drag a knee or a huge, straight open road with no houses and only fields on either side when I opt to hit 100+, but I do try to accomplish each when I take a bike out.

Here is a 30 mph curve being taken around 30 mph. It is the first curve in an "S" with each curve being a decreasing radius. I am able to see through this curve before the set up and throughout the curve.....


(I didn't know who this guy was on the side of the road when I came through and he took this picture. It took me nearly two months to find out who he was and to get this pic from him. The shot he took just before this one, I had my knee on the ground and was looking right at him while trying to figure out who he was and why he was there.)

and this is a poor abused knee puck....


(This one is nothing compared to a set of my wife's old pucks.)

[xcaptainxbloodx]

if you have the gear, why wouldent you use it?

just because you have pucks on doesnt mean you have to drag a knee.

[causeofkaos]

i find it interesting people take the time to take the pucks off. Thats time you could spend riding  [moto]
when i read the topic i did not read how crazy do u ride on street, i read do you waste time taking the pucks off your leathers before you ride 

[Jetbrett]

i find it interesting people take the time to take the pucks off. That's time you could spend riding [moto]
when i read the topic i did not read how crazy do u ride on street, i read do you waste time taking the pucks off your leathers before you ride

Funny, I was thinking the same thing.  I typically don't wear my leathers (2 piece) every day.  Usually, I'll just go with the jacket and Kevlar jeans for my commute, out to the store, slabbing, or for an easy ride around the area.  If I plan on riding a technical road, a road that I'm not familiar with, or if I'm on a group ride with people I don't know, I'll wear as much gear as I can including pucks which I see no reason to take off.   

[Wonked]

I got pulled over last year near Dahlonega (North Georgia mountains) and was in full leathers with pucks. The officer was quite congenial and commended me for wearing more gear than the average guy he pulled over. Cut me a break.

Call me naive and dumb, but I sorta feel like the cops would rather see you look like a racing lunatic than a pile of hamburger. Chalk one up to hope for humanity!

[causeofkaos]

^^^ your not naive or dumb, just Wonked out of your head 
play on words i love it. 

[orangelion03]

If you have the velcro and you feel you rather not wear pucks all the time, have your local upholstery shop make you a set of thick leather patches to wear instead.  Make them in color for a little added flair.  Scuff em up on a grinder for that "sierra hotel" look.

Feel free to contact me for any additional sartorial advice.

[scott_araujo]

Call me naive and dumb, but I sorta feel like the cops would rather see you look like a racing lunatic than a pile of hamburger. Chalk one up to hope for humanity!

I'd guess you're right.  You can't give a ticket to a pile of hamburger 

Scott

[Zak]

I think whether or not you use pucks relates to your personal situation like others before me have said.  For instance, if you have just spent the weekend at the track, and you are used to putting a knee down, if your new found reflex catches you off guard, you can end up with a nasty raspberry on your inside knee.  If you have put a knee down in the past, I'd say leave them on just in case you find yourself in a position where instinct kicks in and you want to drag a knee.

A few months ago I went into a decreasing radius right hander much too hot on my M750 in jeans and a leather jacket.  I knew it was going to take some seriously lean to make it through and I ground the hell out of my inside knee without hesitating.  Now, I roll pucks all the time though I almost never use them intentionally on the street.

[GLantern]

A few months ago I went into a decreasing radius right hander much too hot on my M750 in jeans and a leather jacket.  I knew it was going to take some seriously lean to make it through and I ground the hell out of my inside knee without hesitating.  Now, I roll pucks all the time though I almost never use them intentionally on the street.

That situation is one of the reasons why i will always have my sliders on my leathers.