Firstly before we even discuss techniques or do's or don'ts of knee downs you must think about it logically.

Getting your knee down is a psychological barrier that seems hard to cross but once you have read this guide you'll be able to overcome that barrier and it will all make sense.

Getting your knee down has nothing to do with how fast a rider you are or how far you can lean the bike over, its about making a knee slider have contact with the floor, so in theory if you can get yourself in such a position so your knee is two inches off the ground then you will only have to lean about 5 degree's to get your knee down!

This isn't gonna happen but its to make you understand that it can be done without leaning over at an angle that is anywhere close to the limit of grip.

Before starting to practice a kneedown, you must ensure your tyres are warm on the edge!!!

You need to practice on a round about at getting yourself in a good position so that your body is off the seat to one side and your knee is stretched out as far as you can push it out.

Your position of your head is important too as a persons head is actually quite heavy and you must have your head off the side of the bike or at least over the centre line of the bike for good weight distribution, thus lean angle of the bike will be reduced.

Take a friend with you to watch you so you can be told how far your knee is from the floor without actually trying to get it down yet and where you head position is.

Maybe get someone to take some pictures of you so you know where you may be going wrong. 

You can worry about lean angle in time but that will start to increase as you get more confidence.

Once you feel confident in your riding position you need to find a suitable round about where it isn't too busy and the road surface is in good condition, meaning no diesel spill and no stones/ gravel or holes.

Next you need to put the bike in a high gear so the throttle is smooth and not snappy like it would be in first, you do not need to be revving the bike high at all.

Now think about what will happen when you get your knee down, it will make a scratching noise and it can be quite loud so be aware of this so it doesn't make you jump on the first time.

One worry is that the knee is gonna catch on the floor and bend your leg back, this is not going to happen! even if you hit a cats eye it will just bang and at most you might bruise your knee but it wont have you off so don't worry about that.

Then you are ready to try it, start going around the round about in the correct gear and start getting yourself into the position you practiced.

Do not push your knee right out yet! start to increase your speed slowly and just concentrate on increasing the lean angle so you feel like you are getting close, then slowly push your knee out as far as you can and hopefully it will touch the floor and you can pull it back and pull over and probably start grinning!

If you didn't manage it then its just a matter of time and maybe a tad more lean angle or stretching of the knee and you'll be there, remember that most bikes can lean over very far before they loose grip so you are probably nowhere near that limit yet.

Updated 14/09/2011