Keeping your line; do you?

How many of you keep your line under all circumstances? More specifically; Until a recent tire change I found that I kept my line (visual forecast of our trajectory) 98% of the time (within an inch/2.5cm). Including situations where you literally thread the needle between pot holes in a corner. Street riding only. No track references here.
I pride myself in never going places I didn't intend to and as mentioned a recent tire change made me very aware of not keeping my intended path or forecasted trajectory going through a corner. For me being off by 6" means I failed to keep my line. On a recent 200 miles ride I found this happened about 4 times where before this, it was twice per season/5000 miles.

EDIT: REFERENCE is your mental line where you want the bike to be, which includes obstacles you must avoid. No track reference or lap times.

Is this just for the wiser folks who have R6 forks or better?
I'm still on stock like we've discussed.
Makes a difference, you know it does


But yes, I certainly do my absolute best when I'm in concentration mode, you know what I mean. So with my "skill level" and equipment, I'm maybe a 85-90ish% kinda guy. I realize you said under all circumstances, but that's where I believe the quality of the equipment really comes into play. No? Maybe?

I put the 75-94%, but I consider keeping my line more to track riding. Doing laps over and over, for me, its making turns at the same points. But for my usual ride to work and back, I try different lines.

Yes sir, that pothole is in the same location every time you come thru, but there could also be any number of dynamic things in the general vicinity at any time. That's what makes the street so... how shall we say... slightly disappointing at times. So yes, there are time I let objects or differences affect my street line. Do you take your FZ6 to the track motojoe, or do you have a dedicated bike for that?

I keep my line maybe 90% of the time. Especially on my backroad commute. I know where every pot hole and tar snake is and I "thread the needle" often. When leisurely riding I might miss my line once in awhile, especially when an oncoming car or obstacle causes me to adjust my line mid-corner.

I don't really worry about keeping lines too much. I ride 100 miles a day back and forth to work so I pick something that works and go with it. Been riding since 09 and haven't ended up anywhere I didn't intend to end up. I have had to adjust frequently for cages that can't decide whether the stop line means keep rolling until the light turns green or to stop before the line....

If I am on it then I work very hard at forward observation and road position. Otherwise I just chill and try to take the best line that gives me a clear view and good chance of being seen by other road users.
The correct road line is very different to a racing line.

Nelly:thumbup:

Any of you ride much with pillions? I have about 10,000 miles on this summer which 2000 of included my gf on the back (I'm 175lbs and shes about 130.)
Without the girl on I can keep about a 99% line. With her... Its hopless. I come into corners right ,but then end up too sharp and way to the inside. On the straight highways were always bouncing between the yellow and the white. Not sure what thats all about. She says that shes holding fairly still and not moving around.. But I do notice that if she holding onto the rear grab bars its noticeably worse as compared to when shes hanging onto me.
I feel like it has all to do with the weigh distribution. If i wanna push it a little through the curves with her on, I lean as far forward and she does too, then the bike handles fairly normally.
... Just my experiences...

Nelly said:

If I am on it then I work very hard at forward observation and road position. Otherwise I just chill and try to take the best line that gives me a clear view and good chance of being seen by other road users.
The correct road line is very different to a racing line.

Nelly:thumbup:

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+1

I think Nelly hit the nail on the head. On the street you are constantly adjusting your lane position due to changing road conditions and other road users so that you can see and be seen as well as manage your traction. As noted, the track is a totally different environment where conditions really don't change all that much from lap to lap and where it is much more important to be more accurate due to the fact you are much closer to the edge (of traction). One thing the two environments do have in common though is being smooth.

I probably keep my line between 50-75% of the time. I do a lot of freeway driving and between road patches and the grinding down of lane lines, I'm moving around a fair amount, as I hate those damn things. That and I get lazy sometimes.

I edited the OP to clarify "No track days or lap times". Street rides only.
REFERENCE is your mental line where you want the bike to be, which includes obstacles you must avoid. Is the bike where you want it to be?

Thanks for posting everyone...

Nelly said:

If I am on it then I work very hard at forward observation and road position. Otherwise I just chill and try to take the best line that gives me a clear view and good chance of being seen by other road users.
The correct road line is very different to a racing line.

Nelly:thumbup:

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Agreed - ^^ ++10

MG-242 said:

+1

I think Nelly hit the nail on the head. On the street you are constantly adjusting your lane position due to changing road conditions and other road users so that you can see and be seen as well as manage your traction. As noted, the track is a totally different environment where conditions really don't change all that much from lap to lap and where it is much more important to be more accurate due to the fact you are much closer to the edge (of traction). One thing the two environments do have in common though is being smooth.

Click to expand...

Agreed - ^^ ++10

Perhaps my choice of words suck. "Keeping ones line" is to dominant in racing and was a BAD CHOICE! Think in terms of the line you plot to make the corner, avoid the dip, stay off the center line.
- Can you hold your own line? We attempt to compensate for things like a dip in the road. So, did you negotiate that dip in a manor to keep the bike where you expected to be or did that dip cause you to stray from your chosen line.

On the street, poor suspension setup, over correcting, over reacting, under-reacting, NOT reacting, can all cause the bike to be somewhere we didn't expect causing a reaction or correction.

Had plenty of oh Sh i t moments when entering the corner way too hot. These days I concentrate on good form getting through the corners.. and that feels really very good. I like to do technical roads sometimes as an excercise in using good judgement and patience

so I voted in the 2nd best interval.

FinalImpact said:

I edited the OP to clarify "No track days or lap times". Street rides only.
REFERENCE is your mental line where you want the bike to be, which includes obstacles you must avoid. Is the bike where you want it to be?

Thanks for posting everyone...

Click to expand...

It took me a long time to get out of the habit of "Target fixation" I think breaking this habit has really helped to maintain the road position I am after.

Nelly

Begin wide, and hold that line. Please don't do the opposite.

This summer I started riding a skateboard with my 13 YO. I'd not been on one in 35 years! I found myself looking down at the board. I had to force myself to look at where I wanted to go. Once I did that I was doing much better, but I still suck

This is kind of a tough one, when I'm riding in sport mode I'd say I'm at 95% allowing for corrections for road hazards, but while riding to get to those locations I'm much more relaxed and focused on staying in the correct part of the lane depending on traffic conditions.

Most of the time I don't really have a line, but I do want to execute techniques correctly. Eg., in my mind taking a turn well is first staying on your side of the lines and second completing the turn.

Sometimes I do have a more specific path I want to take through turns, Eg. I want to arrive at a coming turn on the outside, but I basically never have a little 2" wide line on the road I expect my tires to take. I'm not even sure how I'd know I hit a mark that tight.

I guess my riding style is maybe a little lazy. I like cruising and moderate speed twisties.

One of the things mentioned in the original post was that things changed when you went to a new set of tires. Were they the same tires you had previously? A new model or new manufacturer will often necessitate making some suspension changes to yield the same handling results from the previous tires. Of course, we have very few options for making changes with the stock set up. You could play with the forks pre-load or drop the forks a mm or two if you haven't already to get it to turn. Just a suggestion. I know on the track it makes a huge difference and we're always making adjustments especially when changing tires.

MG-242 said:

One of the things mentioned in the original post was that things changed when you went to a new set of tires. Were they the same tires you had previously? A new model or new manufacturer will often necessitate making some suspension changes to yield the same handling results from the previous tires. Of course, we have very few options for making changes with the stock set up. You could play with the forks pre-load or drop the forks a mm or two if you haven't already to get it to turn. Just a suggestion. I know on the track it makes a huge difference and we're always making adjustments especially when changing tires.

Click to expand...

Yes and no. Change was from matching S20s to a rear BT-023 keeping the good S20 up front. The new tire is standing the bike up in the corners at speed/higher lean angles causing me to go wide. Bike if fully adjustable front and rear. Forks are R6, dropped 8mm. Rear is a re-valved R1. Sag is 31/29mm. Pressures 34/37psi.

I need to play with it abit. Perhaps something can be done but I don't want to lower the bike any but feel lowering me in the seat would help the lower the CG (center of gravity) and help a little.