Racing line

[ital916]

Finally finished fixing my bike yesterday and decided to take the bike for a little pootle around town for the new spark plug to settle. It's a more vicious beast now and being a two stroke i had to ride it in second gear to get power at town speeds...with corners though i was going through the routine of position, gear, speed, look through, roll on etc and found that the bike naturally followed the racing line. When i did my on road riding course two months ago though, the instructor said at town speeds you should not be using a racing line. This to a noob was a bit confusing as if i don't follow the racing line i will have to modify the bikes natural course through the corner. Froma safety standpoint, is taking a racing line okay? I'm learning to shift my weight to minimize the lean angle required so i have lots of reserve in case i need to do emergency action.

Ride safe

Always inquisitive

Drider

[Ixion]

A "racing line" (actually a minimum curvature line, racers won't always follow msuch a line), is the natural line for a bike to take. It's fine SO LONG AS YOU CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH THE CORNER.

If you can't delay apexing (and if necessary slow down) until you can. Cos you never know when Harry Huriup will be coming the other way in his SUV. Harry understands about the centre line, he lines it up with the centre of his SUV.

And if you are travelling slowish (ie 'town speeds') a racing line is unnecessary and , by bringing you out to the road centre, slightly more dangerous. Just follow the lane centre like a car.

[Motu]

I guess I must be a few lines short of a paragraph - but my bike goes where I point it.If your bike doesn't go where it needs to go,you need to think how to make it do so.The bike is your's to control - not it to dictate where you go.

[MSTRS:Me]

Racing line tends to be the shortest distance between two points. To use this on a public road is not necessarily dangerous, but as Ixion said, if you can't see the road beyond the approaching corner then you need to adjust the line you are taking, otherwise....
And as Motu said...Who is controlling what??

[madandy]

Thing is...if you watch some racing, the racing line can vary depending on the bend and what the rider is trying to do with the bike That's how they pass each other by taking different lines
Late apexing is generally recommended in bends you can't see right through and a safe way of avoiding pedestrians who may be stepping out too soon, when riding around city streets.
Experiment with your bike handling and find a new line to use some times.

[FROSTY:Me]

As a rule with a few exceptions taking a "racing" line in town leaves you less escape routes in a "ohh shit" moment.
Best bet for you is to ride a 1.0km stretch of your bit of town then have a look at possible hazards. See what line type gives you the best visibility for you and those on the road with you and the most escape options.
Those being leaning further,braking etc etc
I suspect that staying within ya lane is the best option

[cowpoos]

I guess I must be a few lines short of a paragraph - but my bike goes where I point it.If your bike doesn't go where it needs to go,you need to think how to make it do so.The bike is your's to control - not it to dictate where you go.

are you ever wrong?? lol

+1


and as far as what a racing line is...there are so many lines in racing...it would be hard to define.

as a genral rule...on the road...slow in fast out..and in your lane at all times!! and you won't go to wrong!!

[ital916]

I control my bike lol but i get what your saying...starting to like corners now but yeah slow in fast out works. Yeah on blind corners i try use late apexing though it's a bit freakier. On a race note, are there any track days up in auckland for newer riders to practice cornering skills.

Edit: Rode later in the day, came over a crest to the sight of a MPV pulling a u turn......must be u turn season or something??

[90s]

I control my bike lol but i get what your saying...starting to like corners now but yeah slow in fast out works. Yeah on blind corners i try use late apexing though it's a bit freakier. On a race note, are there any track days up in auckland for newer riders to practice cornering skills.

Edit: Rode later in the day, came over a crest to the sight of a MPV pulling a u turn......must be u turn season or something??

In town you should not be thinking about racing lines or speed, but safety. Get off your bike until mentally you make the shift.

I rode my old RG commuting 200k a week for a long time to work and am totally confused why you need to be in 2nd gear around town. The RG is an easy commuter breezing along at 2-3k on the tacho without any problems, although you might like to keep 4 on to give some flexibility - but at 50k in 2nd gear you are buzzing and the bike is probaly a little stressed and so would you be I imagine.

Search the old thread - including some of your own - to revise late apexing. The point of this for the road and for town is to concentrate on safety. Carry on practicing until the bike goes where you want and is placed where you want it to be. It should be where you have good visibility and maximum safety through corners. You will not be able to place it until you are in total control of the bike, and this is your first mission. Worrying about racing lines comes later.

You keep asking good questions and are thinking about your riding so keep it up.

[007XX]

I control my bike lol but i get what your saying...starting to like corners now but yeah slow in fast out works. Yeah on blind corners i try use late apexing though it's a bit freakier. On a race note, are there any track days up in auckland for newer riders to practice cornering skills.

Track days are organised on a regular basis at Pukekohe...It is not the best track out there arguably, but I did my first track day there on the 23rd of December, and man! What a blast

It is absolutely awesome to practice your cornering. I know mine improved hugely throughout the day. I thought I was a shity scared rider because I rode slow on the road. No so on the track My conclusion:

I found that I was definitely sticking to late apexing on the road, as I hated the uncertainty of what might come up from the other side of a blind corner.

My point is: Hell yeah, give it all you've got on the track and find the nicest tightest lines you can get...

On the road: Ride defensively to keep yourself alive.

[jrandom]

Racing lines on the road are awesome. If you ride any other way, you will come last, and get mocked. You don't want to get mocked, do you?

Win or bin!