I killed myself this past week...twice...

[orangelion03]

Well, obvioulsy I exagerate, but not by much.  I made the same BIG mistake...TWICE!  I found myself in a sweet combination of turns where I managed to keep a good head of speed then totally screwed the pooch on the "final" right hander and ended up well into the opposite lane.  The second time I ended up so far over that I just came to a stop on the opposite shoulder so as not to spend more time trying to get back into my lane.  The planets were in an advantageous alignment so there was no oncoming traffic...kiliing myself I can live with but taking out an innocent would surely have eliminated any positive karma I may have accumulated in this incarnation.   The fact is I could have probably maintained my proper position had I been more skilled and aware.  I had planned to take a Lee Parks class this year anyway, but will now ride Harley style until such time I take that class and feel I am no longer a danger to myself and others.

[Spidey]

Yow.  Skeery.

Minimizing how much try to carry speed and instead focusing on line selection will help a lot.  It's actually both safer and faster, even if it doesn't feel that way.  If you find that you're trying to take a line through the turns that is as straight as possible (minimizing the actually turning), you're often likely to screw up the last turn.  Don't focus on getting to the apex of the last turn.  Instead, focus on getting to the turn-in point before the last turn.  If you're in a series of turns that are blind, then try to late-apex the first turn and point your bike to the turn-in point of the next turn.  

Oh, and there's also the standard "counter-steer, lean-more" rather than cross the DY advice, but someone else will give that to you in short order.

Finally, lemme dig up the post about right-hand turn survival for ya.  Gimme a sec.  Edit--here ya go:  http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=11778.0

[orangelion03]

Yow.  Skeery.
edit-
Oh, and there's also the standard "counter-steer, lean-more" rather than cross the DY advice, but someone else will give that to you in short order. edit

Bingo.  Nothing was scraping which means I probably had more room than I thought.  

And that other post is spot on.  Thanks!

[Dietrich]

When I'm on roads I don't know, or just having and off day, I practice what I like to call "point and shoot".  Basicaly just what everyone else says about going in slow, out fast, riding "the pace", etc.  I approach with caution, but as soon as I have the line figured out and can see through the corner, get back on the gas.  Accelerating out of corners can be great fun!! 

[orangelion03]

Total Control posted their Southern California schedule and I signed up for the April Level 1 course.  Depending on budget and availability, I will try to take the Level 2 on the following day as well.

[somegirl]

Total Control posted their Southern California schedule and I signed up for the April Level 1 course.  Depending on budget and availability, I will try to take the Level 2 on the following day as well.

Sounds like a good plan.

[1KDS]

Pick up a copy of Park's book beforehand

[orangelion03]

Pick up a copy of Park's book beforehand

Bought the book the week after I had purchased my bike back in September.  After the first reading I knew I was going to take the course as soon as practical. 

[1KDS]

Good deal, I finally picked up a copy yesterday.

[SolidSnake3035]

"Killing myself I can live with" made me laugh.

Good thing you pulled through. 

[Cloner]

"Killing myself I can live with" made me laugh.

I had the same reaction, Snake. 

Back to the original post, blowing turns is more often mental than physical, Lion.  My advice would be to slow down a bit and get more saddle time.  If you can get that saddle time whilst riding with folks who exhibit good riding habits you'll be ahead of the game next time your internal "oh shit" meter climbs into the red.  When you think you're going to blow the turn, countersteer a little harder, hang off a little deeper, turn a little tighter, and look where you wanna go rather than where you're afraid you might go.  99 times out of 100 that I've seen a rider run wide on the street (and more than half the time at the track, fwiw) the rider simply misjudged his motorcycle's ability to negotiate a turn safely.

Track time will help with this as well, so if you really wanna learn to ride at a pace do it at the track. 

That's my 2 cents worth,

Cloner
ABQ, NM