This is NOT how to ride a motorcycle

Going over a cliff, and spending a quarter million dollars in surgery and rehab taught me to take a placid pace around even familiar curves. Were I riding the dragon, people behind me would go to sleep!

i remember the first time i went over the yellow line. i was behind two bikes entering the corner the first when around like a pro the second cross over then seeing nothing in the oncoming lane i crossed over.
i did not like what happen so i began to think and i realized that i was afraid to lean the bike on down.
i told my self that it is much better to hear it scrape the ground than to cross over. since then i have scraped several times and have never felt the bike slide or cross the lines.
hope this helps some one stay safe.

The scraping just tells you where you are in your lean. You have a little bit more to go, but you don't use it unless you have to. Going too far, especially if it's highway pegs, you can jack your front wheel off the ground...not pretty. Though I have just been able to recover from such an overkill....divine providence I am sure. One thing is sure....I hope to learn new things on every excursion, and I know I will not live long enough learn it all.

That's the problem with the big slabs here in the US... guys ride, twist the throttle and think they are riders, but they really aren't... any monkey can get on a Busa (or an ST1300) and twist the throttle.. but learning to look around the corner, move your weight to the inside of the bike in a turn and PUSH right GO right and trust the tires is something that takes time and skill and usually someone to teach you... and to be taught, you have to recognize you need to be taught.. another thing biker egos have a hard time with.

Amazing photos.. can't imagine skidding along the pavement without gear... "All the gear, All the time"... That'll keep you out of the burn ward in the hospital.

Why does this make me want to sell, sell, sell, my R3R?
I've got hardware in my shoulder and permenant nerve damage from a single bike accident years ago.
I'm still sketchy on right turns. (Injury side)
I mean, looking at this made me want to immediately sell.

You notice the rider holding on to the grips while in the air. According to my docs this is what causes a typical injury in motorcycle accidents. It was for me.
The damage from gripping and rolling over the bars pulls nerves, muscles and bones in the shoulder. It hurts. Some damage can be temporary or very permanent.

I did not need to see this.

I am also filled with horror but seeing these, queasy though I may get, serves to remind me what I need to do to be and hopefully remain, a competent rider. I imagine choosing a Rocket may have been hubris as much as anything; but I am going to ride it and ride it well.

The guy on the Harley saw it coming,1st frame,he is upright in the corner, 2nd frame ,he is leaning away from the other rider,but he couldn't get away,the other guy screwed up big time, and the result was what we all saw.

Having spent over 20yrs as a commercial photographer I can tell you that entire series of photos occured in under 2 seconds. The average professional camera shoots 5-6 frames per second. That is one of the turns on the tail of the dragon, the second twistiest road in the USA. Most of those turns are blind and a bit technical, some are reducing radius turns. The Hardley rider never had a chance the the jerk on the ST shouldn't have been on that bike or road. He hasn't the skill nor the humility to ride either. I've been on the dragon more than I can count and there are countless dangers including the errant semi unable to even negotiate the turns, but ignorant of what they've gotten into.

The ability to remain in your lane on any road is a necessary skill! If a rider cannot co trol their bike withi. The confines of their lane it is their responsibility to slow down. I have topped better than twice the speed limit on many roads including the cherhala, moonshiners, and portions of 129 below the dragon as well as a hos of other very technical roads and NEVER crossed the center line, on a cruiser. There is no excuse for bad riding.

Ok rant is over now!