I ride a 2007 Sportster 883 Low and I have only been riding for about a month.

About a week ago I tried to take a really sharp left turn, was scraping the pegs which I have done a couple times before. As I was about to throttle out of the turn, the bike snapped to the left (now perpendicular to the road) and slammed on it's right side where it slid for a little ways. Me and the bike are fine, she took more of a beating than I did.

I know I totally deserved what happened because I was riding a sportster like it was a sportbike, but I got two questions that I hope some of you guys could shed some light on.

1.) Going on further should I just avoid scrapping pegs altogether and take corners with better lines and slower speeds?

2.) I have gotten the bike rideable again with some help with my family and I still need to replace the handlebars, but everytime I lean to the left it feels like the bars are trying to push back towards me. I have to hold it there or it will just snap the bike up straight. Would this be the handlebars or am I looking at something worse?

 

Avoid left hand turns at intersections, there killers.
Learn your limitations and the machines limitations and ride accordingly

 

Take it to a qualified mechanic so that he can check your bike out. You only see bent bars and scratches. They will see more.

 

1. Get out of the habit of scraping your pegs, that is a recipe for disaster, as you have already discovered - there is only one Valentino Rossi!



If you have those darned silly 'feeler' pegs in the ends of your footrests, remove them, as they are a danger to life and limb. They simply screw in and can be removed with a wrench.

2. Plainly all is not right with your bike, so take baloot-boy's suggestion and get your bike inspected by a competent local indy. There may something out of alignment that is easy to put right, or something more serious.

 

This guy says you shouldn't be scraping things is you're doing it right. He should know.