dont go to the Dragon....baby steps man, you need some time on the bike...or maybe another hobby if you cant master cornerin...sorry, just plain truth man

 

Interesting... I've been on two wheels off & on since the mid 60s. I've off-road raced, street raced, drag raced at New England Speedway, and in all my years of riding it never once occured to me that I was going to fall in the course of normal riding. Mind you, I've done plenty of stupid stuff that I was pretty sure at the time was gonna get me killed, but even then I just looked through it and kept going.

Now after3 years of not riding and in my mid, (soon to be late) 50s, I'm back on two wheelswith another bike.I have nowhere near the confidence I used to have. I have no idea where it went in 3 short years, orif I'll ever be able to recapture that secure sense of riding again.Sometimes it just goes away.

Sadly, you just can't catch lightening in a bottle...

 

Put Metzlers on your ride. You will not be able to resist the urge to lay into a corner...... yaaahhhhhooooo

 

once you learn how to ride properly- youll be amazed at how well HD's handle.

i went through the northwestern university police m/c operators course and it was amazing. its quite costly for civilians to go through (if youre lucky enough to even have the opportunity to enroll).

not only was my training free, i was paid to learn AND i rode my issued road king... with city gas.

 

Lot's of good advice here so I will give you my two centsas well...

Check out Keith Code's books...they will change the way you look at acorner. Yes they are geared toward racing but they are so much more than that. Just understanding the dynamics of a corner will give you a whole new confidence.

And a riding class wouldn't hurt either.

 

Check out the ride like a pro dvd, it'll help with your slow speed maneuvering and help build your confidence at the same time

 

At deals gap you'd have the opportunity to have 318 heart attacks. I'd wait a while on that trip if I were you

 

I don't know that I would classify my situation as 'scarey'. I think there are many of us out here who have had "Close Calls" and My post was merely looking for 'what to do better'. Speed seemed to be the #1 reason. Being fearful of the bike ... well I don't consider myself fearful of the bike nor riding.

My MSF course I took .... well we rode some really old Honda 125s. What was so cool about those bikes is we got to learn how to swerves through the cones and whatnot. some of the exercises had those cones close in distance and very 'wide' apart. really made you work those lil bikes. I remember at first when I sat on that bike .....well I felt I was gonna break it by sittin on it. But in reality they were great bikes to learn on as you really got to learn how to swearve around things, and how to really load up the front brakes without locking 'em up. Had I not had the class I probably would have been a lot more 'skiddish' about cornering in real life. You really get to see how much 'lean' you can put on a bike.

While I know I have no issue leaning hard enough on my Ultra to scrape the pans ... I still don't wanna lean that hard on 'em. About 4 weeks ago my bud and I rode up to Mt Ranier and we were going through the twisties ... and he was cookin through 'em doin about 45-50mph or so. I think I was doin 'em around 40 and just played catch-up on the straight-a-ways. I think I had as much thrill doin it a lil slower than he had doin 'em faster.

Riding has risk. You have to accept some risk when riding (like what happened to me the other day). Training and learning how to corner is one of those things that should get better with time. This one ride we do for fun .... takes us around a few lil twisties. I remember when I first got my Ultra I was almost 'sweatin' goin around it doin 25mph (speed limit is 45 but caution for those curves is 30). Now I have no issue goin around those curves doin 45. You do have to 'push' yourself a lil to get better leans. Seems scarey but you have to learn how to lean and not always be thinkin you are gonna fall of or hit the oil-slick or gravel/sand on the road. You don't have to ride as if it is there... just prepare on how to handle it if it does appear.

 

Lots of good advice here, so no need in me saying more thanplease get signed up for a riding course. It will make a world of difference in your confidence level and enjoyment. Counter steering opens up a whole new world.

 

No offense but...did you say you've been riding 25 years?? Something ain't right about this post. If you're scared of "cornering" and not slamming you if you are, but I gotta say, cornering is riding, and if you're scared of riding, you might want to reconsider taking that thing out on the roads.