Fear and doubt are the two things that hinder limited space maneuvers at low speeds. If you start out worrying about dropping the bike you usually will. Its all about the handlebar turn, counterbalance and looking where you want to go.
I start folks out with a hula dance. while standing with feet shoulder width apart turn the upper body as far to the left as they can and feel the weight transfer to the right foot then turn the upper body to the right as far as they can and feel the weight transfer to the left foot. Thats counter balance. apply the same thing to the outside floor board of your motorcycle as you turn.
It's practice, practice, practice. the 28' dia becomes a 24' and a 20' diameter to a 17'.

 

I would have used grey tape, just saying. In motocross you turn better when you apply pressure to the outside peg. It gets your weight to the outside, improves traction, balance and washing out in corners. I will have to try a few low speed turns and think about how this applies to the tour bikes.

Lets see a video of a tight u turn attempt in a parking spot.

 

Until you are willing to drop your bike to learn the extreme edge of controlling it, you will struggle to get to that next step. My advice is purchase some used guards on ebay. They are cheap because they are already scraped up. Taping and untaping takes time and gets old. Most people can't even see the scrapes on the guards.

The best advice I got for doing consistent full lock turns is ride circles over and over getting use to throttle and clutch in the friction zone required to hold the bike steady. As you get use to controlling one radius of a turn, pull it in a little tighter. The bike starts to fall when it doesn’t have enough speed to balance its weight against with the centrifugal force. What we fear the most is the feel of the bike starting to fall, but that is where you need to develop the confidence in making the adjustment to keep the bike up by adding more throttle or less clutch. The more you get use to the edge and reacting to it properly, the more confident you will feel about doing full lock turns without dropping the bike.

That being said, a rider who does full lock turns as part of their normal riding will probably still drop their bike once in a while because they are riding in the extreme limits of their bike. But that is OK, those riders are usually better riders because they can control the bike in tighter spaces and don’t duck walk all over the place because they keep their feet on the boards at all times except when the bike is completely stopped. And even then the good ones can hold the bike up for a couple seconds at a full stop. You will be surprised how little you need to put your feet down at stop signs. In fact, you will get to where you feel uncomfortable taking your feet off the boards.

Start by doing full circles and practice until you can do them consistently. It may take several weeks, so don’t get frustrated. The older we get their harder it is to train our brains. Once you can do circles, then do S turns and get use to switching directions. Then start doing full lock turns from a complete stop. The challenge there is getting use to clutch and throttle with your arms fully extended. Once you think you have mastered the full lock turn in the empty parking lot, go to Walmart and start doing them in between rolls of parked cars to get use to real life situations. Cones and painted parking lot lines in and empty parking lot is one thing, real objects is something else.

I also have Ride Like A Pro and it is very good.

Beary

 

Maybe take the saddlebags off next time

 

I use the clear and thick vinyl tubing from Lowes on mine. Zip tied in place. I you look closely, you can see it front and rear in this picture.

 

Great advice, thanks. I'll try to capture my progress and post a video up when finished. Like you said, probably a couple of weeks.

 

I think it's a great idea to protect it and know you're okay to drop it. Otherwise, you will be reluctant to do so and may not be able to progress to the next level. Friction zone and brakes. Those are the key for me to ride slow. I swear, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head when I first became aware of it. You ride that rear brake when going slow and use the friction zone of the clutch. The bike wants to stay upright all on its own when these are used. With the clutch not all the way in, you're throttling it a lot more than you would be, while riding the rear brake. Gotta be careful though. Let off the brake only and you'll shoot/lunge forward. Try to end all at the same time. Good Luck to you.

 

If you tipped your bike over 2 times, there should be marks on your highway bars already & no need to do the carpet test. Whatever you need to do. Just maybe you need to take a riders course. Good luck.

 

I've seen the local Motor Cops use the old carpet trick when learning the advanced turning techniques. Good for you that you recognize a limitation and are willing to figure out how to improve.

 

I use radiator hoses with some chrome clamps on my wife's UC every time she takes Ride Like a Pro class extremely durable and good protection.