Yea maybe the A course would be a good refresher and help me return to confident riding more quickly, thanks for the tips. Bikes are made to be leaned over, of course we have to be careful on roadways that aren't consistently cleaned and groomed for max traction but that doesn't mean I should be taking switch-backs at 5 mph

The stock tires suck. The ones I slid on were pilot road 2's, pretty hard rubber.

Just a thought...

Just a thought...

I like that!! 

Just a thought...

OMG, that graphic just defined my very essence.

So you going to get the tattoo Max?

Yeah, I saw that post too- I took it as more amusing than insulting or baiting.

You have nothing to prove Nicole, at least not here as far as I am concerned. Just a thought but ride your bikes (like Mary Jane Tinklepants if you want  ), and just take these kind of remarks with passing amusement.

I got 16K miles out of three sets of PR2s..... musta' been riding really badly. 

Brian

Really?? So since I got 11,600 out of my tires, that now means that I am not comfortable on my bike. I would say your wrong and that your generalization is far off from reality.
Nope, I will correct myself. Last week when I was crossing Ontario I was about 275 miles into my day, with another 150 miles to go. It was a driving rain with a stiff head wind, and the temps were showing at 53*F. So yeah, I wasnt comfortable on my bike.

Know that feeling intimately. I've been down four times while moving (never totaled a bike though) and I can tell you that riding is the only thing that helped me get my confidence back. Lots of riding. I am advantaged however because I consider my bike my primary mode of transportation (15k+ on the bikes last year, 800 miles on my truck.)

Perhaps what I did yesterday while scrubbing in a new rear tire. Pick a flat wide stretch of vacant road. gently weave the bike back and forth in big wide arcs, smoothly using the whole road, gradually increase the lean angle.  Do it for a bit, then stop.  Repeat every day or two.
 Another technique to help stretch your bounds is to enter a turn at your comfortable pace, start and stay wide, then as you accelerate out of the corner look to the inside, either the center line or fog line and head there. (you tend go where you look automatically).  This may be a clue to your current discomfort as well, because you are worried about going off the outside of the corner, you are looking at the OUTSIDE (ditch).  This creates no end of problems in smoothness and line. Force your eyes in and ahead.
My wife is a very cautious rider, then slid out on gravel, had her foot pinned under her 750 shadow.  This slowed her down even more.  She still rides but it's painful to watch (so I don't). I worry she will get rear ended by an impatient can driver.
 Caution on the road in ag country is a no brainer.  I see manure running out of the spreader, in a day or two it's invisible but you know it's still there. Ditch mowing often spreads grass on the pavement, corn, sand, gravel spill out of trucks. DEER!  I still ride and prefer the rural hazards to the city stuff. 
   Make a point of doing some "pointless" riding. Riding only when you have to "get somewhere" creates a hurried feeling and worry.

My avatar is about as far as you can lean a connie as the shifter is just touching. The bike will lean a long way without doing anything dangerous so the trick is to take positive action in all ways and places you ride.

And by that what I mean is almost all sand (or even worse,DIESEL fuel) can be predicted by you long before you come to it. For instance.... decomposing granite hillsides?, has it rained recently, inside turn with a negative camber, trucks use the road, pulling up to a stop is where to look for diesel etc.

Riding safely means constantly running scenarios as to what if? When I space out and start to ride at 5% of my ability is when I find the greatest danger. I space and start thinking about something else and not running the what if game. That is when I need to crank it up a bit to FOCUS on what and where I am.

Take charge and find the hidden signs that will keep you safe.

Some of you may remember I totaled my 2012 Connie recently.  It happened while leaning into a turn and hitting a patch of sand. That back tire slide-out felt like betrayal after 12 years of riding accident free... I had always put a lot of stock in my rubber and my contact with the road.

Anyways, insurance got me another Connie so I'm back to riding but now I ride it way more conservatively - I'm pretty scared going into turns and don't lean it over much at all. When I do, it's not very fun because I'm basically waiting for it to slide out. Each successful turn feels like I cheated maim and injury.

Any tips? Will it come back? I've learned a lot about road conditions and appraisal after the wreck but I think this new fear is a bit unwarranted. I'd like to resume scraping my pegs on occasion without fear...

I know what will cure you...head out my way and we'll ride twisties until you're better! 

P.S. you know who this is

It'll pass.  Just stay on the bike and the bad memory will fade and the new ones will get better and better.  I've been through it. 

I also get 10k+ on my PR3 tires.  No chicken strips either.  Also, no black marks on the road when I start or stop.

So you going to get the tattoo Max?

Um, I have to cling to the illusion that I can change...

Just a thought...

And underthinking results in why the OP is now hesitant to lean over

If you're gonna ride, you're gonna go down. Not a question of if, it's a question of when. And how bad.

There are many activities that I used to enjoy but I don't participate in now because of the risk of injury. Jumping out of aircraft and downhill snow skiing, to name a couple. I don't enjoy them enough to risk injury. Motorcycling is a different story. If / when I get damaged, it is what it is. If I got damaged while riding a horse, I would be bitter to the bone, so I don't ride horses. When I can no longer get on to my motorcycle by myself, I will have someone help me get on it and stuff it into an abutment at a high rate of speed.

http://youtu.be/Re8U_on4Gn4

Absolutely!

How about your drawers.... any black marks in there after you stop? A sure sign Mary Jane Tinklepants is around..... 

OFFTOPIC: the one thing that does scare me when riding a motorcycle is forest rats, mostly at night of course, although I have ridden right by plenty that were out and about (feeding) during daylight. It is the one thing I believe is absolutely outside of my control or ability to influence- a deer strike. Everything else, at least I believe, I can influence to some degree: leaning too far, slow down. Slippery in a heavy rain- slow down. And so on.... except for those insane, unpredictable members of the deer family. I cannot predict what they will do because they do not know themselves until they do it and it sort of freaks me out. I ride at night a lot, and at sustained high speeds, and I have to say it is a little cause of concern every single moment when I am riding under those conditions. The only thing that changes it at all is when I have a passenger, and then it gets worse 'cause exposing (Easy Boys!) two people to that danger instead of one is not really an improvement.

But back to the OP: ride w/in your comfort zone, whatever that is. Nothing wrong with leaning less and going a bit slower unless you are riding to impress others in the first place. I always tell everyone I ride with to ride at whatever speed they are comfortable with and not try to either go outside the envelope you would normally stay within just because you are with other people or not try to keep up if it is not something you would normally do or want to do. I personally know two people who have gone down (Boys!) absolutely due to following someone else who was riding at speeds beyond their own comfort level (in both cases, the lead rider had no difficulty and was fine). IMO the reason to ride a motorcycle is for personal enjoyment and if it causes anxiety, then you may want to either take steps to reduce / eliminate that as others have said such as skill enhancement or merely slowing down, or re- think riding altogether.

Best of luck and success with this.

Brian

It'll pass.  Just stay on the bike and the bad memory will fade and the new ones will get better and better.  I've been through it. 

I also get 10k+ on my PR3 tires.  No chicken strips either.  Also, no black marks on the road when I start or stop.

How about your drawers.... any black marks in there after you stop? A sure sign Mary Jane Tinklepants is around..... 

OFFTOPIC: the one thing that does scare me when riding a motorcycle is forest rats, mostly at night of course, although I have ridden right by plenty that were out and about (feeding) during daylight. It is the one thing I believe is absolutely outside of my control or ability to influence- a deer strike. Everything else, at least I believe, I can influence to some degree: leaning too far, slow down. Slippery in a heavy rain- slow down. And so on.... except for those insane, unpredictable members of the deer family. I cannot predict what they will do because they do not know themselves until they do it and it sort of freaks me out. I ride at night a lot, and at sustained high speeds, and I have to say it is a little cause of concern every single moment when I am riding under those conditions. The only thing that changes it at all is when I have a passenger, and then it gets worse 'cause exposing (Easy Boys!) two people to that danger instead of one is not really an improvement.

But back to the OP: ride w/in your comfort zone, whatever that is. Nothing wrong with leaning less and going a bit slower unless you are riding to impress others in the first place. I always tell everyone I ride with to ride at whatever speed they are comfortable with and not try to either go outside the envelope you would normally stay within just because you are with other people or not try to keep up if it is not something you would normally do or want to do. I personally know two people who have gone down (Boys!) absolutely due to following someone else who was riding at speeds beyond their own comfort level (in both cases, the lead rider had no difficulty and was fine). IMO the reason to ride a motorcycle is for personal enjoyment and if it causes anxiety, then you may want to either take steps to reduce / eliminate that as others have said such as skill enhancement or merely slowing down, or re- think riding altogether.

Best of luck and success with this.

Brian

Off topic also, but I have found that after 2 deer strikes and injuries, my riding style changed, and if I'm in an area of reduced sight lines and dense foliage, my anxiety level reduces the fun factor. But I can still get my Ya-Ya's out when I'm doing the West coast and have those panoramic sight lines.

If you're gonna ride, you're gonna go down. Not a question of if, it's a question of when. And how bad.

There are many activities that I used to enjoy but I don't participate in now because of the risk of injury. Jumping out of aircraft and downhill snow skiing, to name a couple. I don't enjoy them enough to risk injury. Motorcycling is a different story. If / when I get damaged, it is what it is. If I got damaged while riding a horse, I would be bitter to the bone, so I don't ride horses. When I can no longer get on to my motorcycle by myself, I will have someone help me get on it and stuff it into an abutment at a high rate of speed.

That is like saying, If you are going to drive, you are going to crash.  I think what really mean to say is that if you ride beyond your limits or the bikes limits you are going to go down.  Many drop their bikes when starting out, which is why it is good to start when you are a teenager.

I dress for the crash, but will do everything in my power to avoid it.  Deer and Drunks are the two things that concern me.  Riding at speeds that allow me to stop within my sight distance, and have more lean angle left to adjust my line are important to me.  Too many tractors and old folk putting around to be a boy racer at 50 years old. 

That is like saying, If you are going to drive, you are going to crash.  I think what really mean to say is that if you ride beyond your limits or the bikes limits you are going to go down.  Many drop their bikes when starting out, which is why it is good to start when you are a teenager.

I dress for the crash, but will do everything in my power to avoid it.  Deer and Drunks are the two things that concern me.  Riding at speeds that allow me to stop within my sight distance, and have more lean angle left to adjust my line are important to me.  Too many tractors and old folk putting around to be a boy racer at 50 years old. 

Yes, if you drive, you probably will be involved in an accident. The vast majority of people have. The odds of getting hurt on a motorcycle are infinitely higher though. A person can decidedly reduce the odds of being involved in an accident but the only way to eliminate them are to live in a bubble. If motorcycles weren't dangerous, where would the thrill be?