[webbmeister25d]

So, today has been a beautiful day weather wise (one of the precious few we've had this summer) so I did a mini-maintenance check and headed out to the truck driving school parking lot that I use for slow riding drills. Today was diminishing radius circles and figure eights, and - as always - U Turns. Later through the session, I did a left hand U Turn that felt "in the zone." Head/shoulders/torso turned sharply and comfortably to the left, eyes seeking and gracefully moving to the exit point, fanny to the front and to the right, right foot naturally putting more weight on the outside peg, gentle throttle, speed of bike controlled by feathering the clutch, bike leaned in, just a little rear brake, Right arm ultra relaxed, left arm relaxed with left hand doing the steering, - essentially all the things I've been reading about, learned in MSF, and practicing all came together at once without having to think too hard about it.

Then it happened.

The left peg gently scraped the asphalt.

There was no panic, no instinctual movement of the left foot off the peg onto the asphalt, no right knee flopping away from the gas tank in a misguided attempt to provide counterbalance, - it just happened. In retrospect, I dearly hope no one was watching because after exiting the turn I came to a stop, shut it down, got off the bike, shouted "WooHOO!" and did a happy dance. I am 56 years old, gray hair and goatee, 6'4" (taller with the helmet)and 275 pounds. There was, without a doubt, nothing graceful about that little display!

Since the front wheel was pretty much maximum left, the bike was leaned in far enough for the peg to scrape, and the speed was just enough (perhaps a little more) to keep the bike upright, my guess is that the left turn was about as sharp as the GZ can make. Is this pretty close to the truth?

Here're the real questions, though: It all fell together so gracefully - it felt "perfect". How close was I to going down? Is this, perhaps, pushing the envelope too quickly and a little to far into the danger zone? It did not feel dangerous but I am inexperienced and not tuned in (physically or mentally) to all the fine gradations that exist between quite safe and Def-con 5.

Congratulations, admonitions, and random thoughts appreciated!

Jim