Looks like a classic case of "Target Fixation". Very common for new riders but still happens to season riders. Gotta look where you want to go because the bike ends up going where you are looking. Thanks for posting & glad you're ok.

Crash bars did their job. Saved your leg. Frustrating, I know, but, a crash you can walk and ride away from, is a crash I'm willing to learn from.

Give the guy a break, he had the guts to share a misfortune in the hopes that someone else might learn from it. Thanks for sharing Greg, wish you many better riding days than the one you had in this video!

You gotta turn that thing!

I watched the video several times to try to understand what happened, It looks like it was a fairly mild curve? Possible that you were not counter steering? It looks like you are turning your wheel in the direction of the curve rather than away from it. I'm not trying to be critical, I'm just trying to understand. I want to do that road one day myself. Looks like a nice bike. Hope you were able to get it repaired.

Hey man, props to you for being willing to show a dumbass mistake! I'm thinking it was just a moment where you spaced out a bit and then you "target fixated" and drove it into the guard rail. And, despite the fact that I *hate* guard rails, that one probably saved your bacon, riding off the road there would have been a LOT more painful and expensive. Good on ya and just don't do it again...

Honest mistake from what I see , when im on my Harley ive been in some iffy situations where I had some close calls especially when riding in areas where there is a lot of scenery and it doesn't take but a second to have something happen . Glad you didn't get hurt brother , and if the ones that made the negative comments were real bikers they would say as long as nobody got hurt is the right thing to say . We are all brothers on the road no matter what you ride !

Looks like you may have been focusing straight ahead looking at the guardrail instead of looking at thru the turn. We all make mistakes just gotta learn from them.

Takes guts to put your screw up (and we've all been there or will be) out there for others learn from and to criticize. Too all the haters posting comments...I'm a Triumph guy, but all riders are brothers and need to keep that in mind. Ok sport bike guys are more like our cousins...but still family. ..

Yeah bro the only real damage was the tank, ordered a new one, now she's good to go.

If there is a choice between leaning more or drifting off the road...always lean more. Once you start drifting, you have committed to the accident. Always beeter to lowside than highside in my opinion.

I love how he talks about setting up, hitting the apex, and choosing lines for regular fucking roads. Trollbait brilliance at it's best. The guy just got fixated on the rail for some curious reason. Nothing to "learn", he drove perfectly fine prior to that. Good to see he didn't get hurt though. Ride safe, guys.

Glad you are OK.. Wasn't a speed issue but a lean issue. You were very lucky.

Glad you're okay man. Any accident you can walk away from on the bike and take a lesson with is a good one. Ride on.

Glad to see you turned out ok. Slow, Look, Press and Roll was one of the best things that I picked up in from riding course I took. Looking ahead and through the turn would have put your bike right where it needed to be and not into the guard rail.

I want to get a dual-purpose bike like this guy so I can do a little "off roading" too. I didn't know that Harley had a Paris to Dakar model. Bravo gentlemen, bravo!

I think it may have been target fixation.Thats when you find you are going faster into a curve than you want. You panic/stiffen up and instead of looking up the road and leaning farther you look at the side of it and go there. Always look where you WANT to go. Glad you are ok! That could have been a serious injury.

bummer about the bike. Good to see you didn't get a leg broken or something. Even better, good to see there was a guardrail. I rode some curves in CO this summer, where I sure would have felt a helluva lot better if there were guardrails. Anyhow, I appreciate you posting this. I admit I didn't recognize that turn was tricky from just looking at the entry line. Seeing what happened, it makes me more aware. So I guess I'm saying your post helps me. Thanks and best of luck out there.

Glad you're ok and nothing really bad happened. Also glad you had the engine guard, otherwise it would've been bad on the horse.

As many have already said, you go where you look. When I saw that curve coming up with the nice view I thought, Hum, bet this is what he looks at instead of the road. Obviously the curve was not to hairy, it was the view that got you. Luck was on your side. I've seen serious injury when people meet the guard rail at a molecular level :-)

Target fixation sucks; your arms freeze up, your body tenses, and it feels like the bike just won't turn at all. It's triggered by the fear of going over the guardrail - ironically, that fear is what drives us into the guardrail. The only way around it is to recognize it when it happens and practice overcoming the fear... Eventually, the fear goes away completely at normal speeds and then the twisties are just fun. People who don't ride will never understand the sensation.

Ouch. Well, you are not alone. Everyone has had one of those moments. Hope you are still riding.

Hey Grego , sorry about your bump , and thump there . What a fun place , the Cherahala is so beautiful , along with the Blueridge parkway . I get bored at the gap , it is fun about once every few years . I liked your Raider's paint . I recently got me a 2012 "S" model . Pretty bad assed bike . Glad you , and yours are good again . Happy motoring to ya .

That almost happened to me when I first started riding. And it wasn't even on the dragon, just out on 55 going towards West VA. I learned to lean lean lean when taking those curves. Scared the crap outta me, I almost jumped off my bike LOL. Glad you're ok Rider.

Ohhhh! I feel your pain. It could have been worse though. It happens! Thanks for sharing.

Damn. That sucks. I've gotten in also sorts of wrecks, too. Some unavoidable, and some just being stupid. I feel your pain, man. Just keep riding. :)

Glad you weren't hurt Greg. That had to put a damper on what must have otherwise been an amazing trip.

Seen alot of nasty ones up here in Alaska. Turnagain Arm was really bad up until a few years ago. Sorry you scratched your ride. Damn happy to see you walked away. Great video & thanks for sharing :)

It is called object fixation... if you focus on it.. you will hit it. You have got to look at where you want to go, not where you are. It happened to me a few years ago... a painful and costly mistake.

Very unfortunate. A gentle corner, but it was likely target fixation that got you. Gets everybody at some point. You go where you look. Happened to me a few years back ... just ran onto the grass, luckily. Fair dues to you for posting this.

Target fixation. It'll get you every time. Most crashes that happen in curves are due to target fixation and not looking where you want the bike to go.

The Raier is not a bike for beginners. The first bike I bought was a V-Star 1100 Custom. I learned on that. Once I felt confident in my abilities I jumped on a Street Glide, thats an 800lb bike and I rode that ok. I have a vid of it up on utube. That worked out ok so I bought a Raider. I will say that the raider, although a bigger bike (735lbs) feels much easier to ride than my v-star. Could be because of the length of time I've been riding, could be my imagination. But on any bike, when going through a deep curve, I down shift before right before I go into the curve, lean, then throttle through it. I am glad you're ok, it's just a bike. Thank the good Lord above there was no damage to you. Keep on riding Rider.

I'm here in South Georgia, gonna make it up to the Dragons Tail someday soon, I'm glad to see it was not an awful ending maybe a chunk of paycheck and a temporary ego crusher, we all have our day of feeling like an amateur. At least at the end of the day you can laugh at yourself and with your riding companions, I know I did just recently. Keep the shiney side up and see ya in the wind Brother.

im sure he learned from this mistake. I think its good that he posted it because its one of those things that we must always remind ourselves on the road

That stupid guard rail came out of nowhere! =)

man looks like you were doing good & that corner caught you off just a little, its happened to anyone who has rode any length of time thats for sure. glad you came out of it good.

daaaam that sux sooo wat happend was it target fixation or looking at the scenary? was the bike itself maybe those bikes can't cornering at certain speeds and at certain angles? i looked like taking the curve a little to wide. well anyway ride on man! dont let this stop you.

Also, be glad you were able to ride away. That's the best. And it's awesome you let peeps leave comments, good or bad. That's awesome.

Wow this surprised me I thought it was gonna be the dude on the Road Glide gassing on it I never imagined it would be the camera guy glad to see you weren't hurt about how fast were you going?

You got guts, I'll give you that. I've been riding over a year (retired, so I ride a lot) and I still have no ambition to tackle that road. Drove it in a well handling car, but I don't think I'm disciplined enough yet to ride it. Maybe later.

This is partially why I love old beat up bikes and cars. Firstly, they look badass, and secondly, when you dent or scratch them all you're doing is adding more patina and character. Anyways, just be glad you didn't crush your leg.

It happens. Almost did the same thing myself today. No guard rail or drop off but I nearly went off into the bushes. Going down a very curvy road I've been down numerous times and just didn't slow down quite enough.

You weren't even on the dragon yet.... That was just a piece of 129.

you have to stay closer to the center of the turn and right before the turn downshift and open the throttle. That will nail right to the belly of the turn so you are not getting thrown out by the centrifugal force.....I know it because of 40 years of riding under the belt. is good that you are safe.... thanks for posting

Stuff happens, if you ride long enough your bound to have some crazy ass things go wrong. Its obvious to me that more spikey-chrome-deathstar-type accessories would have prevented this from happening, I think Kuryaken just came out with triple chrome plated air molecules to fill your tires with.

I would love to do this ride.....Someday it will happen..

Sorry to see that, glad you are ok! Word of advice from my experience on a heavy weight cruiser, rely a little more on the rear brake and the bike won't stand so straight up in the corner and take your steering ability away. Simply too fast for your line in that corner, speed, bike weight and technique. Ride safe.

A wise man told me one time, there are 2 types of riders, those that's been down and those that are going down. If you ride long enough it's bound to happen. Don't sweat it. But try turning the handlebars a little less and leaning the bike a little more. It kinda looked like you were only turning the handlebars and not leaning the bike. Gotta lean.

Thx bro. Most of the comments I get are from people with self-esteem issues dogging me so they can feel better about themselves. I was paying too much attention on getting good vid. I entered the corner too fast. But she stayed up and suffered minimum damage.

yep. guard rail. good thing. did dragon first time 3 weeks ago, my first "oops" there wasnt a rail....glad ur ok. ride safe. we'll be back.

I am glad you are OK. I have to ask why you didn't slow down before the corner or lean the bike more. Either way, take it as a learning experience.

OK. First, I ride a Burgman 650 Scooter. It does handle like a sports bike and I've taken curves similar to that at 60mph. Not sure what you did there. But those Big Cruisers just don't lean well..

Lucky your leg didn't get caught up against that guard rail, glad your ok. Ride safe bro.

Dang man that sucks! What all did you damage on the bike. I know that parts and bags are super expensive. I own a Road Glide anniversary and I hope to never have this happen to me.

Yeah...You were focused on the rider in front of you; target fixation. Typical mechanics of a cruiser rider. You lucked out. Nice vid.

Dude, as long as you didn't get hurt you is good. You learned from this I'm sure. Ride on brother.

Target fixation could be a factor. If you looked to you right for a moment at that reservoir before the overlook that put you off track. The motorcycle safety training does not endorse push left go left and push right go right on the bars. Counter steering is the key. Stay focused on the road and aim your eyes where you want to go. Damn glad that you did not go over the guard rail. Ride Safe...

Sorry for your accident, so damn easy to screw up. You should however feel very lucky that you are able to get mad for hitting the guard rail. A guy her hit the guard rail on the off ramp on the interstate, threw him off and caught his leg on the guard rail post and ripped him up pretty bad, caught him in the groin and after a lenghtly hospital stay, he didn't make it. Ride safe and thanks for sharing, hopefully it will give others a chance to think as they ride.

...he didnt even make it to the dragon...thats a turn waaay before you even get to the real curves, he still had another 10 miles of straight road to go...LOL. If you cant make it past that you prolly shouldnt be riding to the dragon bud. Be safe, and ride smart! Glad you were ok!

Damn,man that sucks. But help me out here..I really thought you were going at it fairly conservative and safe. Is the grade and turn that bad? Anyway, bikes can be fixed~

Dude that sucks... I love my Raider S. I can't imagine how you feel. AT LEAST YOU DIDN"T LOOSE A LEG IN THE GUARDRAIL!

Thanks for posting the video. You've got stones. Sorry your ride got banged up. That could have been a LOT worse. Most sections of road up there do not have guard rails and in some places you can't see the bottom when you look down.

That wasn't that bad. I was waiting for some catastrophic failure. It's actually a great video and I think people could learn from this. Thanks for posting. I would have yelled that too. I'm glad (as I am sure the rider is) that he's okay and was able to walk away. Not sure where all this angst and BS comments are coming from. I was there in 2012... I decided I wasn't ready and just rode some of the roads around it...and I am glad I did! Shit happens man. Ride Safe

Thats us129 but you haven't made it to the gap yet. The ride to the gap either up 129 or across foothills parkway is just as fun and dangerous.

I'm glad to see that you weren't hurt and you didn't lay it down. It looks like the crash bars did their job. Was there any damage anywhere else? Also, I don't see how all these people say you're hitting your bike.

lucky man, those curves get a rider fixated! Glad you walked away

That sucks buddy. Props for posting the video so others can learn. You were riding at a conservative pace and you should have been able to negotiate that turn. Reading some of the comments people are saying you need to lean more.. wrong... COUNTER-STEERING would have easily help turn the bike into the bend. The lean plays a very minimal role in turning a motorcycle. When I started to ride, I couldn't believe that counter-steering actually worked. Keep riding though!

Sorry about your mishap. It takes balls to post your own screw-up and you have my respect for that. P.S. This is not Deal's Gap. No guard rails on the gap...

I was just checking out what might have happened if there had been no guard rail....Not good at all. Glad you were ok.

Looks like you watched the rider ahead of you? That sucks. Heard that happens up there

I've had an "Oh shit" moment at TOTD nyself. Didn't go down and if I did it would have been ugly. You were probably not looking through the turn and ended up failing to navigate it. Coulda been a whole lot worse. Your crash bars did their job, thankfully for that guardrail which also did it's job.

It sucks when that happens..best thing is you walked away from it..the first time I rode the Tail I saw 2 guys go over the edge..Both of them got taken out in body bags.....That was in May 2006.

And for everyone saying it's not the dragon, I know this vid is not at the dragon yet. I did ride it after with a mangled set of crash bars that would send sparks on every right hand curve. Once I got to Deals Gap I pulled them off and hung them up in the tree. And a word of advice, if you post ignorant, disrespectful or just plain stupid comments I will not approve them to be viewed.

Be glad for the guard rail. Otherwise it would have been MUCH WORSE and most likely fatal. Ride safe bro. Thanks for the video.

That sucks man! Hopefully it was a cheap lesson, and thank god it didn't cost you a leg. Nice bike, sounds a lot better than my Intruder. Ride safe brother!

brother better to have a hurt pride than a hurt body anyday

there's something that reminds me of Wild Hogs............... yes, it's the WATCHES!!!!!!! :) Glad you're alive dude... a bike can be repaired, your bones can be repaired as well, but the aches will remain a longer time than the bike will be hurting!

I'm guessing a little target fixation (when in doubt, say target fixation). Meh, no hospital visit needed and your bike was probably ridable afterwards. Count yourself lucky.

BTDT, At least you will remember and be more alert from then on. Ride safe

Sorry about your bike man. But, at least you're ok.

My dad and I drove down this road many times. And as long as you go the speed limit and ride like a mature adult. You'll never have any problems. There has been many accidents because people sometimes want to push power up sometimes which is natural in some cases. At the same time... You should know the road well before experimenting with higher speed. Safe riding yall : )

Hope your bike wasn't damaged too badly. Based on your speed which really wasn't fast through that corner at all, I'm guessing it was target fixation. Always look where you want to go, not where you're afraid you'll end up. Better luck in the future!

Be proud you had the guts to share this video and be proud that with a few exceptions you have the support of the biker community. We see you as a good rider having a bad moment not an idiot that got lucky. If you don't know what i mean go to any sport bike wipe out video and check out their comments.

Well that's suck man. I didn't know what really happened, but to what i've seen you didn't really go that fast.However, I noticed that you entered the left curve from the inside, it should be outside then inside and outside again. But i'm glad your ok. It's an experience, I'm learning from your vid too. Ride safe man, and ride more!

brother, it could have been worse. Me and the wife were riding an area we just moved to in Mid-Missouri and there were no rode signs, it was a back road chip-seal (gravel on top of tar waiting for vehicles to press it down) road and a sharp left that caused us to total our wide glide, both with permanent road rash scars (as you can imagine) and now we're paying for a dead horse, because GEICO sold us liability instead of full coverage. Things can always be worse!

Nice bike, I hope you got it fixed

If that's the worst that happened I'd consider yourself lucky!!

I cannot understand the comments from all the haters. Some people are expressing more anger than the guy in the video. I'd be pissed too if I just scratched the shit out of my bike. It's an expensive lesson and I'm sure you've learned from it. I've learned that my tires can out-perform my abilities. I've been in a situation like that and I just leaned way down and maintained my speed and viola! I made it through looking like a pro! Ride safe and have fun!

3:30 No kickstand needed! :)

Sorry you got bit. I don't like to see anyone wreck their bike. Target fixation and survival reactions affect everyone, it just depends on how you respond. Remember you're going to scrap hard parts on your bike before you out perform your tires. Letting of the throttle is the last thing you want to do in that situation. Letting off the throttle causes a LOSS of traction and grip and braking makes the bike stand up. Learn from your mistakes and get back out there!

Feel the pain, bro.

A bit of distraction, and some target fixation. Glad you are OK. Lesson learned though, I guess. Ride safe!!

Holy shit, I thought you were gonna hit your head on that sign, man.

that sucks man, my interpretation of according of what is seen is that you stared at the guard rails too long and target fixated. at least your still up brother! hope all is well

sorry about your bike man, but im a new rider and was trying to decide between a crusier and a sport bike, i think i will go with the one that can turn better

I remember being on a run and the guy in front of me on a Norton Commando was talking away to his girlfriend on the pillion. It was hard to watch as he missed the turn and went into sideways into the wall and not a damn thing you could do about it. Thankfully, the only injury that day was his ego and a few scrapes to his bike. I came off when some dipshit puposefully put half a brick in a deep puddle that was right across the road...you couldn't see the darn thing but the front wheel found it.

It appears that you rolled off the throttle in the middle of the turn, which is a no-no and that you had a bit of target fixation, you looked directly at where you didn't want to go and actually went there. It's a common mistake, check out Rnickymouse 's channel, 80% of the people who crash in his vids did one, the other or both of the things you did. Glad to see it wasn't much worse, any faster and you may have gone over that guard rail, that would have been much.

Ouch! love ya

Did you freeze up? You had plenty of space to lean (push) the bike into the turn. It happens. The problem that I see is that your leader was going too fast and making the ducklings try to keep/catch up. Anyway, it could have been worse; could have been a tree there. I always say... it's better to slide than collide. Be safe.

I thought you can just do the test in my state... But whats bad about my advice? I have a friend that took MSF with me and passed it. He doesn't take anything seriously and got into a crash. You need to be careful and keep leaning if you want to survive on a motorcycle.