Had bad motorcycle accident in February that totaled my Ducati. It was a 2016 Multistrada with all the newest safety features like cornering ABS and TC, etc. Made no difference. Encountered gravel kickout in apex 2nd half of an s-curve had about 0.35 seconds to decide weather to ride through it leaned or go wide to ride through a clean strip outer perimeter. Whichever choice would have been the right one I'll never know because I apparently made the wrong one and went down, ultimately high siding in the weeds and sticks off the roadway. Was wearing gear except no over pants over my jeans. One of those stories where the helmet prevented death because even with it on (Nolan N104) I still got a brain bleed, they called it sub arachnoid.
So anyhow, after a lot of analysis I know my accident was preventable and was rider error. The error was in being over confident because I ride that road a lot, in not doing a recon run before making a spirited pass through it, and in making a spirited run in the first place plus not having been out on the bike in quite a few weeks. It was one of those rare nice days in Feb, everyone was out on bikes, so I pulled the battery maintainer off got her out of the garage and decided to have a go at it.
But here I am tuning up to get another bike, albeit not another Duc. I can't explain it really.
That's excellent self-analysis and taking responsibility for yourself without blaming the situation or others. In my opinion, that's the kind of attitude that leads to safe riding over a life-time. I bet you are unlikely to make that mistake again.
As for me, I try ride so I can stop within my line of sight. I know that limits my speed (and fun) on many corners, but it also minimizes the risk of situations like you experienced. There are many stopped vehicles, spills, animals, rocks, holes, bumps, etc. lurking around blind corners. Do I still make errors? Of course - but like you, I try to learn from them and figure out what I can do differently to be safer.
