Wow... zombie thread!
In response to the original question: I live for the twisties. I absolutely love them, and wish that every curvy road was a closed, motorcycle-only environment with a cleaning crew to clear sand/gravel/oil/etc. out of my way.
Then I could open it up with confidence... but, alas... must save that for the track.
When I first started riding, I was like blues 2 years ago - slow. I'd pull over for the other bikes. Target-fixated on
everything - which is what kept me so slow. I'd get a bit of confidence, pick up speed and then... look directly at the edge of the oh-my-god-I'm-going-to-go-off-the road. Panic. Brakes.
Then I learned to turn my head, and keep my eyes moving forward through the corners. That 'ah haa!' was critical because it fixed my target fixation issue. Subsequent 'ah ha's (body position, choosing lines, etc.) have refined my cornering, but the head turn... wow.
My current challenge is entry speed. I find myself
feeling too hot in a corner, and will chop off the throttle which is the wrong response. Cognitively, I
know the bike can do more, and I just need to hold the throttle steady, murmur a prayer to Pirelli and lean more, but... that's tough.
But, ultimately, getting my entry speed right will fix all of that, so... like I said... that's my current challenge.
[b][i]"Good girls go to heaven. Bad ones go to hell. And girls on fast bikes go anywhere they want." [/i]
2009 Triumph Sprint ST - daily commuter
2006 Triumph Daytona 675 - track bike
1999 Suzuki SV650 - track training bike[/b]
But...that was over 3 years ago and now I can pretty much chase him down 
It's a wonderful feeling - and yep it takes practice just as everything does. I had a few butt clenching incidents when I froze up and didn't move with the bike and just about overshot the corner - but I kept at it, never hurt myself and rode within my limits - and it does come - eventually! Relaxing, remembering to lean with the bike and setting the corner up before going into it are all things that just come naturally now. I still take care to watch for loose gravel and I don't take risks on blind corners - and it's all still exhilarating to me!
