I think the big physiological dilemma with crashes (and to an extent the reason for this thread) is that when it's obvious what's happened and you can kick yourself for doing 'X', then you can put it to bed straight away and not let it affect your confidence.
(I remember seeing an interview with Casey Stoner who had just crashed, and he was fuming with himself because he'd just lost his front, he knew exactly what he'd done wrong and he was berating himself for doing it. So .. no issues with confidence next time out.)
But when you really can't get your head around what you've done wrong,
thats when it can really knock you side ways and for months afterwards you can really struggle with confidence in the corners. So I can sort of see why Steve is keen to try and work out for himself what's gone awry. (Think of all the riders who struggled with the Ducati in its early days, how the bike kept loosing it's front end, and that the riders were pulling their hair out saying that they're doing nothing wrong, but the bike just crashes. Those riders then loose confidence in the front end and it all goes from bad to worse .. )
Continuing on with the theme of weight and the transference of weight, suspension settings will play a big part in how your bike actually grips, and how the weight is distributed front and rear. I understand that Big Steve (!) was probably on one up settings. With a big guy sitting on the bike, and maybe a top box or roll bag behind him (can't quite tell what it is) how will that bike sit on the road? Well it will probably be quite rear biassed.
As you roll on and off the gas, again you transfer huuuuge amounts of weight to either the front or the rear tyre.
Out of interest, ask any decent racer how he corners and he'll tell you that he brakes late and into the bend. Why? because he's deliberately loading his front end for grip. (Obviously they're playing with fine margins and if he hangs onto that for too long .... ).
Ask any trained road rider how he corners and he'll probably tell you that he gets all his braking / off gas done whilst upright, and then comes off his brakes, picks up the gas and drives through the bend. And that's very much me - I do that ..
The racer will scoff at that style and tell me that at the very point i'm tipping into the corner and want grip on my front, I'm actually taking it away by picking up the drive and transferring that weight away from the front to the rear, leaving my front light just as I start to corner!!
Whilst that is a separate debate in itself, (and I would certainly not be one to advocate loading front tyres into corners on the road ... I'll stick to my style thanks .. ), it is worth thinking about how you transfer weight forwards and backwards on a bike with your throttle, and of course with your suspension.
I remember being on a touring holiday with Rosy a few years ago and she had packed a ridiculous amount of stuff on the bike - I could hardly stand the bike up right off it's side stand. Day one of the Alps and we're climbing, in the rain, two up with her entire fucking wardrobe in the panniers and Top box. Even though the GS electronic suspension was set to two up plus luggage, the front felt awful; vague and light, all that normal weight from a normal balanced bike had gone. Now add into the mix traveling
up the descents towards Gallibier .. Vars ... Telegraphe .. in the rain, and the front was just no where. It felt like Dennis Hoppers chopper on Easy Rider. Transfer even more weight away from it as you pick up the drive around those wet up hill hair pins, and you can see just how easy it would be to loose the front.
So this is why some solo riders, even with no luggage, often like to ride their bike on solo plus luggage. That increase in preload at the rear will just cant the bike forward a bit and put a bit more weight on the front tyre.
Steve ... as a big guy, I would recommend you do this. Yes you're on your own, you may have next to no luggage (Johno does the same and wears his pants for about four days), but jack that back up to cater for your size and consider permanently riding in one up + luggage.
I am still of the opinion that the front actually has the tinniest of slides first, and that this then sees the whole bike loose traction and the back wheel come round. And that's probably happened because the front is generally a bit light, you're carrying your corner speed into the bend in the vid (nothing wrong with that), I think Rik was saying it was ever so slightly up hill, and then you open the gas and drive .....
You've lined all the planets up for just a tiny tiny slip of grip ...
everybody else knows that he is a cock 
