In case I wasn't clear, I don't think going faster and finding "the edge" is about pushing harder and harder until you crash, then backing off. That's just making the same mistakes over and over again wishing for a different result.
No, I think getting faster is riding smarter, it's a brain game like chess, not pushing harder and harder like boxing. It's about being observant, flexible and resourceful in analyzing the track and your bike's behavior. Then re-adjusting reference-points, braking and throttle-control to maximize speed and traction. You'll be able to creep up to "the edge" slowly and gradually without actually going over and crashing. There's plenty of warnings and signals from bike when you're approaching "the edge". Even then, it's not a hard-edge and you can optimize physics of traction with adjusting body-positioning and fore/aft weight-balance.
I'm still 10-sec off the 250-Prod lap-record, so just because I slid the front-end, doesn't mean I'm riding as fast as possibly can or up to bike's ability. Someone else has gone faster on similar equipment, so I need to determine how to extract another 0.7s per turn out of my RPs and technique. Got some ideas I'm going to try next time!
