Hi Gang, Would like to hear your Dragon Experiences. I am itching to make the pilgrimage, not having been there for about 5 years. - What are the chances of getting smacked by somebody else if you stay in you own lane? The place just sounds over exposed nowadays. MD
Never been there, but the road sounds fantastic. Problem is, I compare it to the situation out here in San Diego county called Palomar mtn. On most saturdays and a sundays, you have a million ricky racers and their brother racing up and down the south grade (tight side, for you locals) all day long, and pretty much about every weekend I used to go up there, people were always crashing. I used to frequent it on my big fizzer. I now stay away from it, as I don't need some wayne rainey wannabe taking me out from coming too hot in a corner. Maybe I am just getting out, but I prefer to live just a tad longer.... I would just suggest hitting it earlier, midweek, to lessen the traffic buildup, and clown factor.
If you go during the week and either morning or evening it's not bad at all. Every time I've been there during these times it's been relatively empty. Of course, I'd rather ride the Cherohala and surrounding roads.
I've been there 4 times & I'm going again in 2 weeks. Read this & make sure you understand. If you don't, ask questions. 1. If at all possible, go during the school year & ABSOLUTELY 1000% OF THE TIME go during the work week. You will understand why if you go on a weekend in July. 2. DO NOT try to impress anyone there. Better riders than you have died on that ride & more will die in the future. When I run the Dragon, I usually ride slower than I do on crappy NJ roads. The one thing that always sticks in my mind when I ride the Dragon in the alarming number of fuktards trying to prove how cool they are. Some of those guys don't ride their bike home. Don't be one. 3. DO NOT lane split, cross the center around corners or do anything else you wouldn't do on the roads around your home town. See #2 for why. 4. Remember, there are plenty of other roads in the immediate area that offer just as good & in some case better riding than the Dragon. The Blue Ridge Parkway, the Cherohala Scenic Skyway, the Great Smoky Mountain Parkway & RT 28 immediately spring to mind. 5. Wear your best protective gear. 6. Relax & have fun For a totally kick ass ride, take this route: Start in Cherokee, NC & go north on the GSMPW into Gatlinburg, TN. Take RT 411 & then 321 & get on the Foothills Parkway. Get off the Foothills & run RT 129 & the Dragon going south. Ride thru the Joyce Kilmer National Forrest (follow the signs) & get on the Cherohala. Follow the Cherohala until it ends in Tellico Plains, TN. Get on RT 68 going north until Rt 411/72. Go north east until RT 129 & go south. Take the Foothils back to the beginning OR ride the Dragon again & take RT 28 to RT 19 back to Cherokee. It's about 350 miles of kick ass riding. There is food & gas available in Cherokee, Gatlinburg, Deals Gap & Tellico Plains KC-10 FE out... lane:
I have to agree completely with KC and Jev. I'm a mediocre rider, but the dragon is inspiring. It appears groomed 90% of the time, most corners are banked and the road just tends to feel like a race coures. It Is not! If you are not adult enough to control the inspiration that comes with riding a road like the dragon you will get frustrated with those running slower than you, attempt to take corners at speeds that eclipse your skill level and in the process end up risking life and limb(including others life and limbs) all for what? It is an awesome sight to behold, but it is a novelty. When my wife and I ride down there we usually make a trip through the Dragon on our way to Robbinsville, ride the Skyway, BRParkway and Hellbender and then on our way home ride the Dragon out. We ride the Dragon to get to Robbinsville. It is enjoyable, but not why we ride 7 hours to get there. I have spent trips where the Dragon was all I rode, but I had this epiphany a little while back, I'm not Hayden, Rossi, Duhamel. I don't get paid to race, I don't race for a living and I don't ride to try to constantly show anyone else how good I ride. On the flip side, I've been wondering why they can't close it for a weekend and have a TT there or something. Now that would be a sight!
I live only about 2 hours from the Dragon, and love going there. The ride is great, but another fun part is meeting the people at the store at the bottom of the mtn. You'll see some COOL bikes. Everything from new rockets all tricked out to OLD beemers, and everything in between. When riding, take your time, ride your own ride, and stay in YOUR LANE. Look out for squids coming up from behind and blasting past. I usually try to give them all the room I can and just let them be stupid. Lately the LEO's have been watching preety close for idiots being idiots. And smile for the camera. Killboy photographers are there most days taking picts. When you get home, go on line, find your picture and order one. It's a good deal. I I like to go on weekends. The place is really hopping then, and I've never had any problems. Just pay attention and don't ride like an idiot. :nono:
East Coast Forum readers et al... So about 580 miles from my garage to Robbinsville, NC is a long day's ride, but do able for my commuting butt to do. Due to work, I'm not committing to doing anything, but I'm interested in knowing if an when you are incase I can tag along. Anyone else interested trying to converge at the same spot some time this summer/early fall? http://www.tailofthedragon.com/
Spout, Let me know when you can go, and I'll be there. The weekend is better for me, but I suppose I could take a day off work if you can ride down. I'm only about 2 hrs away.
KC - Thanks for your input - I agree going during the work week is the best idea. I dont wanna play dodge em with the week end crowd. I dont have any thing planned yet but it on my to do list for this year. I'm about 5 hrs away. MD
If anyone is interested, the Wife & I will be at Deal's Gap on Thursday, 23 Aug. We will be at the resort for lunch & are then going on about a 300 mile ride. If you finally desire to see how much of a sexy beast I am, just look for the yellow 2000 VFR next to the red 89 Hawk GT. Pics of me in my gallery for identification purposes. Due to the overwhelming amount of weirdos on the internet, I'm not putting my cell # on here. KC-10 FE out... lane:
I rode the Dragon yesterday 8-18. 12 LEOs!!! The po-po was everywhere, and just itching to give out driving awards.
Hey Guys: Before planning any trips to the Dragon, be sure to check out this website:http://www.tailofthedragon.com/ Things have changed drastically in the past couple of months! It is [was] a fantastic ride.
I've been a handful of times. Several friends from work and I travel down whenever our schedules agree. I like to make it down at least twice a year. I've been once this year already and have been wanting to go back ever since. Hopefully I'll make it down in September when the leaves are changing. Just a few things I'd like to point out... (if anyone said it already, I apologize) Weekends can be too packed if you don't like crowds, and in the event anything should happen ie. accidents or trucks going off the road, it can ruin the experience due to stop and go traffic. Also, the "LEO's" anticipate squids on the weekend (which there are a lot of) and you see more of them lurking, some even on motorcyles themselves. Most on-coming riders will warn you though if there's one ahead. I'm more up to go mid week as some others have said, but be careful then too. It's seems to me that the trucks pass through there more frequently when they expect few motorcyclists. It may not seem like that big of a deal if you've never been, but coming around a corner to find a motorcycle width of road left creates major pucker factor. (I have video of such an occasion. I'll share it in the next few days if anyone is interested.) Finally, all of this talk makes me interested in how often VFR meets happen. Is there a sticky letting everyone know when people are meeting? Maybe there could be. I for one would be interested in hearing other's stories in person.
just got back from spending 9 days riding the dragon and all roads around it .make sure of two things ,spend a night at cherahola mc campground,it is about 4 miles out of telico plains,ask for directions at the gas station ,and ride hwy 28 from bryson city ,nc to franklin,nc.no traffic at all and plenty of twisties and scenery then catch hwy 19 back to sylva and cherokee.
The whole area is great. I spent my vacation there in mid September and I will be back next year for sure. I must admit that due to time constraints, I did trailer the bikes down from Duluth, MN, but in the truck we were able to do the 1200 miles in one shot. The riding in TN and NC was worth every minute of the boring long drive down. We stuck pretty close to speed limits, which could be a little higher-especially the 40-45 on the Cherohala. Didn't see as many LEO's as expected. That was nice! Foothills Parkway between 321 and 129, the Dragon, Cherohala, all spectacular riding. Also, consider renting one of the cabins in the area. They aren't badly priced when you consider that they have kitchens so you don't always have to eat out. I have some good info if anybody is interested.
