Seen it on another forum thought I'd share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16YnmJN0fc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16YnmJN0fc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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Tail of the dragon video
- Thread starter daisoman
- Start date
N3WMAN
Well-known member
Already in multimedia
N3WMAN
Well-known member
Yep. Nice knowing you.
Thanks for sharing that link. I hadn't seen that before.
YUP.....pack your bags Paul well escort you out the door....later :wave:
N3WMAN
Well-known member
You don't have to push it to have a great time on it. To each their own but you would be a fool to bypass it.
I am with Carmen to drive 14 hrs to ride a sedate road (cops and safety) there is a crapload of tracks that have endless corners and are safe much closer, I can ride as fast as I want and dont risk police and have an ambulance waiting should I need it. Same reason I wont drive to Jennings for a trackday. If I am driving that far I am doing Daytona and racing. Every year a buddy offers me a free ride w/accommodation for a week at the Dragon. Wont waste my time.
The video is of course an exaggeration in the interest of keeping TV viewers glued to the screen.
While there are some trucks going through, it's illegal for anything more than a 30-foot trailer to go through the NC portion, and you can't go through the TN portion without going through the NC portion (there is nowhere for a big rig to turn around). NC has apparently promised to put up additional signs concerning the truck restriction in the near future, which explicitly say "NO TRUCKS" - the current signs are ambiguous. Even as it stands now, it's probably a couple of trucks a day - that's a couple too many, but it's not like you are going to see one around every corner. And if you see one coming the other way, STOP. You do NOT want to continue moving towards a sharp corner and THEN realize that the truck is going to be all the way in your lane as it comes through the corner. Stop BEFORE you get to that corner. This mistake (combined with the fact that the 53-foot trailer shouldn't have been there to begin with) killed one rider this past summer.
The bigger problem with Deals Gap is not the trucks - it's car and bike riders who don't know how to drive/ride. People cut corners and go across the center line, either out of sloppiness or laziness for the most part, occasionally because they are trying too hard and are exceeding their skill level. Deals Gap is NOT the place to learn how to ride. It is not a place for an ill-handling bike with poor cornering clearance, nor is it a place for a tippy and scary-handling trike ... a substantial portion of riders/passengers in serious collisions are on trikes.
There are plenty of other interesting roads in the area that see a lot less traffic. There are plenty of interesting dual-sport trails, too. Lots and lots of places that are unlikely to be infested with trucks, Harleys, commuter traffic, or leaf-lookers any time soon.
While there are some trucks going through, it's illegal for anything more than a 30-foot trailer to go through the NC portion, and you can't go through the TN portion without going through the NC portion (there is nowhere for a big rig to turn around). NC has apparently promised to put up additional signs concerning the truck restriction in the near future, which explicitly say "NO TRUCKS" - the current signs are ambiguous. Even as it stands now, it's probably a couple of trucks a day - that's a couple too many, but it's not like you are going to see one around every corner. And if you see one coming the other way, STOP. You do NOT want to continue moving towards a sharp corner and THEN realize that the truck is going to be all the way in your lane as it comes through the corner. Stop BEFORE you get to that corner. This mistake (combined with the fact that the 53-foot trailer shouldn't have been there to begin with) killed one rider this past summer.
The bigger problem with Deals Gap is not the trucks - it's car and bike riders who don't know how to drive/ride. People cut corners and go across the center line, either out of sloppiness or laziness for the most part, occasionally because they are trying too hard and are exceeding their skill level. Deals Gap is NOT the place to learn how to ride. It is not a place for an ill-handling bike with poor cornering clearance, nor is it a place for a tippy and scary-handling trike ... a substantial portion of riders/passengers in serious collisions are on trikes.
There are plenty of other interesting roads in the area that see a lot less traffic. There are plenty of interesting dual-sport trails, too. Lots and lots of places that are unlikely to be infested with trucks, Harleys, commuter traffic, or leaf-lookers any time soon.
The foolproof way to keep trucks off the dragon is to create an impossibly tight S bend at each entry point when they still have the option to take another route. Other than that, I presume that if a trucker is forced to drive through then other motorists will help control/warn traffic.
To me the biggest worry was other bikers, leaned right over on the inside of a turn while I'm going the other way on the outside. One slight slip and it's game over. That's why you don't go there to drag knee any more than on any other public road. The attraction of the dragon is in part the extreme nature of the road itself and it's growing legend status, but also the amazing, endless variety of awesome twisting and scenic roads all around the area. Look it up on Google maps.
It's just like someone told me; they don't know how to build a straight road in NC!
To me the biggest worry was other bikers, leaned right over on the inside of a turn while I'm going the other way on the outside. One slight slip and it's game over. That's why you don't go there to drag knee any more than on any other public road. The attraction of the dragon is in part the extreme nature of the road itself and it's growing legend status, but also the amazing, endless variety of awesome twisting and scenic roads all around the area. Look it up on Google maps.
It's just like someone told me; they don't know how to build a straight road in NC!
Great link, thanks for sharing!
If I go I'm going to put one of those orange triangles on the back of the Goldwing so the hot bloods will hopefully not rear end me. I'll be there for the view, not to set records.
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