The forums fastest member needed controlled finesse to tame the dragon...


A

Anthony

Fastest Member
Elite Member
After months of preparation, my wife & I went to run the dragon. This stretch of pavement features 318 turns within 11 miles & should be visited by every motorcycle enthusiast at least once.

I watched many you tube videos before my trip & learned that the real life death course looks nothing like the videos I have seen as the videos don't capture the high degree of banking & carving that this road offers. Keep in mind that just to get to the dragon you will ride on some of the most challenging roads this land has to offer.

We went with 15 other riders, of which one fell off breaking his clavicle & a rib. He also sustained some harsh road rash on his hand as the pavement ate right through his glove. After the trailer was called & his dead carcass of a bike was loaded the rest of us continued on. Many ran the dragon at least 10 times.

This first video is just a few minutes of my wife & I riding 2 up, on a super bike, on the dragon for the very first time. We rode very slow yet still touched the double yellow several times. Leave your ego at the door folks, this road is infamous for humbling the most experienced rider out there. To be a local here would mean you have gone down more than admitted on the dragon. To be a local here would mean your bike looked like a frankenstein creation. I am thankful I live no where near Route 129 or I would surely die..

While you may have some critiques, I would ask you to understand that this was just a few minutes of that very first run. You may want to wait until I post the final run to comment(evil grin).


The first run I can safely say we "survived the dragon". Later runs will show I "tamed the dragon"


enjoy.....



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kysogO8PqQ]Tail of the Dragon 2013 - YouTube[/ame]
 
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:confused: Is NO ONE wearing leg protection? Weird... Especially on a road like that.

30221d1371154408-forums-fastest-member-needed-controlled-finesse-tame-dragon-gat132-012.jpg
 
JSP said:
:confused: Is NO ONE wearing leg protection? Weird... Especially on a road like that.

30221d1371154408-forums-fastest-member-needed-controlled-finesse-tame-dragon-gat132-012.jpg
Click to expand...

Pucks & leather's were not worn by others until later in the trip...

I took my over pants but never wore them. It is what it is...
 
Anthony said:
Pucks & leather's were not worn by others until later in the trip...

I took my over pants but never wore them. It is what it is...
Click to expand...


Yeah, not doggin... just thought it was strange for that road to see that many people not wearing any.

Looks like you had a blast though. :thumbup:
 
UncleHilty said:
Stay off that yellow line boys, youre going to get jacked up! looks fun though.
Click to expand...

Very true!

That yellow line is a Son of a Gun. Stay off the paint no matter what, that's how you low side or even worse high side... you slip while over the line and then catch and get tossed off the other side.

I've gotten a couple scares from it myself. Never try to accelerate hard when crossing a line as well.

I was passing a Q-tip some months ago because he was doing a good 20mph below the speed limit. Coming around him leaned over from turning hard combined with hitting the gas the rear tire spun pretty good and the bike started to slip out from under me. Then hit the bare pavement again and caught traction.

Let me tell you, that is enough to really cause the butthole to pucker up a lot. Could have shattered a pistachio at that point...

That is just the most recent reminder I have had to stay off the damn lines. I've had a few of them over the years of riding and I've been lucky each time that it's happened but I was never a hard cornering person and if I can spin out while even upright and just hitting the gas a little rough then all it takes is a fraction of throttle in a full lean will certainly get that rear to spin out.

And that's just a sport touring 1000, with only 125 to the rear wheel. Nothing like most SS bikes over 750cc. Granted I have a lot of torque in that motor but still I don't have those high revs like a SS motor does.

Much the same as FZ6R that most of the other members of this site have... :lol:
 
UncleHilty said:
Right! But not only the slide you need to worry about but the guy on or over the line coming the other way!
Click to expand...

that's the other part but that's not something that you can always convince other riders of. Also riding side by side is a really stupid thing in hard corners... I've seen that one a few times over the years. It eventually ends badly.
 
Nice vids ten char
 
BoneJj said:
Anyone on the forum have a ZX14?
Click to expand...

We had a guy on the trip that had a 14..... He also brought his 600 to the party...


He had a little trouble with the 14 as he had the bike all set up but didn't account for the thinner oxygen layer up in the mountains & said it was effecting his performance.....
 
Anthony said:
We had a guy on the trip that had a 14..... He also brought his 600 to the party...


He had a little trouble with the 14 as he had the bike all set up but didn't account for the thinner oxygen layer up in the mountains & said it was effecting his performance.....
Click to expand...

did he have a tuner on the bike or something? if the tune is setup a certain way it can really screw with the air fuel ratios if you change altitudes.
 
BoneJj said:
did he have a tuner on the bike or something? if the tune is setup a certain way it can really screw with the air fuel ratios if you change altitudes.
Click to expand...

He had installed a power commander on the bike just prior to the trip..


It's the 14 in the very beginning of this video:


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMv7Vbci5lI]Preserve Cabin Resort views the day of the Dragon - YouTube[/ame]
 
BoneJj said:
maybe the PC wasn't setup just right. They can be rather tricky at times.

I was going to say nice bike but I rather dislike red vehicles. IDK why, I just do....
Click to expand...

You could say " I don"t like red bikes, but man that cabin looks SWEET!" lol
 

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