Did you ride the Dragon in that weather?!

 

Make sure you ride through the Smokey Mountain National Park, the Cherahola Skyway, and the BRP if you have the time while you're there! All fantastic rides! You can't throw a rock there without hitting a great rode! It's been 4 years now since I was there, might be time to go back. October is nice if you like a little color, and don't mind the extra traffic involved.




Mike

 

if you want to find the dragon on a map..look for maryville tennessee..find hwy 129....thats it...been there several times..the best time i have found to ride it is during the week not the weekend,there is alot more traffic on the weekend.....enjoy..ride to your ability ..

 

Ran the Dragon on my 1200 Custom (avatar pic) with the old lady. Man that was fun, but scraped the hell constantly out of the foot pegs and pipes. Sure not the same ride as the 6R I used to ride when I was young and stupid, but still real fun. I couldn't imagine running it hard on a Dyna.

 

Be sure to be careful in the turns, this site shows what happens when idiots who do not ride that often (weekend warrior yuppies on their Hogs etc..) get in over their heads on the Dragon:

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/fe...tos/index.html

 

As a Colorado mountain rider, I see tons of tight switch backs back to back, etc. They are hard to take full speed on a Dyna, no doubt. But not impossible. It's a cruiser, so cruise and takle your time. You can ride any road if you just use your brain and operate the bike within it's capabilities.

 

Have done the Dragon 4+ times with Street Bob-never over 45 MPH at any point-street bikes pasted me like I was standing still- but who cares?-I'd say do it during the week and avoid the week-end mess-too crowded with many different kinds of bikes and riders ,too many cagers also. .
Oh, I would avoid late afternoons-the sun coming out of some turns is not very nice. That being said don't psyhe your self out " it's the dragon"-just ride with commen sense
I guess it's something we all feel we need to do but frankly there alot of better rodes to ride -almost any one in the area

 

Yep, a couple times. I kept the speed around 45, was no problem for the V-Strom. That bike thrives on less-than-perfect conditions.

I actually liked the Blue Ridge Parkway better than the Dragon. More sweepers, less tight turns. That's more my thing. But every road in the area is fantastic, and you gotta do the Dragon at least once!

 

You're absolutely right, although when I was there, the Skyway was so foggy I couldn't see 10 feet in front of the bike. Not fun. The BRP though was unreal, probably the most fun I've ever had on a motorcycle.

 

I rode it on two different days last July, a monday one week and Tuesday the next...very little traffic, easy to wait until you had open road ahead so you could ride your ride. Went about 6 times each day. Lots of places I got up to 60 on my 07 Street Bob. Very tight curves with elevation changes on most of them and many off-camber, no guard rails, so just ride safe and look out for zoomers behind you trying to pass and for guys coming your way crossing the centerlilne. Most days there are a couple companies that sit at certain corners and shoot you as you roll through. You can find your pics a few days later on the net and download them or get a disc for a fee.

Rode the Cherola Skyway and about 75 miles of the BRP on the same two-week trip. Lots of great roads around the Dragon.

The Dragon needs to be ridden so you can say you did, though. I stayed at a Microtel in Robbinsville, NC, about 6 miles from the Dragon.

Ride Safe,
Hugh