I'm a fairly new rider and I have an Electra Glide bagger. I'm afraid my bags will rub. What are everyone's thoughts? I have 6" stretch bags that cannot be removed because they are bolted to my fender.

 

I guess it depends on when you plan to ride it. I rode it when it was relatively empty on my Wide Glide and it wasn't bad at all. Just don't blitz through it and ride too fast. Some of those curves you will be going pretty slow on. Don't speed up if somebody comes up behind you, continue to ride your ride. There will be plenty of pull offs to let them by. You can go over to the Cherahola Skyway, it has bigger sweeping curves that you may like better than the hairpins of the Dragon.

 

Take it slow, that's what I did. As for the bags, they might get scuffed.

 

If you're scared don't do it. Hesitation or second guessing yourself can only lead to trouble

 

I just recently did the Dragon on my Softail Slim S, which is notorious for dragging foot boards, and I never touched down once. I also did it at a very swift pace. Take your time, and you will be fine.

 

When I went thru it was crowded, and some riders were impatient with me, they were right on my tail. tried to stay over so they could pass but it was hard to do so. I will never do it again.

 

Wear a thong and everyone will slow down and stay behind you. It worked for me.

 

Best advice for a new rider. Get more experience first. The dragon is not the place to get your experience. You also need to be comfortable with feeling something start to scrape and not stand the bike up and crash.

 

I agree waiting till you're more confident/experienced is the best choice.

Two other points to add...

1) You can greatly sharpen your turn radius by moving your weight on the seat to the inside of the turn. Sticking the inside turn knee out helps quite a bit too. You're not trying to drag it like a racer, but you'll turn much sharper with less bike lean. Practice on easy roads first to get a feel for it.

2) Bolts come out. Consider taking the bags off even if it's a pain.

If you try the thong idea post results.

Stay safe and hope you enjoy.

 

Don't go on weekend to many sport bikes guys out.....
If you want to practice West By God Virginia has some very nice roads. Rt 3 and 10 are almost the dragon....