Tail of the Dragon

[09Nomad]

Off to the Tail of the Dragon tomorrow, excited as hell!!!  🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻


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[Sport-Touring]

[Stripes]

 

Awesome! Be safe!

Remember, it's just a road. They used to drive semi trucks with trailers down it! Don't freak out!

Cheers

[Delegate1k]

My suggestion, put it in 2nd and use your throttle.    Worked great on my FJR

[garry]

I'm headed that way on Sunday. Expect to be there on Wednesday.

[RedCBRRider]

Well have fun and be safe.  I just came back from there a couple of weeks ago.  Stripes is right.  They used to drive semi trucks on it, albeit not very well.  There's a reason they don't let them do it anymore.  

[mxvet57]

Well have fun and be safe.  I just came back from there a couple of weeks ago.  Stripes is right.  They used to drive semi trucks on it, albeit not very well.  There's a reason they don't let them do it anymore.  

Nothing worse than coming around a corner and having the grill with a big KW in your lane.

[theWolfTamer]

just got back from there last weekend.  police presence is high because of a few accidents the preceding weeks, including one that injured an officer.  

[Mac]

just got back from there last weekend.  police presence is high because of a few accidents the preceding weeks, including one that injured an officer.  

Its his own fault, the cop shouldn't have been trying to ride the wheelie so long.

[Ironchef]

Off to the Tail of the Dragon tomorrow, excited as hell!!!  🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻


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Can I ask what screen you have fitted and how you find it works.

Thanks and have a good ride.

[09Nomad]

Can I ask what screen you have fitted and how you find it works.

Thanks and have a good ride.

V-Stream sport touring, I love it works great, I'm 6'2" and it is set in its lowest setting



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[groundhogday]

Its his own fault, the cop shouldn't have been trying to ride the wheelie so long.

There was a Camaro trying to hang with a couple of other cars, driver ran wide (almost went off the road on the wrong side) that took out two bikes.  The cop was riding his personal bike on a day off.  He and one other had to be air lifted.  I was told he had a compound leg fracture.  It took something like two hours for them to get him out of there.

[mugwump58]

I'm no fun. I've hunted out my own twisties within a day or so. I can dodge skidders,  spreaders, peletons and critters here. Folks I know have had a great time, it's just that I tend to avoid real popular places. Did I mention that I'm no fun.

[jay547]

V-Stream sport touring, I love it works great, I'm 6'2" and it is set in its lowest setting

I assume from looking at the pic that you didn't have to remove the outer handguards? I'll be looking for a larger screen come winter.

[TheRedOnesAreFaster]

Take in the Cherohala Skyway when you're there- you may find you like it better than the Dragon.  I did.

It's only a couple of miles south of the Dragon if I remember correctly.

[09Nomad]

I rode all of it, the Dragon, Cherohala, moonshiner and various others.  The first time down the dragon cops where there.  Went back later to deals gap for pike bike races, ended up riding the dragon back to the cabin at 1130 pm, scary.  Rode the dragon pretty aggressive on that sunday and not a single cop.  Overall really fun time, they no longer allow anything over 30 feet to go down the dragon.  Never seen anything larger than a pick up while I was there. Awesome awesome time.

[Biking Sailor]

My wife and I are planning on riding to Deals Gap in mid August.  Never been there before so kind of like a bucket list thing. So looking forward to it.  No expecting it to be a peg scraping ride.  We've got the Ozarks right next door, so plenty of weekend "get our lean on" opportunities there.

Mainly just want to see it and the trip out and back (from Oklahoma) will be more of what we are after.  Have a route planned of no interstate highways, a Northern route out and Southern back, about 400 to 500 miles per day, lots of smaller towns.

This will be our big trip together for the year, last year was circle of Colorado and year before was Texas hill country exploring. This year our tools for the job are a CB500X for her and an FJR for me. FYI, this will be her third big trip on the little CB, along with multiple Ozark trips. For a little bike it does very well traveling. She still prefers her Guzzi Breva for commuting around the OKC area.

Also want to thank everyone who has reported on trips to the Dragon as the information has helped in our plans!

[Last1Out]

If this is a "bucket list" trip to the Dragon, you may be interested in this.

"The Grand Slam consists of the most memorable roads in the WNC/TN area in a loop ride. From Franklin, NC, the ride starts with 28 north, the Moonshiner, across 74 to pickup 28 North again, the Hellbender, to Deals Gap. Take 129, the Tail of the Dragon, to 72 along the lake, a short run on 411 to pickup Tennessee 360, a very nice road that deserves its own name, to Tellico Plains. In Tellico, pickup 165, the Cherohala Skyway, to Robbinsville where 129 takes you down to a very short stint on 74 to pickup 1310, the Wayah Road (old timers remember it as Thunder Road), back to Franklin.

For those of you planning to visit the area to do the Dragon, The Grand Slam is the epic ride of epic rides in this area."

Of course, because it's a loop ride, you don't have to start in Franklin.

[groundhogday]

The best time to ride there is the last 2-2.5 hrs of daylight.  At least that's been my experience.  Last time I went I left the resort about 9 AM to go to Mt Mitchell.  I got back at about 7.  I was told it was an insane zoo all day, but by the time I took a break and headed up the hill there was almost zero traffic.

[garry]

I was there on a Wednesday morning a couple weeks ago between 10 - 10:30am. It was way more busy than I would have expected for a weekday. Tons of bikes around at the resort. We had a mostly clean run out to the overlook, and hit some traffic on the way back but we planned our gaps pretty well. No LEOs to be seen FWIW.

[garry]

If this is a "bucket list" trip to the Dragon, you may be interested in this.

"The Grand Slam consists of the most memorable roads in the WNC/TN area in a loop ride. From Franklin, NC, the ride starts with 28 north, the Moonshiner, across 74 to pickup 28 North again, the Hellbender, to Deals Gap. Take 129, the Tail of the Dragon, to 72 along the lake, a short run on 411 to pickup Tennessee 360, a very nice road that deserves its own name, to Tellico Plains. In Tellico, pickup 165, the Cherohala Skyway, to Robbinsville where 129 takes you down to a very short stint on 74 to pickup 1310, the Wayah Road (old timers remember it as Thunder Road), back to Franklin.

For those of you planning to visit the area to do the Dragon, The Grand Slam is the epic ride of epic rides in this area."

Of course, because it's a loop ride, you don't have to start in Franklin.

If you're up for a longer day, consider this southern loop:

28 North from Franklin to 74 (the 10 miles just south of 74 is very good)
28 north from 74 to Deals Gap (slab until jct 143, then the bit near/past Fontana Resort is good)
Out and back on Dragon
Continue on 129 to (almost) Robbinsville
Cherohala Skyway to Tellico Plains
68/60 to Suches, GA
180 to 19 (Wolfpen Gap Rd)
Down and back on 19 aka Blood Mountain (public track day if no LEOs, complete with truck/slow lanes to pass on the way up).
Work your way north to Topton (19, 76, 66, 141, 74)
Finish on Wayah Rd to jct 64 just south of Franklin.