Dragon bound Sept. 13 !!!!!!

Well rather than starting another post I will just add to this one. I am headed down to the dragon again this year on August 8th. Year 15 now and it never ever gets old. I replaced the bald front tire in the pic above which is a Pirelli angle gt 2. I decided to go with the Michelin power gp. I liked what I read about it so I thought I would give it a try. Still have the angle on the back for now but I will end up replacing it by the time I get down to the dragon anyway. Dont know if I will have anyone go with me this year but either way it will be a blast. Hope to see some of my .org family when Im there. If you come down look for the green Goblin... Its gonna be fun!!!
 
jch364 said:
Well rather than starting another post I will just add to this one. I am headed down to the dragon again this year on August 8th. Year 15 now and it never ever gets old. I replaced the bald front tire in the pic above which is a Pirelli angle gt 2. I decided to go with the Michelin power gp. I liked what I read about it so I thought I would give it a try. Still have the angle on the back for now but I will end up replacing it by the time I get down to the dragon anyway. Dont know if I will have anyone go with me this year but either way it will be a blast. Hope to see some of my .org family when Im there. If you come down look for the green Goblin... Its gonna be fun!!!
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That's awesome that you've been down there 15 years in a row. First and last time i went was 6 years on a CBR300. I have definitely been contemplating taking the busa down there this year. How long is your ride and what route do you take?
 
Doug I live in Dayton Ohio right next to I-75 so when I go I just take 75 south to Knoxville then I get off the exit at I-40 then 129. pretty easy for me. I stay in Robbinsville usually at the Quality Inn. Its about 375 miles to get there and takes about 7 hours. Generally I will always go down on a Sunday and return either the following Friday or Saturday. Anymore being down there during the week is way better for traffic than the weekends. I spend most of my time on the dragon but about mid day I go up to the Cherohala Skyway. The skyway is a lot better now that a large portion of it has been repaved.
 
Its about an 8.5 hour drive for me from Aberdeen, MD. take all of 1-81. Last time I was there, I only stayed for a day. Did a few rides on the Tail and then headed home. If I go again, i would take more time off work and so i can explore the other roads.
 
DougE said:
Its about an 8.5 hour drive for me from Aberdeen, MD. take all of 1-81. Last time I was there, I only stayed for a day. Did a few rides on the Tail and then headed home. If I go again, i would take more time off work and so i can explore the other roads.
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yea for sure you need to spend more time there. I always tell people try to stay for 3 days that way you can ride all the roads in the area and it allows for periods of downtime for rain.
 
just a reminder Im leaving on the 8th bright and early for the dragon. Love to say hi if anyone is planning on being down there. Ill be there till the following Saturday!!!!!!BTW I checked with Wheelers. If you didnt know Mr. Wheeler has been suffering some serious pain I think it was in his back. Last year when I spoke with him you could tell he was suffering. The good news is that he has finally been getting physical therapy and is supposed to be getting an MRI so he can get surgery. Hopefully he will be able to get it done and feel better. For those of you who know him you know he is a real gem. A great guy with a wealth of knowledge and experience. So prays and thoughts out to him!!!
 
Yet another amazing dragon trip. Spent a full week down there. Came back Saturday. I have to admit it was the rainiest week I have ever had there but that said, it was still a blast. Rode the skyway and the dragon many times as required by law.lol. On Monday went to blood mountain in Georgia. It was ok. I guess I was expecting more some how. Traffic was kinda heavy though so that might have taken away from it. It kinda reminded me of a cross between the dragon and the skyway. Generally uneventful week I am happy to say. Coming down on Sunday I saw a Miata and a mustang on a flatbed followed by the Blount deputy Sheriff. I guess the miata t-boned the mustang about 2 miles from overlook at a really tight turn. Go figure.

A couple of lady's fell off of their bikes leaving the store. One was in the parking lot and the other some how drove across the rode into the ditch. Both were ok and thats good but it just seemed to me that both of these mishaps could have been avoided if they were riding bikes that fit them better. The one lady who was about my age. closer to 60 was riding a very tall bmw adventure type bike and when she turned around in the parking lot she dropped it and did a pretty impressive unintentional tuck and roll right off the thing. She stopped at a point where the grade of the parking lot was going up to her right and she tried to put her left foot down. And she didnt realize she did not have her foot even close to the pavement yet.

The other lady Im not sure about. Missed the actually carnage on that one but she some how ended up in the ditch across the street. The bike was a big one. Not a harley but a big cruiser. Anyway on a funny note. On Thursday I was riding the dragon up to overlook when a really pissed off bumblebee slipped under my faceshield and decided to sting me in the freaking face. Somehow I didnt crash and managed to kill that sucker. I limped the bike to overlook bent over in the worst pain I have felt in a really long time.lol When I got to overlook I got off the bike and I was bent over in so much pain my hands were shaking. Then out of no where a guy came over and gave me a cold wash rag with ice. He said here it looks like you could use this. lol boy did I ever need that. It was exactly what I needed when I needed it. I asked to take a picture of him and I wanted to share his kindness with all. He calls himself the Hillbilly preacher. He was there handing out water to riders and taking prayer requests. Not pushing any religion. Just there to offer help. Help I needed at the time. What a coincidence huh? lol He was a gentle man and he had a really nice wrap done on his trailer.

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I decided to switch from the angle gt tires to the Michelin power gp. I already had the front on but waited to get down to the dragon and have the gp put on the rear at Wheelers. Now I never had a problem with the angle tires gripping the road but I wanted to try something new and something with a better race profile on the tire to see how it worked in the turns. I have to say I am impressed.! These tires stick to the road like velcro and it was so much easier to flick from one side to the other. Amazing tires. Even worked really well on wet roads in the rain as well. Got rained on at the dragon and the skyway and it did great. Im sure they are not as good as the angles in a down pour considering the siphons are much less than angle but still did great. I might keep them depending on how much mileage I get out of them. But in any case they are some sticky suckers let me tell you! Mr. Wheeler was nice enough to change it for me as I had been waiting for 3 hours to get it done. Typical busy day for him. The guy helping him was busy non stop. I think his name was Brian maybe?

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The had some nice cars down there as well. The Ferrari was the fanciest I saw but lots of other cars, corvettes Lexus etc. There were a couple of roadsters there but I could not catch them at the store for a pic before they left Im sorry to say. I heard there was a Mclaren that crashed a couple of weeks ago. Yikes. And last week a rider on a 3 wheeler flipped it just past overlook and died I guess. Lots of people ride this rode now. Way more traffic than it used to be when I started going down in 06. Some should stay off of it. Tragedy strikes often as we all know.

The one thing I did miss seeing is the Canadians. I have always had the best conversations with them and I miss seeing them there. At times I swear there were more Canadians on the dragon than Americans.lol.

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I have lots of redundent videos so I might try to figure that out and put a few up somehow. This took me an hour to do. TECKTARDED. Anyway. Thats a wrap for this year. Only saw one busa. 05 I think it was. I was kinda hoping to see a gen 3 but sadly no. Did see a lot of Spyders. lots more than I have in the past. Of course a gaggle or 2 of harleys, a few goldwings and various other cruisers. The one thing I saw the most of I think is all these adventure bikes that people seem to be buying now. All kinds. Not sure what the allure is with this type but thats ok I dont have to understand. If people like them then thats all that matters.
 
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