Dragon Claims Victim
- Thread starter Constant Mesh
- Start date
Help Support Yamaha FJR Motorcycle Forum:
yanktar
Over the hill--and going faster!
Sad day. Guy buys the HOTTEST bike you can buy, the ZX-10R (the one the mags say takes an expert rider to ride properly), takes it on the most challenging public road in America, or, at least, in the East, and going down the mountain loses it on a right-hander (I'm guessing) crossing in front of a pickup going north.
3rd death on the Dragon in less than 1 month. :angry:
3rd death on the Dragon in less than 1 month. :angry:
Toynut
Well-known member
I feel bad for the biker, but, I feel absolutely terrible for the poor family who has to endure the emotional and potentially physical scars.
All of this drama just because some hotdog has too much testostorone and not enough skill/common sense to save it for a track day. What does the preacher, his wife, and fortunately (too young child) have to relive this nightmare for? :angry:
I'm just putting both sides of the equation in the proper context.
All of this drama just because some hotdog has too much testostorone and not enough skill/common sense to save it for a track day. What does the preacher, his wife, and fortunately (too young child) have to relive this nightmare for? :angry:
I'm just putting both sides of the equation in the proper context.
Thug
A shy retiring flower in a Thug's exterior
TOYNUT
I have to agree, it's one thing to get into it a bit when and where you can but really fanging it and letting it all hang out is just not worth it on a public road too may factors that can bring you undone and we see it all the time. I went for a unreal ride yesterday with several friends and on very famous road near my place up and down hills and many twisties yeah we gave it a bit but we were not stupid about it I'm still coming down from the buzz...
I have to agree, it's one thing to get into it a bit when and where you can but really fanging it and letting it all hang out is just not worth it on a public road too may factors that can bring you undone and we see it all the time. I went for a unreal ride yesterday with several friends and on very famous road near my place up and down hills and many twisties yeah we gave it a bit but we were not stupid about it I'm still coming down from the buzz...
CheapFZR
Member
Just a matter of time until the tax to ride that road will be out of site.
Yeah that's three in the lat few weeks and another I know about in the last two months.I'm sure a few more may have slipped by without my notice. It is unreal how reckless some people are when they get up there. I mean a controlled track day would be appropriate for how some guys ride this road but this is a public road with deer, gravel (sometimes put out by local idiots to cause crashes), trucks sometimes cut thru here, many passenger cars and too many bikes to count.
My co-worker's husband was taken out on the Dragon a few years ago as he was just cruisin thru on the way home by a cruiser guy who crossed over into his lane and wiped hime out. Broken pelvis stc. caused by another riders error and lack of experience. I only go thru on weekdays not ever on weekends. Too many cops and worse than that too many idiots on bikes. You would think you are at Barber's or Laguna Seca the way some of these nuts ride up there. And then you have Harley guys moving through at about 15-20 MPH with their beanies and vests.
I went thru a few weeks ago behind a guy and his wife who I thought were going to dead stop in some of the corners. Very unsure riders and she about lost it when they were passed by a couple of sportbike guys in the corners. I was thinking about passing but my buddy hadn't been thru before and I just wanted to cruise thru for him and more important;ly I didn't want to be responsible for the wreck and heart attack the lady would have if she was passed again. That was truly one of the more dangerous times I have been on the road due to extreme boredom. It was much more fun in the rain on my old FJ1200 than on this bright and sunny day.They are picking up the enforcement on all of the really well known roads around here and people dying does nothing buy bring more of 'em out to save us from ourselves.
My co-worker's husband was taken out on the Dragon a few years ago as he was just cruisin thru on the way home by a cruiser guy who crossed over into his lane and wiped hime out. Broken pelvis stc. caused by another riders error and lack of experience. I only go thru on weekdays not ever on weekends. Too many cops and worse than that too many idiots on bikes. You would think you are at Barber's or Laguna Seca the way some of these nuts ride up there. And then you have Harley guys moving through at about 15-20 MPH with their beanies and vests.
I went thru a few weeks ago behind a guy and his wife who I thought were going to dead stop in some of the corners. Very unsure riders and she about lost it when they were passed by a couple of sportbike guys in the corners. I was thinking about passing but my buddy hadn't been thru before and I just wanted to cruise thru for him and more important;ly I didn't want to be responsible for the wreck and heart attack the lady would have if she was passed again. That was truly one of the more dangerous times I have been on the road due to extreme boredom. It was much more fun in the rain on my old FJ1200 than on this bright and sunny day.They are picking up the enforcement on all of the really well known roads around here and people dying does nothing buy bring more of 'em out to save us from ourselves.
yanktar
Over the hill--and going faster!
I've been to Deal's Gap twice and run The Dragon a few times, but with all the idiots having to prove themselves on this road, it just isn't as appealing anymore.
The first time on the Dragon, I went up it, down into Tenn for gas, then came back to the overlook. (on the FZ1). I saw a couple of FZ1 riders and went to chat--turned out one was a board-poster I had traded lots of posts with--an on-line friend, but this was the first time we ever met. He and his riding buddy took off ahead of me, and I went down the Dragon...having a great time. After about 10 minutes, I come to a left-hander, and there's my friend, standing there. I stop and say "Mark, what's going on?" He says, in a bit of a daze "My bike's down there!" He had missed the turn, low-sided and went down the embankment--or cliff. The bike was 10' below us--and he had gone another 20' further. He was banged up, his bike was totalled, but his gear saved him--Full 'Stitch one-piece and Bohn spine protector.
Two others of our group crashed that day. A woman on the Cherahola crashed her 'Wing trike and was in SERIOUS trouble (not our group). The next year we had a few more crashes, including one that required an airlift for a shattered ankle. And Mark dumped his SV650 that replaced the FZ1! But it wasn't bad.
This past June I didn't go--there were over a half-dozen crashes--too many junior racers.
Now, in less than a month, 3 deaths. You KNOW the Tenn and Carolina state LEOs are going to really crack down and spoil it for all of us.
The first time on the Dragon, I went up it, down into Tenn for gas, then came back to the overlook. (on the FZ1). I saw a couple of FZ1 riders and went to chat--turned out one was a board-poster I had traded lots of posts with--an on-line friend, but this was the first time we ever met. He and his riding buddy took off ahead of me, and I went down the Dragon...having a great time. After about 10 minutes, I come to a left-hander, and there's my friend, standing there. I stop and say "Mark, what's going on?" He says, in a bit of a daze "My bike's down there!" He had missed the turn, low-sided and went down the embankment--or cliff. The bike was 10' below us--and he had gone another 20' further. He was banged up, his bike was totalled, but his gear saved him--Full 'Stitch one-piece and Bohn spine protector.
Two others of our group crashed that day. A woman on the Cherahola crashed her 'Wing trike and was in SERIOUS trouble (not our group). The next year we had a few more crashes, including one that required an airlift for a shattered ankle. And Mark dumped his SV650 that replaced the FZ1! But it wasn't bad.
This past June I didn't go--there were over a half-dozen crashes--too many junior racers.
Now, in less than a month, 3 deaths. You KNOW the Tenn and Carolina state LEOs are going to really crack down and spoil it for all of us.
Groo
The Endless Font of Useless Knowledge...
woman on the Cherahola crashed her 'Wing trike and was in SERIOUS trouble (not our group).
How do you crash a trike, unless you just run off the road or someone comes into your lane? Didn't think they really "leaned over" per se....
How do you crash a trike, unless you just run off the road or someone comes into your lane? Didn't think they really "leaned over" per se....
I saw a trike crash at the Dragon a couple of years ago.
I was following at a pretty good distance, I new he was going to fast. A buddy of his on a two wheel Goldwing was pushing him pretty hard. Came up to a tight turn, turned the front wheel and kept going straight. Eventoually the front tire caught some traction and rolled him. He stuck a leg out as it went over, busted his leg, and when the POS rolled over him it took the helmet right off his head.
He was pretty F#$%ed up.
I hate those things . Took the ambulance a loooong time to get there. :angry03:
Groo
The Endless Font of Useless Knowledge...
Always wondered about steering geometry with a trike... especially if you were trying to push it through a corner hard... :erm:
deanw
Well-known member
At the limits of cornering, trikes are bloody dangerous- if the front end doesn't let go (as ChrisW mentions) and thus run off the road like a car, then the inside rear wheel can come up and the whole rig flips, like a bike highsiding.
When I'm too old to hold a bike up with my own spindly legs, I'll have a set of these installed on the FJR. That, or buy a big honkin' cadillac and a hat to keep my head warm. :detect:
NoCage
formerly SouthernFJR
No way would I ride a trike. You normally steer it like a car, turning the handlebars in the direction you want to go... NOT countersteering. If either rear wheel comes off the ground in a turn, if it doesn't high-side, would you temporarily be switching to 2-wheels where you'll need to countersteer? Scary stuff. :dribble:
Toynut
Well-known member
People forget the honda ATC 90 and it's penchant for being quirky in turns.
I have seen three wheeled cars (bikes?) that had both front wheels and a single rear driven tire. Most of those were able to outsteer some serious sports cars with overr 1 g lateral acceleration. That's the way they should really build trikes, not like some overpowered Big Wheels!
