The Dragon ,The Snake and New Roadsmart tires

[Eric]

First I want to say that not all the Bad things some here have said about the Dragon are true.

I went to the Deals Gap aka "the dragon" over the 4th of july. 318 curves in 11 miles,,,,who can resist. :yahoo:

I stayed the night and got an early start on the dragon the next morning. at 7:30 a.m. there were only a few die hard sport bikes and me. No police, or semi's or minivans. It was perfect. so I sugest you go Early and avoid the crowds, because the crowds did come and so did the police , but not until about 9:30ish but this was also a holiday weekend, so an off weekend would probably be beter.

I did have to stop 2 times early in the ride to make suspension changes and to drop the tire pressure

( I ended up with the 32 psi front and 35 back.)

Then yesterday I went back to TN to a place called Shady valley , aka the snake. 489 curves in 12 miles. It was nearly 4 hours getting there but we got there.

The ride through the snake was much better than the dragon, partly because I had my friends with me and I knew if something went wrong they would be there unlike the dragon , they pushed me to really ride the snake harder than I did on the dragon ( although I had to stop to let them catch up, what do you expect with an FJR against 2 cruisers).

My 3 week old Roadsmart tires now have a little over 2000 miles on them and I can say they are the best tires I have had out of the three sets so far ( I.e. stock ones, and D220s)

They barely show a flat spot in the center dispite the fact that most of the miles have been highways , getting me to the curves, and they were very confident in the 1600 + curves that riding up and back through both of those roads aquired on them. all in all A+ from me.

If you get a chance to ride either of these roads, do it. Just do it safely.

 

[Fubar]

West Virginia and Virginia have roads like the dragon without traffic. Tell me where the snake is?

 

[mattster31]

Ok, I know where the dragon is...rode it many times. Tell me where the snake is?

I just looked it up on Streets&Trips.....................oh how I loath the meager roads in southern Ontario :angry: \

It's Rte 421 through the Cherokee National Forest, in the far NE corner of TN.

 

[RTSR1/FJR]

There was only 3 of us at the Snake on the 1st. Less than that on the 2nd. It's not bad, but I still prefer the Cherohala! I guess I've ridden the Dragon too much. Just don't care for it that much anymore. Too many other roads in the area that are better in my opinion. Rt. 28 for example.

 

[ctfjr]

We've ridden the Gap perhaps on 10 different occasions & the one thing I've learned is the best time to ride it is early on a weekday morning. Some of the sport bike riders - that seem to show up on the weekends - are downright scary. To have one pass you in a hairpin can be a little unnerving, especially when you think you have the perfect line & are as far over as you dare go.

 

[El Toro]

Too many other roads in the area that are better in my opinion. Rt. 28 for example.

The up side of the so called "dragon" (or "tail of the dragon" for those who prefer that name) is that it draws all the flatland touristers, as well as the LEO's, and makes a lot of the other roads a whole lot more fun. Not namin' names here. That's how the dragon done got ruint. We been 'spectin 'em to close it for a long time, but they can't. No other route up from Robbinsville to Maryville. Roads is roads, but we got some dandies here. Dragon's got nuthin' special - except, of course, the LEO's and the squids. Oh yeah.... and the stickers for your bike. Gotta get one o' them.

Hey, the LEO's and the squids can't be there ALL of the time. Even the Killboy Krew doesn't bother to show up until later in the day.

 

[Fubar]

Too many other roads in the area that are better in my opinion. Rt. 28 for example.

The up side of the so called "dragon" (or "tail of the dragon" for those who prefer that name) is that it draws all the flatland touristers, as well as the LEO's, and makes a lot of the other roads a whole lot more fun. Not namin' names here. That's how the dragon done got ruint. We been 'spectin 'em to close it for a long time, but they can't. No other route up from Robbinsville to Maryville. Roads is roads, but we got some dandies here. Dragon's got nuthin' special - except, of course, the LEO's and the squids. Oh yeah.... and the stickers for your bike. Gotta get one o' them.

Hey, the LEO's and the squids can't be there ALL of the time. Even the Killboy Krew doesn't bother to show up until later in the day.

So you got some pretty good roads in Cookville huh? I'm on my way

 

[Bungie]

I just looked it up on Streets&Trips.....................oh how I loath the meager roads in southern Ontario :angry: \

Me too.. just came back from 1000 clicks in 24 hrs down to Port Elgin and back.. damn I hate the flat land. Its so nice returning to the Canadian Shield where engineers are forced to actually put curves in the road. Now if they could do something about the 4 hours of rain ...

 

[garywayne]

Ok, I know where the dragon is...rode it many times. Tell me where the snake is?

If you look at a map find Bristol, Tn and Mountain City. Highway 421 runs between them. There are a lot of good roads right in that area (of course I only live about 30 min from there so I might be biased!

Gary

 

[Branjispad]

Ok, I know where the dragon is...rode it many times. Tell me where the snake is?

If you look at a map find Bristol, Tn and Mountain City. Highway 421 runs between them. There are a lot of good roads right in that area (of course I only live about 30 min from there so I might be biased!

Gary

Yeah I'm from Bristol. Spent 2 years on US421, after about dying 3 times there I've slowed it down from 85 to 45

 

[El Toro]

So you got some pretty good roads in Cookville huh? I'm on my way

Nope. The roads suck, and there ain't no good fishin' holes neither. No huntin'. No golf. Just shoe stores. No one would wanna come. :boredom:

 

[ShawnKing]

Nope. The roads suck, and there ain't no good fishin' holes neither. No huntin'. No golf. Just shoe stores. No one would wanna come. :boredom:

And the wimmin folk is ugly too...

 

[radman]

421 will wear your ass out--

unlike the Dragon, which just has too much traffic and cruisers croooooozin--

 

[TalioGladius]

I'm picking my bike up from the shop today after getting a set of roadsmarts put on, then I'm leaving for colorado on friday. This thread tickles me to death as I was beginning to HATE the bt020's, which is all I've ever had on it.

 

[Oldwin1]

I'm picking my bike up from the shop today after getting a set of roadsmarts put on, then I'm leaving for colorado on friday. This thread tickles me to death as I was beginning to HATE the bt020's, which is all I've ever had on it.

You haven't heard? They leveled the rockies and straightened all the roads. It was just to dangerous.

 

[shredder]

I love that area of the globe for riding!!!!!! I hit the dragon last year on my Beemer and it was HORRIBLE!!! I counted 13 LEO's on the TN side of the gap and it was terribly crowded. Unsafe riding due to the rapid freak out breaking of the surrounding bikes who all piled up due to a LEO in front. I went through one time and did not go back through. The first five years I had been there were sooooo much better and it almost sucks that the last time through I had that for a memory. Needless to say, this year while on a ride through WV, VA, TN, KY I did not hit the dragon due to some info from a bunch of bikers who passed through the day before our meeting. It's a shame the dragon has been advertised / commercialized so far that it has become what it is. I think anyone who had been there four or five years ago would agree that it has changed for the worse.

I also agree the 421 and the 28 RULE and are some of the very best roads I have ever been on.

 

[Scab]

Yeah, I rode 421...

In the SNOW!

 

[Fred W]

I did have to stop 2 times early in the ride to make suspension changes and to drop the tire pressure ( I ended up with the 32 psi front and 35 back.)

Was that a typo? I generally run 40 front, 42 rear COLD. If you were airing warm tires down to 32 psi they must have gotten pretty mushy...

 

[GPRIDER]

Last time I rode the dragon it was during the week. Wasn't horribly crowded and I did enjoy running it for the second time. However, there are a lot of other great roads in the area that aren't near as crowded. I don't think I'd ever want to run it on a weekend. I've ridden a lot of Tennessee too, but I can't remember if I've made it down 421 or not. May head over there this fall.

GP