An R3T On the Dragon

[Markx]

I live in the same county that the Dragon is located within. It is literally just a few miles away. I only got my Rocket in November and have not rode up there yet but I rode my VTX up there many times. It is a lot of work, at a certain point it becomes no longer fun and just let this end please! On other days it is a blast all the way through. The one thing you never ever do is to cross the center line, someone is likely coming at you really fast expecting his lane to be clear. I live here and have never heard of someone ticketed for crossing the center lane but occasionally speeders are watched closely but not all the time The locals (me) always check to see where the latest wreck, fatality, on the Dragon is from. Typically it is a flatlander from Ohio or Florida or somewhere that you don't develop the curvy skills. They get up there and think I've ridden for years and know WTF I'm doing and no you don't know how to deal with those extreme curves. So a dude that is overly cautious on the Dragon is kind of a breath of fresh air to me. Ride it a few times get to know what is coming and then push it

 

[1olbull]

What a road! Can't wait to get back there!
See that little feeler nub on the foot peg? This was my 1st run - twas only a 45° peg champhere after the next day!

Draggin' peg on the Dragon!

 

[1BigDog]

I did the Dragon twice in 1 day on my 99 Venture, 2 up. What a blast. A buddy and our wives left the hotel in Knoxville, hit the Cherehola Skyway, ended up on the top of the Dragon. Rode down to the bottom. Decided we needed the shirt from the store and back up we went. Scraped up my pipes pretty good. Wifey was a bit nervous as I leaned hard into the turns. But like another had posted, it is a lot of work and you eventually look for it to end. Now I prefer the straight and narrow......

 

[R3Tex]

Dragon is fun, but there are some way better roads in that part of the country IMHO. Either way that is a great place to be on a bike

 

[Elvis]

The dragon was fun but the cops made it less enoyable the day we were there. We liked the Cherahola Skyway much better.

 

[Pekka]

Don't know how many of you guys have seen this - I just saw it for the first time this morning.

The rider is VERY conservative! He uses almost none of the available lean angle and doesn't apex most of the turns - just tracks around them - mostly straight up. I know he's 2-up, but there's still a lot of ground clearance and lean angle that he's not taking advantage of. Doesn't sound like he ever gets out of third gear. Because of the way he tracks the curves - with very little lean - I'm wondering if he's running a CT. My own cornering technique is much different. I use a late turn in with a delayed apex (even 2 up - all I adjust is the speed), with much more aggressive throttle on the exit, setting me up for the next corner.

Great sounding exhaust, however - at least I thought so.

Anyway - thought this would be interesting to our little group here . . . . . Enjoy!

There is a 30 MPH speed limit!

 

[coneye]

I wondered that ,, what the speed limit was ... 30mph thats only 48 klm /ph which them curves look mostly easy sort of speeds .. Now i'm no speed demon consider muyself fairly conservetive and safety consios , even more so with the wife on the back , in fact especielly with her on the back , Its cargo to precious to lose .

But regardless of wether your a speed demon and peg scraper or Mr slow boat takes your time .. theres one thing this guy has to learn and that is the saying

Practice makes perfect ...... is in fact false

PERFECT PRACTICE makes PERFECT

and riding on the lines , crossing the centre lines on a twistie road , id definetly not PERFECT PRACTICE .

 

[HansO]

What a road! Can't wait to get back there!
See that little feeler nub on the foot peg? This was my 1st run - twas only a 45° peg champhere after the next day!

Draggin' peg on the Dragon!

Steve is that when you had the smaller front tyre as that engine bar is close to touching down

 

[1olbull]

Steve is that when you had the smaller front tyre as that engine bar is close to touching down

Nope - I had already worn out a Michelin Commander 140 and had a fresh 150 put on in Mississippi.
I put the 130 on later in August when I was riding to see @RKTNMYPKT in California.
If you look close, pavement marks on the left side peg rail can also be seen.