Dragon video

[Wadadli]

Just a little something to take your mind off the weather. I'm not sure if I more impressed by the smooth riding of the biker the driving skills of the person following in the car.

Watch it full screen - enjoy

I hope its not a re-post


http://vimeo.com/7862372

[RonnieRev]

Hey Man, you have to come to the YTRAP in Skeenha Georgia this June for the ZRX rally.
The Dragon is a hour ride from camp.
But the local roads are the best !

[RonnieRev]

Heres a teaser pic

[Wadadli]

Hey Ronnie,

I've been thinking about it. I just watch the movie "One week" and I'm primed for a road trip. Did you get your rex all back together?

[Worldtraveller]

I like this one better:

http://vimeo.com/3862342

That rocks!

[caboose483]

Just a little something to take your mind off the weather. I'm not sure if I more impressed by the smooth riding of the biker the driving skills of the person following in the car.

Watch it full screen - enjoy

I hope its not a re-post


http://vimeo.com/7862372

Wow. 11:30ish through there is feckin quick. I was doing 13:30ish last May. I like that video, being shot from a car keeps the horizon level and makes it a lot easier to watch.

That was put up by Killboy, there's a good chance that the car was his 3rd generation RX7.

I like this one better:

http://vimeo.com/3862342

That rocks!

Ha! Awesome.. anyone know were i can get a big wheel for next years trip?

[Flipper]

I like this one better:

http://vimeo.com/3862342

That rocks!

video quality sucks

[Fiery254]

Wow. 11:30ish through there is feckin quick. I was doing 13:30ish last May. I like that video, being shot from a car keeps the horizon level and makes it a lot easier to watch.

That was put up by Killboy, there's a good chance that the car was his 3rd generation RX7.



Ha! Awesome.. anyone know were i can get a big wheel for next years trip?

Honda S2000. Don't really matter though, still a well shot and well ridden video peice.

[thumpit]

To the OP. Thanks for posting. Just fg great. Haven't read comments yet, so maybe some answers to my questions are back there somewhere.

What section of DGap was that taken, and which direction?
You could really tell these guys knew that road really really intimately. The bike's lines were like 99% clock work for maximum effect. Only twice did I see him wiggle a bit...tires likely getting too warm for comfort. The fall conditions musta helped in this way. And for a bit of advanced visibility too. These guys knew the road so well..
So if killboy ever comes across this thread... what day of the week was this also? And you must have had a rider in fr a few minutes telling you if any trucks coming your way?

Just a great vid. My speed here is not great but I split over a half cord of wood here at the business end of a maul as it was loading.

Thanks for sharing to all. Just great. Loved it.

[caboose483]

To the OP. Thanks for posting. Just fg great. Haven't read comments yet, so maybe some answers to my questions are back there somewhere.

What section of DGap was that taken, and which direction?
You could really tell these guys knew that road really really intimately. The bike's lines were like 99% clock work for maximum effect. Only twice did I see him wiggle a bit...tires likely getting too warm for comfort. The fall conditions musta helped in this way. And for a bit of advanced visibility too. These guys knew the road so well..
So if killboy ever comes across this thread... what day of the week was this also? And you must have had a rider in fr a few minutes telling you if any trucks coming your way?

Just a great vid. My speed here is not great but I split over a half cord of wood here at the business end of a maul as it was loading.

Thanks for sharing to all. Just great. Loved it.

The started at the resort and drove/rode to the lookout, going North-West for the most part.

That's pretty much the whole "dragon". There are a km's of good roads past the lookout but most people consider "the dragon" to be the section between the resort and the lookout.

Tires don't overheat on the street, if anything they were not warm enough.

I would imagine it was a weekday, but during the late autumn and early spring its not as busy even on the weekends. Word travels pretty fast if there's a truck coming through. It doesn't take long for everyone at either end to hear about it.

[thumpit]

The started at the resort and drove/rode to the lookout, going North-West for the most part.

That's pretty much the whole "dragon". There are a km's of good roads past the lookout but most people consider "the dragon" to be the section between the resort and the lookout.

Tires don't overheat on the street, if anything they were not warm enough.

I would imagine it was a weekday, but during the late autumn and early spring its not as busy even on the weekends. Word travels pretty fast if there's a truck coming through. It doesn't take long for everyone at either end to hear about it.

Hey thanks back car..so you think he was using street rubber? like BT014s or similar? What a terrific section of road. No wonder it has garnered such a reputation. The only thing that rained on my viewing parade was envisioning a stray state trooper on a beautiful quiet weekday blast.

So which direction is considered the most fun? There must be one way gets the nod over the other?
Sorta like 13 up here, if u have ever done it? (I prefer SB...altho dang there are some great NB spots too) and if you have ever done #3 south of 118. Again I think I prefer NB..

Damn that S2000 did well eh? Surely he had wider rubber on it. Plus, those things have balls eh?? hahaha
Lots of revs to work with in the corners..

Is that the same stretch of road I have seen a pair of Golding (1800 chassis) rip through there dragging enough bits to raise the ambient temperature in the near vicinity of the bike? It's a fairly famous vid on You Tube...camera bike shooting a yellow Wing?

[Wingboy]

Hey thanks back car..so you think he was using street rubber? like BT014s or similar? What a terrific section of road. No wonder it has garnered such a reputation. The only thing that rained on my viewing parade was envisioning a stray state trooper on a beautiful quiet weekday blast.

So which direction is considered the most fun? There must be one way gets the nod over the other?
Sorta like 13 up here, if u have ever done it? (I prefer SB...altho dang there are some great NB spots too) and if you have ever done #3 south of 118. Again I think I prefer NB..

Damn that S2000 did well eh? Surely he had wider rubber on it. Plus, those things have balls eh?? hahaha
Lots of revs to work with in the corners..

Is that the same stretch of road I have seen a pair of Golding (1800 chassis) rip through there dragging enough bits to raise the ambient temperature in the near vicinity of the bike? It's a fairly famous vid on You Tube...camera bike shooting a yellow Wing?

This vid.His name is Rick.He was doing vid for people on the Dragon,but lost a ton of money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nrMQ3QwyPo

[caboose483]

Hey thanks back car..so you think he was using street rubber? like BT014s or similar? What a terrific section of road. No wonder it has garnered such a reputation. The only thing that rained on my viewing parade was envisioning a stray state trooper on a beautiful quiet weekday blast.

So which direction is considered the most fun? There must be one way gets the nod over the other?
Sorta like 13 up here, if u have ever done it? (I prefer SB...altho dang there are some great NB spots too) and if you have ever done #3 south of 118. Again I think I prefer NB..

Damn that S2000 did well eh? Surely he had wider rubber on it. Plus, those things have balls eh?? hahaha
Lots of revs to work with in the corners..

Is that the same stretch of road I have seen a pair of Golding (1800 chassis) rip through there dragging enough bits to raise the ambient temperature in the near vicinity of the bike? It's a fairly famous vid on You Tube...camera bike shooting a yellow Wing?

I do know the vid, yes that's the same road but i believe the two wings were going the opposite direction. I didn't feel like there was much of a difference going one way versus another. However, if going the same way as the S2000/GSXR vid there are more than a few blind entrance corners with the side of the hill blocking your view. If going the other way you'd have a wider approach angle and better visibility of the road ahead.

Hard to say about what rubber he's using. If i had to guess i'd say Pilot Powers, BT016's, Diablo Corsa III's maybe. I went down there with sport touring tires on my 10R and was still able to kick some arse on that road. I got a few pics from us129photography. Made their weekly highlights.I still think buying super sticky tires for street riding is a waste of money.

[thumpit]

Ok thanks, ya that is exactly what I was getting at too. So I appreciate knowing about the extra risks running northwest i think u said.
What about....ahem....other risks, already sorta mentioned...is one direction better than the other odds wise? I guess both ends are not dead-ends so maybe moot.

Re the rubber, yes, re the BT016's...I'm a bit out of touch on sport rubber since having sold the SS, so my brain was stuck in 014's time era..
For interests sake, I did experiment once with putting an 020 on the rear of my 954. Forget what I had on front, but was OEM type stickier of course, and on float top roads (found in the Kawartha's, Muskoka, Haliburton) a certain frequency of rippled surface if it wasn't dead smooth, would induce a chattering slide, when hiked over and pushing it. And of course it was the early stages of a potential highside so always demanded respect, and like right-now respect. Now, while I would never again run a sport touring tire on a light SS (vfr's are heavy enough they plant 020's beautifully and competently) on those types of roads again, if i intended to push limits at times, I would still consider it for a trip down to Deals Gap. Especially if you rode all the way down. Your strategy of having an ST tire last longer just getting there and home, makes sense, but only because of the type of excellent smooth pavement they have down there. It allows the tire to remain better planted and because the surfaces are so smooth due to the hot rolled pavement and no frost damage, doesn't upset that grip the same.

You know, really, we have some roads that are (almost as good, if not as good?) just running down to PA or upstate NY, so technically, these cool roads are more accessible than a 1000 mi trip down to the Gap.

I'd still like to go down and do the real deal though at least once before more political pressure takes some of the fun out of it. Tue to Thur would be considered the preferable days you think?

[caboose483]

Ok thanks, ya that is exactly what I was getting at too. So I appreciate knowing about the extra risks running northwest i think u said.
What about....ahem....other risks, already sorta mentioned...is one direction better than the other odds wise? I guess both ends are not dead-ends so maybe moot.

Another thing to consider is what is waiting for you if you run off.

Running NW, left turn run off is into a ditch then a hill and right turn run off is an extra lane for error. Not that i condone using the oncoming lane but it can help in a pinch.

Running SE, right turn run off give you an oncoming lane for run off but left turn run off is off the side of a mountain. There's many places in hard left turns that you can see slide marks going off the road and down the hill.

I found that the cops down there were pretty cool. Crossing the double yellow is something they often nail you for but speeding is ignored.. to a point. Don't ride like a total jackass.

[Brian P]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IECsdQvB0yA

[LiNK666]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IECsdQvB0yA

is that you brian?

[Red_Liner740]

there are no side roads that go onto the dragon, and because about a click or two into the road from the resort you cross into North Carolina, cops can only come from one direction, the lookout.

so you do a slow drive up and scout for troopers and even then they are only parked on straight sections, turn around at the lookout and burn it back towards the resort knowing there are no troopers.

i was more concerned about trucks as the very first ride at the dragon i came across a truck on one of the tighter turns with his trailer half into my lane....managed to squeeze by and the only thing that hit was the side of my shoe...i still have a black mark where the rear tire clipped me.

besides, you cant really speed at the Gap, its tight enough that you are barely above the speed limit most of the time...

[thumpit]

Hey ya trailered her down eh Brian? Cool!

Little bugger cudda used an extra gear in there eh? What were u switchin' between? lol Lotsa fun. Good vid..

[thumpit]

Good to know redliner...a tire mark on the boot musta created some other marks elsewhere tho? Glad it was only a heart swallower for ya.

What speed were you doing thru there Brian? Seemed like 45 to 50 a lot of the time, but then i just don't know the roads. Corners seemed pretty tight at times...high 30's in some of the tighter ones?