dragon over rated?

[BusaBob]

I disagree. I LOVED that road, on my 'Busa. But I loved it for its technical challenges. I liked to challenge myself on it. But trying to ride it hard, throwing that Busa around, I was exhausted. I different kind of fun, I guess.

But for pure unbridled fun/whoopie factor, the OP is right: Hellbender 28 was an utter blast (provided there wasn't any traffic on it). The Cherohala was fun too, but too much of a repeat of the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway. We also didn't take it fast enough to be really fun

I had an amazing time on my 250. It is the perfect for that road!

The other guys on larger bikes (>1000cc) didn't find the road so great...

[BBC]

Hwy #28 into Franklin is excellent without the crowds and police presence. Any of the gap roads are great especially off the Blue Ridge Parkway. South-Eastern Ohio has a ton of great roads, Pennsylvania has great roads too. Really when it come down to it, as soon as you ride South of Ontario the people are friendly, gas food and accommodations are cheaper and no bill 203 charges.

Staying at the Gap Hotel is convenient because the maids will wash you clothes while you're out riding and the conversation at the camp fire is usually pretty good in the evenings.

http://www.motorcycleroads.us/

[filabuster]

cherohala skyway although I enjoyed the gap as well, but if I return I will plan to spend more time exploring the other roads as well

[djltoronto]

cherohala skyway although I enjoyed the gap as well, but if I return I will plan to spend more time exploring the other roads as well

Did you ride there alone?

[filabuster]

Did you ride there alone?

actually no, we only had 4 days so me and a buddy drove (truck) 16 hours 1 day rode there for 2 days and drove back in 1 day......if we had of had more time I would've liked to ride down but I am to old for 16 hour days on a bike

[djltoronto]

actually no, we only had 4 days so me and a buddy drove (truck) 16 hours 1 day rode there for 2 days and drove back in 1 day......if we had of had more time I would've liked to ride down but I am to old for 16 hour days on a bike

Can't blame age......
Our group had 10 people..
And the the return trip, 5 of us did it in one day... And one of us (not me), is likely odler than you

But I don't know for sure.

[filabuster]

Can't blame age......
Our group had 10 people..
And the the return trip, 5 of us did it in one day... And one of us (not me), is likely odler than you

But I don't know for sure.

I'm 38 but with 2 bad knees and a bum shoulder, anything over 8 hours and I'm toast (on a CBR). My buddy is 52 with a bum ankle, 2 bum wrists and a bad shoulder and he is only good for maybe 6 hours. So we just loaded up the truck, kicked back, drank coffee and enjoyed the ride.....

[Modeboy]

Deals Gap was great, but the other roads in that area were amazing too! I have to admit that I wouldn't have known to go down to check out that area if there wasn't all the hype about Deals Gap.

Another benefit of the Gap is that you can stage time trials on The Gap since it is a smaller length of road.

I agree that once I did The Gap, I don't want to ride in SWO anymore... I found myself not happy unless my knee pucks were draggin.

BUT, that just broadened my scope, so I went to Europe and spent a couple months doing the ALPS and then did a couple of months in Thailand/Burma... Each part of the world has it's own perks... Especially Thailand

[Gary]

I'm 38 but My buddy is 52 with a bum ankle, 2 bum wrists and a bad shoulder and he is only good for maybe 6 hours.

It's not all that bad - once you finish the long haul.
I barely remember being your buddy's age, and rode the 19 hours, str8 back, being part of the 'fearless five' group last month. I had my first ever, 'energy drink' that night.
They also made me ride that stupid dragon about 10 times - hauling an ill handling elephant (1200 Bandit) thru there, just wasn't fun - but the hellbender was my favorite road ever - I was fortunate to have a good friend let me run his Busa thru it (thanks Bob, memory never to be forgotten).
I only have 1 bad wrist (right) and 6 screws, couple rods holding my back together, and am putting off a TKR since last year, and can't remember what else has worn out on me, LOL....
I want to go back in Sept, on the new bike. Not much chance I'll ever do it all in one shot, and I don't recommend it to any old dudes, but it can be done. 2 days down and 2 days back would be ideal - with at least 2 weeks down there!!

[BusaBob]

how can this be over-rated?!





How can a pristine road that goes on for 17 km's looking like this be considered "over-rated"!?






>sigh<....I miss it....



The roads around here just don't do it for me anymore.

Whenever we were on the other roads around the area, all I could think of was getting back on the Dragon's Tail....I guess that's just me

[TorontoRider]

Oddly enough this something I know a little about. The "Dragon" is great, unbelievable road, but there are many,many roads in the area that are almost as good. They have been mentioned here already. On the way to the "Dragon" there are some amazing roads on the way down. From State College Penn. there are some really great roads not that far away. Head south east along the mountains, towards the south of Penn. there are some national forests and a couple of parks that have almost "Dragon" like roads running through all the way down to Maryland. When you get to Virginia any of the roads that cross the mountains are outstanding. And finally if you get close to Bristol Tenn. ride the "Snake" from Bristol to Mountain City Tenn. As good as the dragon. US 421 I think is the route number. Follow it down to Boone NC and then hop on the Blue Ridge if you want. I rode down and back in June without using interstates and had to replace my front tire and brake pads when I returned. So it is easy to ride great roads the whole way and back if you have about 9 days or so, if not the superslab is used. Have Fun. PS I am going back in Sept. to see how the new FJR compares with my old buddy the FJ1200.

Good advice! Just got back today, 9 days was plenty of time at a fairly relaxed pace to find nice roads South through Pennsylvania (direction Altoona), do a side trip to Washington DC, then start the Shendandoah Skyline, Blue Ridge Parkway, skirt the Smoky's to the South using Hellbender 84 to Dragon, Cherohala and Dragon again, then skirt the Smoky's to the North (nice road) and find plenty of really great roads through the West Virginia mountains. We only used freeway on the way back for 3 hours from the Smoky's to Roanoake to get some mileage under our belts before turning into the WV mountains, plus a short bit around Buffalo (plus of course the Canadian side - the only queues we met were in and out of TO along the freeways!)

[noobinacan]

I had an amazing time on my 250. It is the perfect for that road!

The other guys on larger bikes (>1000cc) didn't find the road so great...

doh
yeah, cause now you got to move that weight around. I have been saying this for a very long time...people don't listen.
You don't need a 1000cc bike unless you have taken a 600cc and tracked it and pushed it to the limit.

I moved form NC and miss all the twisty's. am moving back in a few months and will be doing lots of mountain riding...
It is true: you don't know what you got, until you loose it.

[POLTROJAN]

I had an amazing time on my 250. It is the perfect for that road!

The other guys on larger bikes (>1000cc) didn't find the road so great...

Doodz,


I think you have a real point about the 250cc or even just smaller bikes or more street oriented sport bikes. In my experience they are more fun to ride down twisty roads because you can push them closer to their limits than a 600, 750, or 1000 ss bike. With those bikes you are constantly having to reign them in, you can't pin them and go for it like you can on a smaller bike!

I've always said I'd rather ride a bike that felt exciting at close to legal speeds than a bike that felt boring going well over the limit!

I rode the '04 EX500R ripped it up and down on second gear couldn't keep it lower than 8000rpm (11k redline), 500 is also just the right size alongside with 250, of course that depends on the biker abilities to ride his bike to full potential.

[Wilko]

Nope, it's not. Going back in a couple weeks. I got to get some better pics. I don't think there are 318 turns in all SWO.

[g4getmoney]

507 is better than the gap! Pfftt...

[gcrouse]

can't get into a rythym? Are you kidding me? No not over rated by any stretch IMHO now the forks or 507 are overrated

i've been saying this for a while....

the gap itself is a good technical road, and from a pure twisty stand point its probably the twisty-ess road in north america, from a fun standpoint you can't really get into a nice rhythm on that road, ... the roads in the region are much better... even some of the roads in northern GA are pretty good ... tho may not be as clean kept ...

[gcrouse]

507 is better than the gap! Pfftt...

LMAO i sure hope your kidding

[ddusseld]

I don't know if he is kidding but...

I like deals gap. But, the 507 has a different kid of appeal. There is something to be said for the speed factor on the 507. When going ridiculously fast there is a rush that is different then what you get riding at deals gap. I'm not saying better, just different...

LMAO i sure hope your kidding

[gcrouse]

I agree 100% Thats the thing i liked most about the gap, it was tight , didnt even need brakes just engine braking and tight tight tight....... i wanna go back .. forks woul dbe a fun road if the speed limit was 100 km/hr instead of 40

I don't know if he is kidding but...

I like deals gap. But, the 507 has a different kid of appeal. There is something to be said for the speed factor on the 507. When going ridiculously fast there is a rush that is different then what you get riding at deals gap. I'm not saying better, just different...

[chiller]

can't get into a rythym? Are you kidding me? No not over rated by any stretch IMHO now the forks or 507 are overrated

nope, the road has no rhythm, i'm not say it isn't fun, but when you get a rhythm going on a road its a hella lot more fun, the gap itself is overly technical to be a 'rhythm' road ...