My Dragon journey began last Sunday morning with a plane ride to Atlanta and a connecting flight to Charlotte. Terry (my brother) picked me up and we arrived at his home in Mooresville around 5 p.m. ET. Terry lives on a lake and after a nice meal prepared by his wife, we took the Sea Ray out for an evening cruise. This is a BIG lake…not the ponds we have here in CO. Most of the houses in this area come with a slip to dock your boat. Monday was around town chill kind of day since I was not picking up the Buell til Tuesday.
I picked up a Buell 1125R in Gastonia in the early afternoon and took the long way back to Mooresville…70 miles. I rode thru a thunderstorm for about five miles and had to ride back thru it for a couple b/c I missed the exit. Fortunately, this is the only real rain for the entire ride.
Terry has a Harley and the original plan was for the two of us to head out but he could not go. I left Mooresville around 9:30 on Wed morning with mostly sunny weather. I made a quick escape on some two lane roads and was soon headed west on I-40. About 30 miles east of Asheville, it looked like a wall of water was approaching so I stopped in Marion. After about thirty minuets and no major rain, I took off in some very light sprinkles which only lasted a short while. A bit west of Asheville, I-40 began to head up and get somewhat interesting with three lanes of fast sweeping curves and a hint of the Great Smoky Mtns. I picked up Hwy 19 at Canton on my way to Cherokee. This road soon began heading down, got quite narrow and all but disappeared into a canopy of trees…pretty cool. Cherokee is tribal land so casinos and lots of tourists (I didn’t stop). On to Bryson City and Hwy 28 (four lane skyway) to 143 (sweet two lane) to my overnight in Robbinsville. Real nice Microtel Inn there for only around $60 with 10% discount for motorcyclists; good restaurants and a grocery store within walking distance. Total mileage today = 210.
Thursday weather was looking great and my plan was to hit up the Hell Bender 28 but the road was closed near Fontana due to a crash. So I headed back to Robbinsville and picked up 143 to the Cherohala Skyway. This turned out to be a good decision as I think most take 129 directly to Deals Gap for a day of riding the Dragon. The Skyway is uber-cool with 50 miles of mind blowing riding; from narrow canopy sections, to wide fast sweepers, to 6,000 feet and literally riding thru clouds. I did not stop grinning for 50 miles and I passed maybe three cars. I picked up Hwy 360 in Tellico Plains to Vonore and Hwy 72 over to 129. Most of this is basic TN and NC back roads with nice easy cruising. I was psyched and ready for the Dragon. Hwy 129 meanders for a while before you get to the actual 11 miles/318 curves bit. Now I was expecting a chill deal and that’s exactly what the Dragon is with gobs of bikes (mostly HD), cops on bikes, photogs in the corners, and a large sum of those 318 curves off-camber switchbacks….good fun but pretty chill if you don’t want to see your bike parts hanging from the Tree of Shame. The Dragon ends/begins at Deals Gap Resort on the border of TN and NC. The resort is just abuzz with everything motorcycles and a great atmosphere…easy to spend an entire day just riding the Dragon and hanging out at the resort between runs. I eventually headed down 129 back to Robbinsville for another night at the Microtel. I was completely jazzed about this day and was thinking it was one of the best days of my life. Mileage today = 198.
Fog rolled in on Friday morning and was an eerie cool but burned off soon. My plan was to head back up Hwys 28, 19 and 74 over to Sylva. Hwy 23 would take me to the Blue Ridge Pkwy but I missed the turn and ended up in Chandler. I stopped at a diner to figure out another route and a local suggested I take Hwy 151 to the Parkway. She said that it “winds around a little.” This 151 turned out to be a mini-Dragon, almost a paved trail enclosed by a canopy of trees for a good long while. Other than a lone cyclist, I saw no one on this road. This road dead-ends at the Parkway and I took it west to Hwy 276, thru a Natl Forest (also very cool) and on to Brevard. I picked up Hwy 64 to I-26 which took me to Hwy 74 and back to Gastonia to drop off the Buell at the dealership. The ride back was 226 miles.
As for the 1125R, it’s a proper sportbike and really gets it on above 6k. My biggest complaint is engine heat and the foot cooker of an exhaust. I like the belt drive but this particular model is geared too tall for the twisties. Also, the FI is not completely sorted on this 2008 model. I think this has been addressed with the 2009 model. Overall, I was happy with it and rental charges ran $390. I rode 704 miles and averaged 44 MPG.
This was one great trip and could not have gone better. I know some of you have trailered out and I would be interested in doing that with a group in the future. As for the debate regarding is Deals Gap a better riding area than what we have out west…no, it’s not better nor is the best of CO or UT or CA better. However, it is unique and should be on your short list of places to ride.
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Originally Posted by ShinySideUp
