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First trip to Deal's Gap and the BRP - *EDITED FOR PICTS*
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 4:04 pm
by priapismic
I don't usually post about my trips, but I'm still on a high after my recent visit to Asheville, NC for the HSTA national rally, and I thought I'd share my picts with all of you. This was my first time in that part of the country, hence my first visit to the storied BRP and also to the legendary Dragon at Deal's Gap. Yes, I survived the Dragon, and I even bought a Dragon sticker that now adorns the beak of my R, just for bragging rights. The R, by the way, was in it's element on the BRP and on the Dragon. Time didn't permit getting to some other highly rated roads, like the Cherahola Skyway and the Foothills Parkway, among others, so I'm already planning a return trip. Enjoy vicariously:
http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b385/ ... AR%202007/
Here are some action picts from The Dragon at Deal's Gap, as captured by ZeePhoto.com:
Northbound on my first pass:
And this is southbound on my return pass:
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:11 pm
by Boxer
Cherahola Skyway
Cherohala (Chero-Hay-La)
Glad you survived the Dragon, but its highly over-rated in comparison to the other roads around western NC, north Georgia and eastern Tennessee.
Come back sometime in the Fall or Spring. These are the most beautiful times of the year around here.
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 6:34 pm
by DJ Downunder
Great pictures..Beautiful silver Beakster..
...Did the Ducati have any trouble keeping up...
DJ
Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:36 pm
by Harry
Dude, I couldn't agree more! The Dragon (and surrounding roads) were just ridiculous.
We can't wait to go back next year and mount cameras onto our own bikes.
The R was completely in it's element on that road.
Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 9:14 pm
by mnnden
Great pictures. It has been many years since I have been to that part of the world, (brings back memories) still just as beautiful, Thanks, Den
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 4:03 pm
by priapismic
DJ Downunder wrote:Great pictures..Beautiful silver Beakster..
...Did the Ducati have any trouble keeping up...
DJ
Nah, he's a pretty good rider, usually faster than me. Of course, he's crashed a few times, too ...
There are a couple of photo vendors who operate on the Dragon. KillBoy.com is probably the biggest and best-known, but some others sit out there on one of the few areas where you can park on a curve, and take digital picts of bikes (and cars) as they go by. Then they sell you the picts over the web; simply go to their site, look up the date you were there, and find yourself amongst all the thumbnails, categorized by type of bike. A guy snapped some picts of my group, but they didn't show up on Killboy; instead we found them on ZeePhoto's site. I ordered a high-res CD with 6 picts of me on it. I'll post 1 or 2 when the CD arrives. Pretty cool idea.
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 4:15 pm
by priapismic
Harry wrote:We can't wait to go back next year and mount cameras onto our own bikes.
The R was completely in it's element on that road.
One of the guys I rode with had a video camera mounted to the mirror stalk on the fairing of his Bandit 1200. It took quite a bit of fiddling, but once he got it dialed in, he got some awesome video, generally trailing me. How about 1 hour and 16 minutes worth of the BRP? He got video of The Dragon, too, but was too far behind me to get me into that. Can't wait, he's supposed to send me a DVD when he gets it all downloaded.
I agree about the R being in it's element. What you need to run The Dragon and do it well is a torquey twin. Not enough straights to get those high horsepower, high-revving inline 4 sport bikes into their power band. The Beemer, the Duc, the FJR's, anything known for Big Torque is a hoot on that road!
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:45 pm
by sjbmw
Great pics.
Love the paint job on those plug covers.
maybe I'll try....red!
Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:41 pm
by Buckster
Looks like fun. I was just at the Wheels Through Time when I was at the Honda Hoot. That is some collection of bikes and stuff that guy had going on there. I have been to the Dragon on my cruiser and have wanted to go back with the R. The people I was with were intimadated by it so we didn't go
.Definetly must go on the Cherahala... very good ride. It's similar to the BRP.
Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:57 pm
by wncbmw
You were in my neck of the woods but as I have posted before, I usually avoid the dragon. Nice photos though! Glad you enjoyed the trip.
The Roadster is perfect for riding these mountains!
Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 10:00 am
by mogu83
I also had the opportunity to run my R across the Dragon. I agree it's the perfect bike for that road, sit up to see around the turns and wide handlebars to sweep through the tight turns.
A riding buddy wanted to ride it on a Saturday and I told him it would be a waste of time, when we got there the road was almost empty and I got a chance to really use it. Passed a few and was passed by two but one was a Ford Gt-40, I couldn't believe the way that thing moved it was like a slot car. Later I overhead (ease dropping) he was pushing 600 HP and running 14" competition tires.
I was very pleased the way my new R handled, hell of a way to break in a new bike
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:10 pm
by OU812
Nice..........
