Tail of the Dragon? Tail of the Dragon.

"quarterlifecrisis" (quarterlifecrisis)
04/27/2014 at 16:54 • Filed to: Tail of the Dragon, Corvettelopnik

I got invited to join a friend at the Tail of the Dragon for a couple days. So, I rolled over to his place Wednesday night, and we set out Thursday morning after meeting up with a 3rd Vette. After getting our stuff stowed in our rooms, and picking up a couple other friends we were meeting on bikes, we made the trip from Robbinsville out to Deal's Gap.

I can't get over how intense that first trip up and down the mountain was. I finally found the best way to describe it was an 11 mile autocross track. An 11 mile autocross track that had FIAT engineers out testing 500s, 500Ls, a new Renegade, and a few Darts.

After our first pass, the 2 guys on bikes jumped in a couple of the cars and rode with us, then we swapped passengers at the bottom of the mountain and came back down.

And I took a picture of this bike. A mid 80s Yamaha RZ350 Kenny Roberts edition.

This is where our story gets slightly more interesting. Once that ride was done, one of the bikers realizes that his wallet had slipped out on the road. So the two guys decide to ride back up, riding the white lines to try and find the wallet. Long story short, someone had turned it in to one of the roadside photogs, but his AmEx was missing. As they split up to try and find the credit card, the bike pictured above tried to pass on the inside...it didn't go well for him or the bike.

After we regrouped, we went out for another quick cruise on another road before another pass at the dragon. Our group was behind a guy in a first-gen RX-7 that could DRIVE. He was great to follow. Once we turned around at the bottom, there was clean road in front of us...and the 2 heavily modded C6Zs I was with left me in their dust. But I caught up with them, and heard the unmistakable sound of a 2-stroke sportbike....the bike I took a picture of. At this point, none of us realized that the bike that wrecked our friend was that bike...and here they were shaking the bike down post-accident on the freaking Tail of the Dragon. For some reason, the guy never pulled over to let the train of traffic he was holding up through...and it wasn't the rider that wrecked, because he was likely in the hospital at this point.

We finished the day up with a drive on the Cherohala Skyway and took some pictures:

Dbag bike riders:

I can keep going on...the trip was amazing. Made some new friends, and will surely be going back in the future.

DISCUSSION (23)

jkm7680 > quarterlifecrisis
04/27/2014 at 16:58

Sounds awesome! I'd love to head to Tail of the Dragon at some point. Sorry to hear about the Rz, such a great looking bike.

quarterlifecrisis > jkm7680
04/27/2014 at 17:28

That bike was just everywhere...it was like a Seinfeld episode almost.

desertdog5051 > jkm7680
04/27/2014 at 17:31

TOD is a gnarly ride/drive. Many do not make it.

jkm7680 > desertdog5051
04/27/2014 at 17:33

So I'm guessing that accidents are pretty regular.

desertdog5051 > jkm7680
04/27/2014 at 17:46

I don't have the stats close by, but yes. I rode it once on a weekday and it was a blast. You tend to over drive your ability, I think. My favorite in my area is the highway through the White Mountains in the eastern AZ area. I think it rivals the TOG.

jkm7680 > desertdog5051
04/27/2014 at 17:48

Nice, nice. I'd still like to ride over. But I haven't much experience on twisties. It's mainly been straight shot commutes for me.

desertdog5051 > jkm7680
04/27/2014 at 18:04

Good place to get some practice. Do it on a weekday so you can stay out of the way of the idiots (I mean experienced drivers/riders). Take it as slow as you feel comfortable with and pull over if you feel pressured by other drivers. Concentrate on the road, your line, and not any distractions. I'm sure there are some twisty roads somewhere near you. Go practice. So much fun.

jkm7680 > desertdog5051
04/27/2014 at 18:29

Thanks for the tips!

Are there any pulloffs along with way?

desertdog5051 > jkm7680
04/27/2014 at 19:49

There are places to pull off.

MPA > quarterlifecrisis
04/27/2014 at 20:47

Some great roads in that area - I've been there 4 times, only in Miatas though. I like Cherohala more than 129 simply due to the lower amount of cars and police.

Is your car the orange one? DSOM? Lowered on the stock bolts?

quarterlifecrisis > MPA
04/27/2014 at 20:56

Cherohala would've been more fun had it not been the last thing we did I think, I prefer sweepers that you can carry speed through. The only 2 cops we saw all day were coming back down into town off the Cherohala, and we were stuck behind a couple dressers doing like 17 mph.

Mine's the orange 05, DSOM, and lowered on stock bolts (before I got it). The black 08 Z is a buddy's, stock drivetrain, other than an Akropovic exhaust, and lowered on coilovers. The cyber gray 09 is just absurd...Katech tuned, Carvaggio seats...

quarterlifecrisis > jkm7680
04/27/2014 at 20:57

There are pulloffs incredibly frequently throughout the duration of ToD. Lots of people tend to not use them though....which makes them jerks.

jkm7680 > quarterlifecrisis
04/27/2014 at 21:35

Sounds good! Thanks

jkm7680 > desertdog5051
04/27/2014 at 21:36

Thanks! I just don't want to get nervous with people getting too close.

quarterlifecrisis > jkm7680
04/27/2014 at 23:08

There are plenty of people getting close, but if you realize you're holding up traffic, its best to get out of the way stat. There are people that will hold up traffic intentionally to be dicks...and those people cause much anger. The golden rule is to never cross the centerline...once we had gaps, we passed the shit out of the lady in the Ford Escape with what may have been Ontario plates that was driving like a grade A twat (15 mph).

MPA > quarterlifecrisis
04/28/2014 at 00:10

Sounds nice - I have a DSOM '06. I need to lower it a bit

jkm7680 > quarterlifecrisis
04/28/2014 at 06:06

Yeah, I wouldn't be driving super slow. I'd probably be floating around at/slightly above the speed limit. But I've probably got to get a little more twisty experience before I ride down.

quarterlifecrisis > MPA
04/28/2014 at 07:54

I'm a big fan of DSOM, lucked out that I found that one optioned almost exactly how I wanted it a couple hours from home.

quarterlifecrisis > jkm7680
04/28/2014 at 08:02

There were times I still wasn't at the posted limit of 30. Granted other times I was way on the other side of it. My experience was running from NC to TN was more fun, perhaps because you're on the inside most of the time and don't have the cliff right next to you.

thebigbossyboss > quarterlifecrisis
04/28/2014 at 09:03

No fun tario....as we residents call it.

jkm7680 > quarterlifecrisis
04/28/2014 at 11:07

Yeah, I don't like cliffs. I'd never ride the Bay Bridge on the right side. Not enough between my bike and the water.

John Trice > quarterlifecrisis
11/07/2014 at 07:29

Hello Matt, my name is John Trice and I'm the guy who crashed the RZ-350. I just saw this blog last night 11/13/14 and I really need to talk to you. I have zero recollection of the accident and the twelve hours following it and I am desperate to know what happened. I would also like to talk to your two friends on the Yamahas as they apparently saw the whole thing. I am fully recovered and all of my medical bills have been paid. I'm not looking for a buck here, I just need to know why I crashed. I have ridden the Dragon twice a year for many years and have ridden many different bikes and never had a crash, so for the last six months I have been going nuts trying to remember what happened. Can you help me out??? If so, please call me at 419-721-4958.

quarterlifecrisis > John Trice
11/07/2014 at 22:00

John - I saw the request on facebook. I'm going to start a message group between you and the two other guys. Good to know that you're OK. Hopefully they can help you out a little bit with the story.