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Mar 16th, 2008, 09:38 PM
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#1
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Newbie
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: North Richland Hills, Tx
Posts: 2 Model: 2002 Harley Davidson FLHRCI Interests: fishing, boating, riding Occupation: sales representative
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Anyone have any advice for first time ride on Blue Ridge Pkwy and Tail of the Dragon. I'm going there in June.
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Mar 16th, 2008, 10:07 PM
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#2
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More than 100 posts!
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 110
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do it,,,pops
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Mar 17th, 2008, 03:18 PM
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#3
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Has posted 500+
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 1,088 Interests: Anything outdoors (climbing, backpacking, fishing, Mtn biking, riding) Occupation: Chemistry teacher
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Careful at the tail... There is a web site for it, just google it. Best time to go is during the week... weekends are too f...ing crowded. Best of luck dude... 
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Mar 17th, 2008, 08:36 PM
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#4
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Moderator
Has posted 500+
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 4,560
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i have ridden the blue ridge.....beautiful ride. it has been about 30 or so years since i have ridden it, but i do remember it being a great time. i bet if ya google "blueridge parkway" you will get more info than ya really need!!!!! have a great trip and stay safe!!!!!!!!!! 
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Mar 18th, 2008, 07:43 PM
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#5
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Has posted 500+
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Alvin TX
Posts: 1,729 Model: 03 E Glide X cop bike Interests: My family Old Dodge truck's Riding My Glide Occupation: Retired truck Driver
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On the Dragon tail go to you tube & type in the dragon tail pop a cool one & set back & ride , from sport bikes to Dresser's you'll see them all stay up or go down
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Mar 19th, 2008, 08:09 AM
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#6
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Has posted 500+
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 710 Model: '01 FXST
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I did the Blue Ridge Parkway two summers ago and Tail of the Dragon last year. I have about a thousand incredible pictures from that trip. Make sure you take a good camera and give yourself time to stop and admire the views.
It'll probably be damp/wet at times, hence the "Smoky", so take rain gear that's easy on and off and in a place that's easy to get to. You don't dry out quickly like you would in Texas or out west. It's a very humid environment. It's also very hot in the middle of summer. I went at the end of May, beginning of June and it was comfortable for riding and camping. If you're coming from the northeast, the H-D factory in York might be on your way. Worth the stop.
I left the Tail of the Dragon thinking that I wouldn't go out of my way to ride it again. I'm glad I rode it so I could say I did, but the experience was not spectacular. I was there on a Thursday morning. There weren't a lot of people riding. I came up from the North Carolina end. The first mile or so was fun, but then I got stuck behind a couple of dressers going REALLY slow. That probably wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, because then a cop got on my tail. Apparently they'll write you up for crossing the yellow line and speeding in a heartbeat, and they are all over the place. My recommendation is go because you'll be there anyway, but don't get too excited about what an awesome ride it's going to be.
There's a guy with a small shop at the North Carolina end of the road. He's very friendly and sells t-shirts and other Tail of the Dragon crap. If you're going to buy that stuff, go to his place. I had to replace a headlamp and he sold it to me at a great price and had no problem with me doing the work myself in his yard. And he let me use his bathroom!
Have fun. It'll be a great ride.
OK - I see you're from Texas. Definitely invest in rain gear, even if it's cheap stuff just for this ride. If you can take the extra day to ride up to York, do it. I think it's one of the better plants to visit. They assemble Softails and the touring bikes there.
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Mar 19th, 2008, 09:35 AM
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#7
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Moderator
Has posted 500+
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Oregon City, OR
Posts: 1,152 Model: 09 Ultra Classic Interests: Motorcycles, camping, fishing, old cars Occupation: Home Inspector
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Another great road to ride is in Arizona and its called the Coronado Trail. CD, Sleepy and SK know all about this road to. Didn't see any police on it (probably a good thing) and it was pretty much void of other traffic. Beautiful ride, starts off as desert type landscape and turns into beautiful Alpine country depending on which direction your heading. Thanks go out to CD for that ride was a great one. 
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Apr 7th, 2008, 06:44 AM
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#8
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More than 100 posts!
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Knoxville, TN
Posts: 158 Model: 07 SE ROAD KING, 04 LOW RIDER Interests: MOTORCYCLES, NASCAR Occupation: TRUCKER , OWNER OPERATOR
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hot01
I did the Blue Ridge Parkway two summers ago and Tail of the Dragon last year. I have about a thousand incredible pictures from that trip. Make sure you take a good camera and give yourself time to stop and admire the views.
It'll probably be damp/wet at times, hence the "Smoky", so take rain gear that's easy on and off and in a place that's easy to get to. You don't dry out quickly like you would in Texas or out west. It's a very humid environment. It's also very hot in the middle of summer. I went at the end of May, beginning of June and it was comfortable for riding and camping. If you're coming from the northeast, the H-D factory in York might be on your way. Worth the stop.
I left the Tail of the Dragon thinking that I wouldn't go out of my way to ride it again. I'm glad I rode it so I could say I did, but the experience was not spectacular. I was there on a Thursday morning. There weren't a lot of people riding. I came up from the North Carolina end. The first mile or so was fun, but then I got stuck behind a couple of dressers going REALLY slow. That probably wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, because then a cop got on my tail. Apparently they'll write you up for crossing the yellow line and speeding in a heartbeat, and they are all over the place. My recommendation is go because you'll be there anyway, but don't get too excited about what an awesome ride it's going to be.
There's a guy with a small shop at the North Carolina end of the road. He's very friendly and sells t-shirts and other Tail of the Dragon crap. If you're going to buy that stuff, go to his place. I had to replace a headlamp and he sold it to me at a great price and had no problem with me doing the work myself in his yard. And he let me use his bathroom!
Have fun. It'll be a great ride.
OK - I see you're from Texas. Definitely invest in rain gear, even if it's cheap stuff just for this ride. If you can take the extra day to ride up to York, do it. I think it's one of the better plants to visit. They assemble Softails and the touring bikes there.
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you think it was bad when you were here in may, state of tennessee allotted 60,000.00 starting aug. 07 of last year to put even more cops patroling the tn side of the dragon, and have heard they have more for this season. but they had to do something alot of people getting hurt and several killed every year. check this ride out, hwy 421 from bristol, tn to boone, nc, its called the tennessee snake i think its a better ride than the dragon, then when u get into boone there are all kinds of good roads to ride.
dkin21
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