I had planned to rent a sportbike in Robinsville NC and ride HWY 129 a.k.a the Tail of the Dragon, but inclement weather the night before changed my mind. Instead, I removed the top, doors and set out on a 22 mi 600+ twistey turn journey. If entering the gap from NC there is little patrol from the popo. Beware crossing the TN line as the State Police are hanging out in the pull offs ready to hand out some paper.

 

Did sportbike trips there twice a year for years, it's been that way for a while now. TN feels they get stuck with a lot of costs from all of the accidents so they are more aggressive with patrols. At times the level of patrols can seem ridiculous. Have lots of great memories from the area.
Mike

 

We stopped going a few years back with the bikes. The patrols are stupid at this point. Now we just get a bunch of friends and rent moroso for the day ten mins from my house. More fun. Zero hassles. Safer. And costs us way less. I just feel bad for little towns like that losing out on a ton of business.

 

The area was doing pretty well with all of the moto-tourism, but the over patroling of the area has really put a damper on the local economy. It seemed to be a knee jerk reaction of the local pd to complaints by locals. Understandable that the locals get sick of the street racing but there should have been a more thoughtful response before doing so much economic damage to the area. Typical response by people who don't need to rely on business for income, seems a common problem with our gov't from top to bottom these days. Sad really.

 

I almost ran out of gas on this road. I was down that way camping and didn't even know I was on a famous road till I saw all the dragon tail signs. I really wish I had my racing Mazda nit my jeep. Sick road.