Deals Gap Enforcement

[mycirus]

Glad I wasnt there this weekend. Check it out. Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap and Cherohala Skyway, Graham Co, NC

I sent an e mail to the governer to complain. You all should do the same.

Bruce

[mycirus]

Killboy urges the same thing. http://killboy.blogspot.com/

Bruce

[Awesome]

What was the nature of your e-mail?

[mycirus]

What was the nature of your e-mail?

I said that if they are going to harass motorcyclist that my tourism dollars will not be spent there. I am sure his inbox is full of hate mail right now.

Bruce

[Puppet]

Do you spend money in TN anyway when you go? I'm pretty sure the last time I was there I filled my gas tank up in TN...maybe once (all $5 it took for the 'tard)... and the rest was in NC...gas, lodging, food.

[mycirus]

When I go down I like to stay in Knoxville the night before, there is a Hooters on that side, and its a matter of principal. Not like I spend a fortune there but nobody wants to get harassed on vacation.

Bruce

[Nate Dawg]

I'm heading down in Sept. Looks like most of my riding will be done in other spots. I was plannin on doing 2 days on the dragon and 1 day at another location thats mostly known to locals. Now it looks like 1 day on the dragon and 2 at the other spot. Hopefully the "HEAT" from the 3 deaths a few weeks back will have cooled down by then.

[tonyd]

Well they are hearing enough about this to put together a form letter to respond. Here's what was returned to me within 20 minutes of emailing to the addy's in the above link.
From Highway Patrol:

As you have noticed, the THP has started an enforcement program in the
Deals Gaps Area of Hwy. 129. Some people are very upset with this
effort and some people applaud it as long overdue. We are receiving emails
on both sides of the issue. I can tell you in the past year, we
received calls and emails every few days that ask us to do "something" in
this area. The overwhelming majority of people describe this area as
"total chaos and lawlessness." When you combine these type of
descriptions and the statistical information on crashes and fatalities (three
fatalities in one weekend two weeks ago), we felt like we had to do
something as a public safety organization. You may not agree with our program
but it is aimed at protecting the public who frequent that area and
ride in a safe manner. It has nothing to do with "quotas" and driving
tourism from Tennessee. Anyone who rides in that area and does so safely
is always welcome and will not have any problem with the THP. We will
continue to conduct our enforcement program for the near future in an
effort to make Deals Gap a safe place for recreational motorcycle
activity.

[nefarious]

Killboy urges the same thing. killboy.com - Your High Quality Photos from the Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap

Bruce

Of course he does, thats his lively hood. With out people speeding he has nothing.

[wookie]

I'm heading down in Sept. Looks like most of my riding will be done in other spots. I was plannin on doing 2 days on the dragon and 1 day at another location thats mostly known to locals. Now it looks like 1 day on the dragon and 2 at the other spot. Hopefully the "HEAT" from the 3 deaths a few weeks back will have cooled down by then.

You brining the speedy/ going with "thespeedtriple" folks?

[Nate Dawg]

Bring down the ZX6r. Would love to bring the SPD3, with a pending sale I can't see myself putting her in harms way.

[Nate Dawg]

You brining the speedy/ going with "thespeedtriple" folks?

Have you found any speedtriplefolks? I haven't been able to find any around.

[DucXl]

Wow,i was out there the last week of this past march for a Buell event centered around "Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson/Buell" in Suches GA. We were treated to an awesome ride at Deals on thursday.We rode at a very spirited pace that was not lawful.Everyone needs to stay within their abilities.We saw 7 bikes go down the first day.With proper gear accidents are not too bad.It's when we ride over our heads and refuse to yield to faster traffic that leads to crashes.

There ARE other comparable roads in the area.Check out "Wolfpen Gap rd." in Suches GA for a great example.Or the road from Suches to Dahlonoga GA for another.

So far i rate these as the best

1.) Deal's Gap/NW Georgia
2.) Hudson Highlands,Hudson Valley NY/rt.218 "the little dragon"and Annsdale circle. in Peekskill NY
3.) a distant 3rd NH

[wookie]

Have you found any speedtriplefolks? I haven't been able to find any around.

Some folks from thespeedtriple.com are meeting up around labor day for a small rally down in that area. I was considering it, but labor day is out for me.

And, um yeah, the new bike makes sense.

[Slyder]

why does the website in the first post mention people getting bagged for doing X mph in a 30? I was last at the gap in 1999, and the limit was 50 then....did they lower it?

I remember going through the gap and 50 was plenty fast enough of a speed limit. Not for the straights for everyone perhaps, but definitely in the turns.

I'm not really surprised to read about this though...I imagine the # of assholes riding the gap like it's a race track is stupid high. Ride an area like assholes, it'll only be time before the cops show up and be pissed at anyone on a bike. Remember, because one person did it, means we're all at fault.

[mycirus]

A couple years ago they lowered the Tenn side to 30......

[Slyder]

ack

that's the majority of the gap right? you leave the COT and go up around the corner and there is the welcome to TN sign right? or am I backwards?
Been awhile

[RandyO]

I think they lowered it the same time they repaved it, they did a lot of shoulder imporvements, made it safer to go faster and lowered the limit

[Currently]

To those who really care about the place ... these people are really hurting right now.

Check out the bottom of the front page of Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap and Cherohala Skyway, Graham Co, NC

dealsgap.com, Deal's Gap, North Carolina information guide, Dragon motorcycle tour, Great Smoky Mountains

killboy.com - Your High Quality Photos from the Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap

Take a bit of your precious time and write a couple of emails to the addresses listed on the tail of the dragon website.

14 cruisers to patrol eleven miles ... yup, that makes all kind of sense.

[Kham]

last picture - "we're going to safe lives. click it!"

click what?

[Kham]

I'm not really surprised to read about this though...I imagine the # of assholes riding the gap like it's a race track is stupid high. Ride an area like assholes, it'll only be time before the cops show up and be pissed at anyone on a bike. Remember, because one person did it, means we're all at fault.

you mean like these guys?

YouTube - Deals Gap Knee Dragging

[mycirus]

More interesting reading from ADVrider. The Dragon is dead, long live the Dragon - ADVrider

[nefarious]

You can't really be surprised or complaining about this can you? Killboy is an idiot that built his business around ego maniacs breaking the law, and I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't end up facing charges. As for the honest business owners.. go show them your support, just take the god awful 20 minutes to get there with out breaking the speed limit.

[Nate Dawg]

You can't really be surprised or complaining about this can you? Killboy is an idiot that built his business around ego maniacs breaking the law, and I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't end up facing charges. As for the honest business owners.. go show them your support, just take the god awful 20 minutes to get there with out breaking the speed limit.

What the hell are you talking about? Bring Killboy up on charges? And what bogas bullshit charge would that be?!
Sportbikes aren't the only people hes shooting down there.
As far as him being an idiot, your way the hell off. Hes built a great business, employed a few people, and has a product that people are willing and happy to buy. Hes a genius for making his passion his living.

[nefarious]

What the hell are you talking about? Bring Killboy up on charges? And what bogas bullshit charge would that be?!
Sportbikes aren't the only people hes shooting down there.
As far as him being an idiot, your way the hell off. Hes built a great business, employed a few people, and has a product that people are willing and happy to buy. Hes a genius for making his passion his living.

First off I said I wouldn't be surprised. Do we need another thread on reading comprehension? I am sure they can find several things, if they stick or not wasn't the point. 9 photos out of 10 he is exploiting criminal activity and capitalizing on it. Making money feeding ego maniacs is easy, I do it all the time. Anyone that goes out and cries about getting picked up on speeding chargers, or feels uneasy about more cops being around to "harass" them is a fuck|ng moron.