ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- Join me on a road trip to America's most infamous byway! TN route 129, aka the Tail of the Dragon, is a longtime must-ride for motorsports enthusiasts not just on the east coast, but all across the US. 11 miles, 318 curves, zero stops or intersections, and thousands of riders pushing their limits every day. What could go wrong?
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I took my Mustang first, then my Z06, but the vehicle I had the most fun in (or on rather), was my Honda Supercub C125.
I had no fear that day. Full throttling every corner, was the best time of my life. Riding a slow vehicle fast was great, i was with a bunch of Groms and Grom Clones and other Minimoto's too. The funniest Sena Conversations I've had in a good while. Going so slow, but having so much fun! I love the Dragon!
So true! To this day, I have yet to beat some of the riding I did on my 16bhp Suzuki TU250X.
Worth the wait! Amazing ride and video production. You definitely have the talent to be on a big screen production. This ride is the first on my bucket list so this vlog came up to be the perfect review of what I can expect from TTOTD, plus the added routes and roads that obviously are a must for any rider. Thank you, and keep them videos coming!
Thank you very much!
i watched this video twice because it's so calming, even though i will NEVER get to ride these roads. but i'm glad you did! i love your trip-videos
greetings from germany!
Thank you!
Simply Wow! Your camera skills and drone footage are so good, I feel like I’m on the ride! Enjoyed the extra info on nearby roads and the BRP. Btw I did the same suspension upgrades on my Speedy as you (except used YSS rear shocks). Transforms the ride
Thanks!
More effort, but more enjoyment on this end too. Travel + Motorcycling is a great combo. Thanks for another great video!
Thank you!
Top Notch.. You have not only convinced folks on how awesome the Speed Twin is, but also on the scenery. Now everyone wants to hit the road !! Awesome !!!
Nice video Van. Slaying the dragon while riding your own ride is perfect!!! I am originally from Va. and left there in 1965 to join the Navy. Was stationed in San Diego in 1974 and rode my 900 Z1 Kawasaki across the states to South Boston, Va. I went thru Tenn/Va. and hit route 58 near Bristol at about midnight. I had been up since 9AM so I was tired and the cool mountain air kept me awake. About 60 miles West of Martinsville, I went over a small bridge and something hit my bike. I could smell moonshine being cooked so I was scared some one thought I was a revenuer and maybe shot at me and I picked up my speed for a few miles. Definitely was awake then! I got into South Boston at 10 AM and said hello to my folks and fell asleep for 6 hours. It was an amazing trip and I had no issues with the bike at all. Averaged between 45 and 50 MPG and used no oil. Had a "sissy bar" on the back with a sleeping bag and pulled into rest stops to get a few hours of sleep. Fell asleep once in Texas on a long straight during the night of my first day out of New Mexico. Woke up when the wheels hit the botts dots. Lucky me. Whew. San Diego to Carlsbad, NM. , left San Diego on Saturday morning with a friend as passenger. Late Saturday night arrive Carlsbad. Stayed at friends home until Monday morning and arrived home in Va. on Wednesday morning. One heck of a ride!!! I now ride an 1100 Virago. Ride safe and ride home!
Those are some impressive rides!
You’re actually a great storyteller with skills to make a production like this a breeze to watch. I like that you kept your cool on the dragon. Many bikers - including myself - should realize that you should never ride beyond speeds you are comfortable with, regardless the legendary status of these kind of roads. The dragon will have you for lunch if you taunt it.
Some people just flat out know how to live! Another awesome/inspiring video...
Thank you very much!
@11.37mins ride your own ride is the key 🔑!!! Noice reminder 👆🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Love it when your videos pop up in my news feed!
Cant wait to get my New Speed Twin back. Wrecked my first one in April^^
Didnt wreck my second Speedtwin so far
Still no wreckage. Bought a Panigale V2 recently
Van, thank you lots for taking the time and making the effort to produce and post these videos, this was another great one, I learn a lot from your effort and talent. I cant imagine how time consuming it must be for you, all the while you could just be enjoying the ride and challenge on its own, Thanks again love to watch and learn.
Thank you very much! This was one of my favorite videos to make, I wish they could all be like this one
Beautiful mountain scenery 👍🏻👍🏻
Awesome job thanks for sharing... I was there 3-4 yrs ago and it was fun reliving it with you.
great watch! thanks dude.
just a amazing twisted road to ride! i have ride ST for a while super stable in corner👍👍👍😇
bro you made my day w/ this awesome video! This road is pretty fantastic, i loved it. Cheers from Brazil! 🇧🇷 I hope buy a speed twin asap!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! Ride safe
Cool video E. I’ve watched so many dragon runs I have the course memorized😀
So many people crash there because they ride beyond their abilities. You really have to ride your own ride.
The Dragon is a good road when there aren't a ton of people on it. Few corners can catch you out if you are not careful, but most of the time the biggest risk won't be you. It will be a car or a cruiser coming the other way that can't maintain their lane and come at you headlong in your lane...
There are actually better roads up there...
I just got back from riding N Georgia and the tail, 953 miles of it. 129 up Blood Mountain was my favorite. I ground off my peg feelers and ground a bit off my brake pedal and gear shifter, 2015 t100
Excellent video, on many levels. Thoroughly enjoyed your trip.
Quality footage and audio.
Found your channel by accident, subbed.
Glad you found me, thank you!
Dude...me and my wife spent last weekend in asheville. We actually made it a point to go to the tail of the dragon. We took my 22 supra over there and had a blast. Our first run down the dragon we got stuck behind a pickup truck that wouldn't use any of the pull outs. But we did it a couple more times after that one and had an enjoyable time. And like you said but I will say even this time of year it's some beautiful scenery.
Awesome! I bet that's a great car for 129
@@VanBlamm yeah it was a blast. So much so that my wife is already talking about making another trip up there to do it again and hit some more of the mountain roads we weren't able to hit when we were up there this time.
Yet another killer vid. Thanks!
In malaysia we have our "dragon" and it’s called Genting Run. Now there's cops everywhere 😂
No such thing as a scary man made modern road. Scary riders and drivers? Absolutely. As long as you ride within yourself you will be fine. It’s stupid to push your limits on any road, take that mentality to the track where everything is safer, even if you come off. Plus, it’s the best place to actually work out what your limits are so you can ride within them on the roads. Simple. 👍😎
Very well put! It's been way too long since I've been to the track
@@VanBlamm As an ex Australian Superbike racer I’ve never actually done a track ride. I’m retired from racing now and think I’ll book in a track day at my old home racetrack being Phillip Island. If you were to talk about a “scary” section of twists at high and low speeds then this is why all the top riders around the world keep rating PI as their favourite track and why the top teams use it for pre-season testing as it had it all in the one track.
You should check out the roads up in the Turkish mountains in the area of the borders with Irag and Iran. I was up there helping out the Kurds after Desert Storm.
@@rottweilerfun9520 I could imagine as one of my cousins has been with the Australian Army for over 35 years and been deployed everywhere. I’m sure you noticed I mentioned modern man made roads. I guess I should’ve also mentioned some countries as well as 2 weeks before the Bali bombings, I was there with my fiancé, being an Australian Superbike racer at the time she was looking forward to me renting a bike however after the trip from the airport to the resort we were staying we both changed our mind. Similar story for mainland China as after 40+ work related trips I still haven’t ridden a bike there. Thank you sir for your active duties abroad. 👍🙏
"By day two I was back on my bullshit." Liked and subscribed.
Thanx for your video, really like your photos/ video...skills and your well paced riding. Keep up the good work 👍👍👍
Thank you!
Hi brother I’m live in India, Tamilnadu , madurai
I have also Triumph speed 400
Very happy to share this ❤
Safe ride brother
Beautiful ride. I love tor ride in the Bankhead National Forest in North Alabama.
Great tool! Effortlessly runs fast pace
Excellent new content man, was looking forward to it! 😀
I’m assuming you’ve filmed and edited all of this completely on your own? It’s just stunning and you’re a complete natural commentating over the footage. This is far beyond the quality of a lot of rubbish you find on TV.
I’ve found your channel as I’m taking delivery of a 2020 Speed Twin on Thursday… can’t wait! Would you mind me asking what luggage rack and bags you’re using?
Welcome to my “back yard”. I am blessed to be 35-40 min from my driveway to the start of the Dragon here in Knoxville.
I much prefer the Skyway and even Foothills pkwy over the dragon for the ride. But the fun of the crowd makes the Dragon a great day of entertainment.
You lucky duck!
@@VanBlamm Love your bike! I’m on a Moto Guzzi V7 850. I like the classics. Had a street twin for a while as well.
Living in TN and having ridden the Dragon a few times, I'm in no hurry to go back. TN is filled with (subjectively) better roads, without the heavy police presence and parade of squids.
If I ever go back, I'll probably ride 129 once and spend the rest of my time discovering the other roads.
Looks fun, wish i still had my CBR250R. That bike would be a blast there.
"the tourist traffic is never going to stop" says the Tourist 6:12 😆
Haha, it's a hard mentality to shake when one lives in DC
Good stuff man!
Love the English 🏍 ✅️👍👍👍👍👍👍👍it checks all of the boxes for me👍✅️👍👍👍❗️❗️
Aaaand the bucket list just got a bit longer! Awesome ride, fabulous dronage - thanks for bringing us along.
Thanks for watching!
Awesome!!!!
Dragon is to be savored not rushed, love you Speed 120, I have a 2022 T-120, nice video
Thanks for sharing this awesome video. I’m thinking about buying a speed twin but I’m only 5’7” and wonder about the seat height. Take care
If your inseam is 28" or more you will be fine. Maybe even 26. I have a 30" inseam and the seat height is perfect.
Amazing trip, now come to Texas to ride the Twisted Sisters.
Oh that looks fun
It's funny - I was just wondering how long it'd take me to get there from my home in Glen Burnie, MD. DC is a stone throw away!
Nice 1
😊
Great work.
Thank you.
Can you share your GoPro video settings for the best result? I’m going to this part of the world soon. No real video experience. I loved your videos from Colorado. That’s were I am now. Thanks, Dan Raabe
Another great video! One question - have you noted any really excessive heat from the engine? And overall, to other naked bikes, how hot the ST is running from 1 to 10?
Thanks! It's about a 9 in terms of felt heat. Just a product of cramming so much bike into a such a small package, I guess. The only hotter bike I've ridden is the Ducati Scrambler 1100.
@@VanBlamm Ouch... Was about to pull the tigger... glad that I asked. It supposed to be relatively low compression motor, so didn't expect that. I'm ditching my current KTM 1290 solely because of the engine heat. And with previous two japanese bikes (mt07 and z900rs) I didn't know that such problem even exists... Definitely something to think about. Thank you!
Subscribed and liked. Stellar content. Thank you! What gloves are you wearing?
Thanks! In this video, I'm wearing a mix of Rev'It Boxxer H2O gloves for when it's cold and/or wet, and Scorpion SG3 short cuff gloves when it's warmer.
My street twin is perfect there.
I bet! That's just the right amount of power for tight curves
Nice. Im considering getting a speed twin as my next bike.
Are you able to use the whole tyre and if yes are you scrapping pegs ?
Definitely not using the whole tire. I've scraped each peg once or twice in the life of the bike. The bike has more to give, but it makes you work for it and I'm just not that fast of a rider.
@@VanBlamm thanks for the reply!
How do you find the luggage set up looks neat
SW-Motech Blaze saddlebags
Just relocated from Washington state to North Carolina. The dragon is in the cross hairs
Do you do audio books? U sound like that zombie apocalypse series.
Haha no but I've done a couple local commercials
Hey Van, fantastic video! Looks like it was an awesome ride. I just picked up a 2023 Speed Twin 1200 and have some accessories that use a Ram ball mount - but specifically I have a couple left over ram mount posts that would normally thread into open holes, which my Speed Twin does not have. What mount are you using?
Thanks, and congrats on the new bike! Here are the two Ram mounts that are on my bike.
Handlebar bolt: www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/ram-mounts-handlebar-bolt-ball-with-hole-base?sku_id=869087
Clutch lever mount: www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/ram-mounts-brake-clutch-base?sku_id=869155
@@VanBlamm Thank you!
Then a white-tailed deer jumps out.
How does the TEC suspension hold up now? Has it broken in more?
It actually got worse over time. At least the shocks did. I enjoyed riding on them for about 8,000 miles, but eventually they were just too hard for me. Once I moved back into the pothole-ridden city, I couldn't get the shocks to feel comfortable no matter what settings I used. The final straw was that their piggyback reservoirs interfered with the Givi rear rack I was trying to install, so I switched back to the stock shocks. Riding on the stock ones now, I realize the performance gains of the TEC were minimal at best, in my hands. I do still use the TEC fork springs, which I think help with brake dive.
@@VanBlamm thanks for the response man. I've got the front forks on order, hoping that is an upgrade like you said.
I will hold off on the rear suspension, I was feeling inclined to buy a fox set up. Maybe that would be better than the TEC rear?
Try Pennsylvania's 119 .
Looks fun!
This Is that Place where you separate the MEN from the BOYs..!
Would you say the speed twin is an all rounder bike
It absolutely is. Just don't plan to take it off pavement.
What always worries me I seeing bikers leaning into a corner with there head over the center line 😮
"... the one little bit left to luck...."
What are the gloves you are wearing?
In this video, it's a mix of Rev'It Boxxer H2O during colder temps, and Scorpion SG3 short cuff during warmer temps
@@VanBlamm thank you! I love the cuff on the Boxxer being made of stretchable material. The gloves i have dig into my wrist so I was looking for ones like yours but couldn't figure out what they were.
Wait so you're telling me that there are people who ride the dragon and don't try and set new land speed records and or speed run their way to an early grave?
Who'd have thought!
Go do the ‘Ladakh Circuit’ in India. You’ll know the actual meaning of ‘twisties’ then.
No windscreen
Never windscreen
guess what sticker i found!
Never, ever go on a weekend. Worst advice ever is to go on weekends. Tues-Thurs is really the only good days to go. Cut down on the stupid and ego monsters there to show off.
Solid advice. I'd love to get back there on a weekday sometime.
Cherohala Skyway is a much better road
I'm very glad I chose to go there the next day.
The road isn't scary at all, stupid riders are what's scary 😬
You didn't slay anything at that slow pace!
It is US 129, not NC or TN 129. You didn't slay it and no amount of cheesing it up with faux suspense about how intimidating it is will change it. You didn't even scrape peg.
I rode it with 1,300 total miles of riding under my belt. You hid from it for 7 years? Embarrassing 😂
Cherohala SW and Moonshiner 28 are better than the tail.
There is no reason for this video to be 22 minutes. It is needlessly protracted to generate ad revenue.
@@andersd8956 I have legit never been to the dragon without seeing some old dude on a cruiser drop it in the parking lot at the bottom. Not once. And it is almost always on that incline coming out of the parking lot, headed up the hill. They creep up there, stop, stall it, then drop it.
It's time for the trike, gramps.
Very nice Video!
Thank you!
If that was in the UK it'd have average speed cameras all along it....we're good at sucking the joy out of everything 😂
Hah I'm honestly surprised they haven't turned 129 into a toll road yet
How is it that the people don’t revolt? Even if it’s just voting for representatives who promise less intrusion in your lives? Honestly someone should run on that platform alone. Maybe you?
@@wirenut3020 I can ask the same about americans, why do you not revolt having a vegetable president as a leader and being ruled by zionists? Most of your tax get spent on wars abroad and homeless are everywhere. Freedom on motorway seems like the least important thing
Well done. Looks like an awesome day of riding on the Speed Twin!
Looks like a couple crashes per day is par for the course on the Tail of the Dragon due to bikers riding above their abilities and losing control in the twisties.
This is some amazing work sir!!!
Thank you sir!
Thank you for the nice video. I've done a few distance rides and one thing I learned.....driving with the backpack is the most uncomfortable experience, for me personally.....saddlebags, top box or tank bag....anything but backpack.
Thanks for watching! The camera gear has to go somewhere haha
Excellent production work on this, great pacing, mix of footage and music, not the cliche heavy metal and SLAY THE DRAGON!!! Love you added the trip out and back along with other roads. Little things like B roll of lubing the chain, yes this is an actual guy like you and me out riding but in place of just helmet vlog he covers it all. Great work, be proud of it.
Thank you very much sir!
V B
Great video and would be interested to hear the comparisons with the T120. Also would be good to hear what the other guy thought of the speed twin 😂
@@benjirides218 nice one thanks for the response. I’ve got a speed twin and came from a Fireblade so the moving from a sports bike to the twin is spot on. The speed twin is a far more relaxing way to travel but has the get up and go when you want it.
You need to come to NW Arkansas.
Nice. Great. I'm excited again. What beautiful landscapes there are in the US and yes, the Queent of Roads. A dream. Ride safe 👍🖐️
No police or speed cameras? Lucky you guys 🏴
Meanwhile I was 2 months into riding, like, “agh screw it let’s do the dragon!” 😂 but man your video quality is on point. Awesome footage and editing. Very underrated channel. I had no idea you had that much footage from that weekend!
Haha well you did great! Hope the new bike is treating you well
Added to my bucket list! Great video, much effort gone it that I can see 👍
Thank you!
Looks like you had a ton of fun! Great shots as usual, what an enjoyable video. Thank you for posting.
Love the t120 tease. I too am split between that and the Speed Twin.
tanx for sharing! Great video.
Great video and thanks for demystifying the “Dragon”. 😉
Thanks for watching!
That's quite a trip! Next time you get near NC hit me up. I can show you some local roads.
Thanks, will do!
Do you face camera overheat issue during drive video recording? if yes then how you are managing it?
I've never had a GoPro overheat, but my Sony a6300 sometimes quits on me if I film for longer than about 20 minutes outside on a hot day.
@@VanBlamm thanks for the reply and sharing your experience.
I rarely comment on videos but this was superb! Incredible shots and great overall vibe. Makes me miss North Carolina fall. Thanks for this!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you
I am glad that you finally did The Dragon-an easy ride . Since this is very near to me, I will look for your sticker. I took my new Harley Davidson 2022 Nightster to the Dragon. With the suspension tuned to my weight, I found this bike like my Ducati Monster 696. That day, I rode it twice at the speed limit to get use to the bike and to look out for cops. The third time, I sent my stop watch. I did it in 15 minutes and I got a great photograph of me heading head on for the photographer who was in the middle of the road getting my photograph going 60 mph . I thought 15 minutes was a good time, but the course record is way better.
Nice! The new Nightster is a damn good looking bike
Great video on a awesome track dude :) I'm going to get the same bike next week! Which shoei helmet u wear? cheers
Thanks! In this video I'm wearing an Arai Defiant X, but I have since switched to a Shoei RF1400
I Slayed the Dragon today, but your sticker was nowhere to be found. I guess the Dragon ate it! 😂
Thanks for looking! I figured it wouldn't last long
Bungie nets are awesome!
Great vid mate, liking the edit with the different cameras 👍
I’d love to do the Dragon one day…
Cheers 😎
Great video - amazing editing and quality of shots. What a beautiful road! Also good to see no pressure to ride quickly - just at a pace that is enjoyable and safe for you - reminds me that you don't need to drag knee to enjoy a winding road! Bravo.
Thank you!
Calamari hq
Hi from Australia vb I enjoy your videos I'm 68 and enjoy the 22 speed twin but only ride the local roads in south-east Queensland keep the videos coming
Great vid. There's a lot to be said for riding within your limits. Looks like a great ride if you do it correctly
Thanks!