Been enjoying the channel for a long time, ever since the ole dropping the bike on the blue ridge/skyway. This was by far my favorite video, getting to enjoy the other bikes and having to watch other than just the road ahead was a nice change in things. I live in the middle of NC and got a triumph trophy 1200, Waiting to build confidence before i go tackle those mountains, thanks Bryan and keep up the good work.
Great video - I just love your videos , when you are touring the smokies.After I saw your first videos of Blue Ridge Pkwy, I started to get myself a camera and mount it to my helmet - not anything as perfect as yours, but some nice pics.I can´t tell you how much I wouzld like to be able to tour the smokies as you did, but from Germany to the US and then get a bike ... not that easy.Please keep bringing up such videos !!!greatings from Germany
Funny - I met a couple while I standing on the side of the road from Germany who were renting a couple BMWs - they recognized me, pulled over and chatted for a while :) All it takes is money ;)
Awesome trip Bryan. After watching this video I'm already jonesing for more! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. By the way one of your commentators was right, your burgers are outstanding!
I've been to the dragon about 4 times at our motorcycle rally's and the Florida boys would have a hard time keeping up because the dragon has 318 curves in 11 miles and Florida has 11 curves in 318 miles lol !
Great video series Bryan...looking forward to the next one. Awesome roads down there. Don't know how that big guy can ride that crotch rocket though. Guessing he may have a Harley too (saw the tee.)
Great video .... good to see you pick up the speed and hit the twisties .... (not likely any roads like this in FL... LOL). Looks like some moderate turns relative to Western US mountains, often over 10,000'. You should come out West some time and we'll show you some of the best and most scenic roads in the US!
Great Video! Headed up next weekend from Northwest Florida, First time, do I NEED "Pocket Earth Pro app? I am assuming from your video that cell Reception is poor thus you would loose google maps. Like I say I have never been there before. I have the Harley Davidson Mapping on my bike but not a big fan.
You absolutely need an offline GPS app, yes. PEP is a great one for sure. I only got it because it takes GPX files and it's what the rest of the group was already using. My normal TomTom app is also an offline, but does not take route files.
I was a little on edge watching the speeds that you'll were doing. The Gro pro may not do justice, but seeing another motorcycle pull away like that and then you catching up, is all it takes. Man that Aprilia sounds so good!
Nicely done! Love your lines around the 20-minute mark...thought they were actually better than your compadres (but, as you said, they know those roads well).
Man that vacuums!! I will be there tomorrow through Sunday. Would have loved to met and rode with you. Cool vid! It'll be my first time on the Dragon with my Feejer. I've rode it several times on my Stratoliner. Looking for some fun!
Another great video man! I enjoy your videos and reviews (partly because we have the same height & inseam) and I will walk away from your review understanding how a particular bike will feell for me. This was a great ride and I'm envious. Lots of twisties and your group seemed to ride pretty well. I noticed you got more comfortable (around 23/24 minutes in) after making the comment about your friends doing better in the turns than you. Then I had a laugh when I heard the peg scrape and I know that feeling well. I ride a Triumph Thunderbird Storm cruiser and it's very capable in the twisties, but a heavy beast at about 740lbs topped off. I came from the sport bike realm and I bought the cruiser to calm me down a bit, but I'm constantly scraping my pegs and it throws you off when you have a nice line in a turn. I'm getting used to it somewhat, but those peg feelers are there for a reason, so you shouldn't really ignore the scraping. I also thought to myself how nice it is that the cops don't bother riders in that area. I've seen tons of videos of the dragon and never saw a cop or heard of them busting chops there. Then you caught one on video at the end and it made me wonder. I guess they're cool with it as long as someone isn't riding like a total idiot. Most of the times, someone riding like an idiot will have to worry about a lot more than a ticket on challenging roads. Anyway, keep up the great work with your videos! I appreciate you spending the time to share them with us.
Talk about a shock to the system! Great ride and well done as I know you were out of your comfort zone. I wonder whether the AS model would be better on those kind of twisties?
Bryan... you showed us you can ride! Good job on staying off the brakes. Now for goodness sake, and mine, I hope you'll do more sightseeing and less corner carving. Those were some fairly gnarly curves and speeds. My you-know-what was puckered up while I watched. Speed and corners are an undeniable rush, but remember what you said about the "stupid kids" racing in the Tampa area. You have good skills, but you're still human. I like your channel and I want to see you go on making more.
I agree. My wife and I used to be in a Pan European bike club and the group rides we attended were great because we used the drop off system. This meant you could ride at your own pace rather than having to keep up.
Thanks, I put a vstream on my 06. Tried a puig smoked screen, looked great but got wind buffeting. Just need a better helmet, cl maxx is a bit noisy. Getting back in to motorcycles after a 15 year break, had sport bikes, now being older finding insurance is a lot cheaper
$75 full coverage a year, $250 ductible on an 06 fjr, kind of sealed the deal, lol. Looks like a good ride, I'm up here in Wi.. Riding season is coming to an end b4 I know it. Great videos, thanks for sharing
Group rides can be funny, I find there's two types. The GOTTA GO FAST type who flout all laws, regulations and any consideration of safety. The second type is the "ride at your own pace" group ride which generally has corner marking and structure with a lead and tail end charlie even if speed limits are exceeded or some riders are faster than others the group rides, then stops as one. I routinely group ride in the second type and find it massively enjoyable and educational from watching faster riders in front of you, as well as a safety enhancement from always having someone behind you in case of the worst. It seems you have an in between sort of group there which is good. If you enjoyed stuff like that you seriously need to make your way out to Australia, we have some amazing roads which are much tighter and technical than what you've displayed here, as well as having the high speed sections. Some of the views are amazing, not that there's much time to see them at full pace.
Oh...it gets a lot better...and the roads can't GET any tighter in some spots - 180 deg hairpins and lots of 90 deg bends. The wide angle makes everything look very different.
+TwoWheelObsession I was watching closely. I take video of rides myself, just raw video for my own enjoyment nowhere near as well produced as your content. I will certainly be watching this series and looking at the roads. I've always wanted an excuse to visit the us again and some technical riding roads might just be the tipping point.
We did about 1250 miles and at least 1100 of those were tight twisties...you can ride in this area ENDLESSLY :) I'm only showing a TINY part of thee trip, no one wants to watch 30 hours of riding LOL
I do! But I'm a weirdo who enjoys unedited ride footage. Keep up the content mate, I'll watch every bit of it, looking forward to seeing more of your roads.
Glad to see you are having a good time on the roads I get to use all summer. Can't wait to see the rest of the series!!
Been enjoying the channel for a long time, ever since the ole dropping the bike on the blue ridge/skyway. This was by far my favorite video, getting to enjoy the other bikes and having to watch other than just the road ahead was a nice change in things. I live in the middle of NC and got a triumph trophy 1200, Waiting to build confidence before i go tackle those mountains, thanks Bryan and keep up the good work.
Really enjoyed watching this. Great series of videos from this trip - thanks for sharing!
Great video - I just love your videos , when you are touring the smokies.After I saw your first videos of Blue Ridge Pkwy, I started to get myself a camera and mount it to my helmet - not anything as perfect as yours, but some nice pics.I can´t tell you how much I wouzld like to be able to tour the smokies as you did, but from Germany to the US and then get a bike ... not that easy.Please keep bringing up such videos !!!greatings from Germany
Funny - I met a couple while I standing on the side of the road from Germany who were renting a couple BMWs - they recognized me, pulled over and chatted for a while :) All it takes is money ;)
True, but some sparetime and personal freedom, to do things just the way you like, helps a lot aswell ;))
Awesome trip Bryan. After watching this video I'm already jonesing for more! I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. By the way one of your commentators was right, your burgers are outstanding!
Thanks man - yours were great too!
I've been to the dragon about 4 times at our motorcycle rally's and the Florida boys would have a hard time keeping up because the dragon has 318 curves in 11 miles and Florida has 11 curves in 318 miles lol !
Whew! The dude in front of you occasionally cornering on the paint straps was making me nervous! lol.. Great video!
Great video series Bryan...looking forward to the next one. Awesome roads down there. Don't know how that big guy can ride that crotch rocket though. Guessing he may have a Harley too (saw the tee.)
Great video .... good to see you pick up the speed and hit the twisties .... (not likely any roads like this in FL... LOL). Looks like some moderate turns relative to Western US mountains, often over 10,000'. You should come out West some time and we'll show you some of the best and most scenic roads in the US!
+J-Man this was just the mild warmup ;)
Great Video! Headed up next weekend from Northwest Florida, First time, do I NEED "Pocket Earth Pro app? I am assuming from your video that cell Reception is poor thus you would loose google maps. Like I say I have never been there before. I have the Harley Davidson Mapping on my bike but not a big fan.
You absolutely need an offline GPS app, yes. PEP is a great one for sure. I only got it because it takes GPX files and it's what the rest of the group was already using. My normal TomTom app is also an offline, but does not take route files.
👍
Enjoyed seeing that spirited riding!
Good lines thru the turns!
I was a little on edge watching the speeds that you'll were doing. The Gro pro may not do justice, but seeing another motorcycle pull away like that and then you catching up, is all it takes. Man that Aprilia sounds so good!
That Aprilia sounds nice!
Man, that was freakin awesome. It must be a blast riding with guys who love to ride aggressively. Nice job out there. stay safe.
Awesome Video! The peg scraping can get addicting, i'm sure there is plenty more. Do you mind posting the gpx routes?
Best one yet!
Nicely done! Love your lines around the 20-minute mark...thought they were actually better than your compadres (but, as you said, they know those roads well).
Dame those guys like speed some of those turns looked mighty tight
Man that vacuums!! I will be there tomorrow through Sunday. Would have loved to met and rode with you. Cool vid! It'll be my first time on the Dragon with my Feejer. I've rode it several times on my Stratoliner. Looking for some fun!
good riding, good spacing for once thru the curves, you obviously are riding with a knowledgeable group.
Another great video man! I enjoy your videos and reviews (partly because we have the same height & inseam) and I will walk away from your review understanding how a particular bike will feell for me. This was a great ride and I'm envious. Lots of twisties and your group seemed to ride pretty well. I noticed you got more comfortable (around 23/24 minutes in) after making the comment about your friends doing better in the turns than you. Then I had a laugh when I heard the peg scrape and I know that feeling well. I ride a Triumph Thunderbird Storm cruiser and it's very capable in the twisties, but a heavy beast at about 740lbs topped off. I came from the sport bike realm and I bought the cruiser to calm me down a bit, but I'm constantly scraping my pegs and it throws you off when you have a nice line in a turn. I'm getting used to it somewhat, but those peg feelers are there for a reason, so you shouldn't really ignore the scraping. I also thought to myself how nice it is that the cops don't bother riders in that area. I've seen tons of videos of the dragon and never saw a cop or heard of them busting chops there. Then you caught one on video at the end and it made me wonder. I guess they're cool with it as long as someone isn't riding like a total idiot. Most of the times, someone riding like an idiot will have to worry about a lot more than a ticket on challenging roads. Anyway, keep up the great work with your videos! I appreciate you spending the time to share them with us.
Talk about a shock to the system! Great ride and well done as I know you were out of your comfort zone. I wonder whether the AS model would be better on those kind of twisties?
Awesome video, for not being used to twisty roads, you did pretty good!
+TheStig ZeroZeroZero thanks!
Bryan... you showed us you can ride! Good job on staying off the brakes. Now for goodness sake, and mine, I hope you'll do more sightseeing and less corner carving. Those were some fairly gnarly curves and speeds. My you-know-what was puckered up while I watched. Speed and corners are an undeniable rush, but remember what you said about the "stupid kids" racing in the Tampa area. You have good skills, but you're still human. I like your channel and I want to see you go on making more.
You do realize, I've been home a week, right?
Nope. I just assumed.
Great ride!
Always best to go at a speed your happy with instead of trying to keep up with others. that's the only thing i hate about riding in a group.
I agree. My wife and I used to be in a Pan European bike club and the group rides we attended were great because we used the drop off system. This meant you could ride at your own pace rather than having to keep up.
I recognized the Moonshiner 28 leading up to the Dragon, but what other roads were you on before that?
Bryan is that the stock windscreen on your bike right now?
No, Yamaha Touring - been on since I reviewed it.
Thanks, I put a vstream on my 06. Tried a puig smoked screen, looked great but got wind buffeting. Just need a better helmet, cl maxx is a bit noisy. Getting back in to motorcycles after a 15 year break, had sport bikes, now being older finding insurance is a lot cheaper
LOL yep I'm down to $350/yr for both bikes, full coverage with roadside - love it!
$75 full coverage a year, $250 ductible on an 06 fjr, kind of sealed the deal, lol. Looks like a good ride, I'm up here in Wi.. Riding season is coming to an end b4 I know it. Great videos, thanks for sharing
What is the name of that cabin?
it seems to me that in a couple of left turns you were riding the right white line and close to the grass. could that had been video perspective?
It's the camera.
Cool ride bro. I was a good rider. But you guys would have left me in the turns. Beyond my ability. Or balls. Lol
Group rides can be funny, I find there's two types. The GOTTA GO FAST type who flout all laws, regulations and any consideration of safety. The second type is the "ride at your own pace" group ride which generally has corner marking and structure with a lead and tail end charlie even if speed limits are exceeded or some riders are faster than others the group rides, then stops as one. I routinely group ride in the second type and find it massively enjoyable and educational from watching faster riders in front of you, as well as a safety enhancement from always having someone behind you in case of the worst. It seems you have an in between sort of group there which is good.
If you enjoyed stuff like that you seriously need to make your way out to Australia, we have some amazing roads which are much tighter and technical than what you've displayed here, as well as having the high speed sections. Some of the views are amazing, not that there's much time to see them at full pace.
Oh...it gets a lot better...and the roads can't GET any tighter in some spots - 180 deg hairpins and lots of 90 deg bends. The wide angle makes everything look very different.
+TwoWheelObsession I was watching closely. I take video of rides myself, just raw video for my own enjoyment nowhere near as well produced as your content. I will certainly be watching this series and looking at the roads. I've always wanted an excuse to visit the us again and some technical riding roads might just be the tipping point.
We did about 1250 miles and at least 1100 of those were tight twisties...you can ride in this area ENDLESSLY :) I'm only showing a TINY part of thee trip, no one wants to watch 30 hours of riding LOL
I do! But I'm a weirdo who enjoys unedited ride footage. Keep up the content mate, I'll watch every bit of it, looking forward to seeing more of your roads.
Well I'm up to part 9...got a bit more to go ;)
i have no idea how you fucking found that cabin looking at your last video.
they completely left you out of the conversation didnt they. so bad.
Huh? No.
nah i just heard one guy talk this one time. is all. peace