Tail of the Dragon or Cherohala Skyway?

[BigCountry]

Oh I thought you meant motorcyles man..lol

If your taking a car w/the wife goto Cherohala for sure.

Dragon = LOTS of motorcycles (your going to feel out of place up there with a car).

[hapaleeretired]

If possible do the Dragon during the week. The buzz bikers can make it pretty dangerous. I ride them both and I enjoy the Cherohala. Watch the painted lines on the road so they can time you from the air. When you get to Tellico Plains drive about forty mile south to Blue Ridge GA. Stop in at Mercer Orchards and have some fried pies and a cup of coffee. From there head on over and do Wolfpen Gap.
Motorcycle Mountain Map, Great Roads, Lodging, Motorcycle Shops, Campgrounds.

[BadTiger64]

Have you tried US 178 from Rosman to Holly Springs @hyway 11 in SC, its pretty good riding. Hundreds ride it every Sat and Sun. Usually sometime during the summer someone on a crotch rocket finds a place to plant a cross. The distance is probably 10 miles and consist of numerous curves one after the other and a couple 1/4 mile straight a ways.

BadTiger

PS: Be sure to stop at world famous Bob' Place (aka Scatter Brains) about 3 or 4 miles up from hyway 11.

[Asheville Native]

This is an all too common occurance.

Motorcyclist dies on 'Dragon' curves in Smoky Mountains | CITIZEN-TIMES.com | Asheville Citizen-Times

[hapaleeretired]

A couple of years ago on the Dragon a bike went off the road into a gully. When they went down to winch the bike out they found another bike and body that had been there for two years. Grim.

[silverwing]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

This is an all too common occurance.

Motorcyclist dies on 'Dragon' curves in Smoky Mountains | CITIZEN-TIMES.com | Asheville Citizen-Times

"21-year-old" + "taking a curve at high speed" = dead squid
What his family must be going through.

I did a search on the guy's name and noted that this news has made a lot of publications and blogs. Further details note that he was riding a 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa [2008. Hmm. Wonder how much experience he had on it] and the crash occurred at 8:50 pm [almost dark. on a challenging route. smart] Apparently he locked up his rear brakes. Also "The motorcycle and its driver’s body rolled more than 25 feet down an embankment, where authorities found them". One blogger had this benediction "Proctor wore a helmet, but that didn’t save him."

I checked the Tail of the Dragon site; the season has had a bad start:

April 25-27: A very busy Friday and Saturday with mostly motorcycles on the area roads. A large group of Busas were crossing the Cherohala Friday morning when one went down and the following bike hit it. Two riders were flown out with serious injuries. Sunday rains slowed traffic.

I know that Killboy had a famous wipeout (he had/has pictures of the wreck, as it occurred, on his website), but he and other devotees of the road are advocates of taking speed to the track, where it belongs. I've seen postings of his where meets are organized -- I think somewhere in Georgia.

I did the road just to say I did, and got my pin, but for riders who think it's the be-all and end-all to great roads, they're missing some other great routes. Or, maybe it's best that the squids stick to The Dragon. It makes the other cool riding spots less crowded and dangerous