When did you first ride the Dragon?

[George]

Here's a Deal's Gap foto from 91. Derek is in the middle:

 

[George]

Okay, I still ain't got this down pat. Here's a _link_ to a Deals Gap foto from 91:
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/1109753487052831307CmIGwP

 

[ST Dan]

I haven't been there yet either...some friends and I are planning a trip for this spring/summer

 

[Rob Hephner]

OK, my first time was 3-20-2007!

Had a blast!

 

[H20SKIER]

Great memories here also.My first ride was a 1972 Honda CB350 when I was 16 I used to drive it back and forth to school until it got so cold I couldn't stand it!!!! Cool pictures!!!!

 

[Willsmotorcycle]

Bumping this because those first first photos are epic,and I'm a nostalgic.

 

[Mellow]

2004


2005 - My 05 Wing, Tim and Diana from Canada and George's ST1100.


2011




2012

 

[Uncle Phil]

Way back before it was called the 'Dragon' and the Gap was a run down motel and worn out gas station back in the early 70s.
I remember when Rob Pemberton bought the place (he used to have a ST1100 and stocked ST1100 tires there).
He got a write-up in one of the bike magazines and then it became a 'destination'.

 

[st11ray]

I first rode it in the late '80's early '90's. I remember that the speed limit was 55 mph back then!

 

[dduelin]

July 2006.

Lame movie filmed by Yellow Wolf. I am completely responsible for editing and audio. Sorry.

 

[Larry Fine]

I haven't been to the Tail yet, but I have been on the Back and surrounding roads. Great fun!

 

[STRider]

Rode the Dragon on the 1100 while attending the Honda Hoot in Asheville in 1994. Had just left from Foxboro where I watched Greece lose to Argentina 4-0 at the World Cup.

 

[playfair]

Folks, this is a picture of six of us on our 1970 Honda 350's at the Dragon in 1971 before it was the Dragon. We saw NO other bikes on our entire loop from Cherokee, over to Gatlinburg, down to the Gap and back to Cherokee.
The first is the Deal's Gap store as it was then. That is Katie and me on the gold CB, Bill and Linda behind us on their CL and Johnny to the right beside his CL with Paula.
The second is again in front of the store. That is Paula in the front and me with my back to the camera. Notice the pillows for butt padding and my Easy Rider headband.
The third is where we camped along the Little Tennessee at the western approach to the Dragon.
Sorry for the quality of the photos but they are 35 years old snapshots. Paula also filmed (Betamax didn't come out until 1975) some of the action and she and Johnny had it transferred to DVD last year and we have been enjoying reviewing it.

Very Cool! Here's a quick auto-correct to help with the pics! :c)

 

[sirbike]

2006. Rented a car to drive to Atlanta to pick up my first ST1100.
Then rode 129 from down in Georgia all the way up through the gap.
I went again on the next ST1100 in 2013 or so and then on a 2000 VFR in 2015.

 

[Swede]

Folks, this is a picture of six of us on our 1970 Honda 350's at the Dragon in 1971 before it was the Dragon. We saw NO other bikes on our entire loop from Cherokee, over to Gatlinburg, down to the Gap and back to Cherokee.
The first is the Deal's Gap store as it was then. That is Katie and me on the gold CB, Bill and Linda behind us on their CL and Johnny to the right beside his CL with Paula.
The second is again in front of the store. That is Paula in the front and me with my back to the camera. Notice the pillows for butt padding and my Easy Rider headband.
The third is where we camped along the Little Tennessee at the western approach to the Dragon.
Sorry for the quality of the photos but they are 35 years old snapshots. Paula also filmed (Betamax didn't come out until 1975) some of the action and she and Johnny had it transferred to DVD last year and we have been enjoying reviewing it.

I thought at first you were talking about the dragon 'rally' in Wales, Great Britain. I did the first in, I think, 1960 or 61 in the depths of winter, on a 197cc Francis Barnet, from Essex to North Wales. I slept in a tent with no ground sheet or sleeping bag, just laid down on the snow in my riding gear which was lots of layers and not much else! Food? I took the bacon out of the sandwiches that I'd taken with me, heated it up over a fire, put it back in the sandwiches and ate them, that was it till we stopped at transport cafes on the way back: which took 18 hrs in the snow. Those were the days!.... Swede.

 

[Jim C-G]

Nothing like an old thread bringing meories to life. 2018 when attending the BRG. Proof as my avatar.

 

[Tdinova]

Sept 2019

 

[Jethro]

2-UP ON a1980 gold wing in2003.Rode there from Ontario .

 

[V4 Rider]

2008 on a rental RT followed by the Snake.

 

[ChucksKLRST]

2002, on my ST1100. Then again in 2012 on my ST1300 and last 2014 on my NT700. Thought it was over rated, but it is a check mark for motorcycling.