Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128337
For sportbike riders , nothing matches the thrill of findingthat perfect road, far from the urban asphalt jungle, where you can wind up, unwind and utilize your road-going repli-racer closer to its potential. Ifthat's the stuff that your dreams are made of, then you need to make sure and attend the Honda Hoot, because Its annual Sportbike Ride takes place on the absolute fantasyland of two-lane highways, U.S. 129, a.k.a, the Tailof the Dragon . Running from Tennessee into Deal's Gap, North Carolina, the Tail01 the Dragon is pure sportbike heaven, consisting of 318 curves in II miles, with only slightly less entertaining roadways at the entry and exit 01 this "king 01 twisties .' Sponsored by Aprilia th is year, the Sportbike Ride drew over 300 participants who, at times , made the going a little difficult due to the differences in individual pace on the road . Like many 01the rides that comprise the Honda Hoot's week 01 road-ride activities, the event is not a guided tour, mean ing that other than the obligatory traffic laws that any motorcyclist would be responsible lor under any other circumstance, the ride is more or less sell-govemed. Make no mistake, the local law agencies take their enlorcement on the route very seriously, and during the ride I saw more than a couple policecruisers. But unless you intendto be a corn- plete idiot, my experience was that the cops will let you have your lun whilst stretching the speed limit some. That was more than easy to do aboard my chosen mount, as Honda had graciously loaned me a copy 01the machine that we dubbed as king 01the 1000s in our recent Open Sportbike Shootout (Issue # 16,April 28, 2(04), the Honda CBRIOOORR. The RR'ssilkysmooth power and middleweightstyle handiingmade grabbing the "dragon's tail" a truly unforgettable experience, which was made allthe more so in the company of some of my industry colleagues and a few Honda officials as well. Other than the lengthy - and, at some points , rainy - ride out of Knoxvilleto Foothills Parkway, which led to U.S. 129, the only real downer of the ride came once we were doing our thing on the Tailof the Dragon. At one point, we came a cross a fellow who was riding a new Yamaha FZI with a Michigan license plate. With such a competent bike you would think that the guy would have at least been stretching its legs a little bit, but instead he was a complete roadblock, attempting to dictate the pace of all those behind him. Now, I doubt that anyone else who has ever spent a fair amount of time riding a sporting motorcycle on a twisty two-lane road with an unbroken double yellow line running down the middle of it for days does not know what it really means. With all due respect to the law, most sportbike guys will tell you that it doesn't mean "no passing." but rather "pass with extreme care." And that's just what our crew of six bikes started to do . Whenever there was a blatant opening and plenty 01 room, a rider would go around 40th Anniversary