Was that the photo from the tail of the dragon site?

 

Not for sure Scott. I saw it on the R6 Forum. Looks like it may have been.





1st of all...look midway down the page and look at all teh pics of troopers just waiting....
http://www.tailofthedragon.com/










PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ STORY AND ECT....


STORY: http://www.tailofthedragon.com/dragon_SHUTDOWN.html


VIDEO: http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...336395229&hl=en



PLEASE SEE ATTACHMENT. NOW WHO GIVES TICKETS FOR CROSSING DOUBLE YELLOW?

 

That's been Marty's avatar for a week.... :lol

LEO's have been asked not to come to the CROT... They used to eat for no charge, but due to the treatment over minor stuff resort visitors are getting all of that is DONE!

 

I can imagine. Whats it like on the NC side?

 

I was told it's not bad... They are more concerned with speeders... Alot of people have been riding on the Hellbender lately :fact

 

Hell.. thats my favorite road!

 

Yeah I heard the LEO's have been crackin' down bad on riders at the Gap lately...something about recent accidents/fatalities I think. (Buddy was telling me this last night at the local bike night)

 

I'm gonna invest in a restaurant/hotel/gas station in Suches, GA. Then I'm gonna lobby Tennessee to step up the enforcement on the Gap. :lol :dollar

 

You know what's funny... I don't think I've ever ridden it... :lol I was telling Toni at Fontana that the other day...:lol

 

Here are some video links from www.tailofthedragon.com. If you look on google video and youtube there are a ton more.

Also www.tailofthedragon.com has a bunch of pictures of THP crossing the center and some stories from riders and such.

So are we moving next years convention elsewhere ? :/

August 4th, Deals Gap
August 11th, Deals Gap
Video of a THP crossing the lines.

And a article on www.tailofthedragon.com, (alot of interesting stuff on the main page as well, so take a few and read some of it), concerning the recent events makes for an interesting read. Below is a portion of the article, which can be found here

Some Emails

• Rider ticketed for standing-up on pegs at 25 mph to stretch.
• Car driver pulled over for "appearing to be traveling at high rate of speed". Car was behind a pick-up towing a boat at 25 mph. Trooper then said he had illegal tinted windshield and exhaust even though car was stock from factory and had passed emmission test in TN. Trooper then harassed driver for DRIVING WITH ONE HAND ON STEERING WHEEL. Driver asked how he was supposed to shift gears. Trooper then rudely said, "GET LOST".
• Rider harassed and threatened with arrest for not having proof of shatterproof glasses.
• Bikers ticketed for passing on the double yellow even when the car ahead pulled over and stopped. Troopers said the car had to be COMPLETELY OFF THE ROAD before moving around it.
• Cars pulled over for 35 ... threatened with arrest .
• Car ticketed when wheels accidentally went a few inches off the roadway.
• Pick-up stopped and harassed for having tailgate down.
• Cycle group tailgated for miles by THP which then passed on double-yellow with no emergency devices operating.
• Pick-up truck tailgated by THP. Truck pulled over several times to let Trooper pass. Each time the Trooper pulled over just ahead and returned to tailgating truck when it passed.
• Car came around blind corner only to see Trooper with car completely blocking lane. Trooper was out of car issuing tickets to bikers. Car stopped, saw it was clear ahead, and eased around. Car was then ticketed for crossing double yellow.
• Ticket for failing to have proof of insurance.
• Ticket for no mirrors.
• Ticket for bike with license plate verticlal. Custom bike was purchased from a Knoxville Police Officer.
• Cruiser pulled over doing 30 mph and asked for all documentation, blinkers/headlight and plate checked. Harrassed for no reason at all.
• Trooper tailgating female motorcyclist who pulled off road she was so nervous. Her son was then tailgated until he had to pull over.
• Trooper with stopped bike saw another bike almost crash when seeing the Trooper ..... Trooper laughed.
• Out of state car ticketed for having temporary tag and no registration in spite of producing bill of sale. Registration had not yet been sent.
• Trooper with car over double yellow on several occasions.
• Troopers making U-turns in dangersous curves.

*EDIT* a bit I found on the front page, the weekend they refer to is referenced in the story I linked above, they had something like 14 THP and a handful of county sheriffs on the road all weekend.

Now, in one weekend, someone in your government has negated all this work. US129, normally alive with people from all over the country/world enjoying motorcycling, is today a ghost road. There are literally more law enforcement vehicles on the Dragon than there are motorcycles most of the day. What little traffic there is moves at a 20 mph snails pace meeting radar units every mile or so.

 

• Ticket for failing to have proof of insurance.
• Ticket for no mirrors.

Failure to have proof of insurance in a state requiring it is a ticketable offense. Some places will show leniency and give you a certain amount of time to produce it where they'll waive the ticket. Others issue regardless and require you to pay the fine. If mirrors are required, then it's a valid ticket as well.

IMO, these two are valid tickets if what I wrote above is true. Can't say I condone the methods the LEOs are using for the rest of the stuff. This whole thing is law enforcement abuse of power.

• Ticket for bike with license plate verticlal. Custom bike was purchased from a Knoxville Police Officer.

As dumb as it may sound, I wish that it was required for plates to be mounted horizontal and right side up. Allowing plates to be mounted any other way detracts from people being able to read the plates quickly if they need to.

 

This will calm down by next year. It happens every year, but never this bad. Convention is not moving. Even if LEOs are present... riding the dragon is not a big deal to me. You can ride the dragon before 9am and after 7pm when the LEOs are not there. Plus there are plenty of roads in the general area that are very good rides. :fact

 

I hope so...I have everything booked ( except hotel )...Still working on that...

 

Very sad indeed.

 

I just had to stop by and say Hi...

Ok...I just wanted you to see my avatar!

 

Marty sup brotha

 

I hear there's heavy patrols on the Cherohala as well.

 

As I recall, most of the Cherohala is in NC. Tennessee is the one going ballistic. 9 miles of the 11-mile Dragon is in Tennessee.

Apparently, it's an election year in Tennessee, and the governor didn't want to seem like he didn't care about the people in the area who were complaining.

Personally, I don't know why the locals don't just take another route. That road is tough to drive in a car even with NO ONE else on it.

It IS a shame it came to this. I'll admit that what people were doing on that road WAS illegal and somewhat dangerous. So I can't really fault the police...but at the same time, it's a real downer for those of us who ride.

NC is still receptive to the motorcycle population. US 28 (headed north, hang a right just before the CROT) is an alternative road. So is the stretch of the Cherohala on the NC side. Ride there until THP calms down. They cant' stay there in those numbers forever...it's a money-hole and the funding for the "sting" is only temporary, plus they're losing tourism money as a result.

Find your own local roads...anywhere where there's mountains, valleys, passes, resevoirs, the road naturally has to twist and turn to make it down. And keep 'em underground. Deals Gap got popular in motorcycle magazines and among squid-forums, which brought the outright "lawlessness" into the public limelight. Any time "word gets out" about any underground movement, it eventually gets ruined.

tailofthedragon.com and killboy.com are great websites, and I've actually met the people who run TOTD.com and they're great people, and I really admire what they're doing. I wish I'D thought of it. But in promoting the road as a tourist attraction, they've brought a lot of attention upon it...this was long in coming and hopefully it'll be gone at the end of the "tourist season" so riders can get back to riding.

 

i had planned to take my bike along with me next year when we have spring break at college to folly beach SC,last year i drove my wrangler down there to go off-roading and what not,but after reading all of this since i have joined this site,the THP can kiss my ass,who carries proof of shatterproof sunglasses?my jeep rests on 35inch tires with a good ammount of lift,tinted rear and 1/4 of the windshield,the tires stick out as many do,so all this just did was show me that it would be a waste of my time and money,plus fine money i would get,just to ride there.and im not the type that would go fast at all,im just now learning the transitions and cornering and all of that,my last bike was set-up for drag,but if i cant even enjoy a ride through there,bike or jeep,why would people consider going there.if the people who own the gas stations and resturantes,hotels,etc were smart,they would refuse service to the THP and LEO and other ticket writing bastards for costing them revenue,and other money they aquire.what are they gonna do?write the store owner a ticket?most likely already have after reading all of the past posts and articles.but thats just my opinion on the matter.i dont give them a reason to mess with me,but looks like if you go to deals gap,being there is their reason.

 

but thats just my opinion on the matter,just like when i hear of an officer getting killed in line of duty,one less on the street for awhile is the way i look at it.

Up until that sentence above...I agreed with you. But ya had to go and put the douchebag hat on didn't ya. Tell ya what, you should drive down there in that Jeep of yours...dont' forget to run those oversized tires off the side of the mountain...hope you have a roll-cage.

 

I would work all day during the week Skeeter then head out at 4-5 and ride past supper... :lol

I missed the first hour to hour and a half of dinner every night... :lol

 

sorry for offending some of you,but everyone has their own opinion,dont they?true i should have kept it to myself,but we had a run in with LEO the night before and i was on a rant,and should have left that part out.i agree this is a great forum,and i have read many post that had remarks worst than mine,and no ban.i have the right to freedom of speech same as all of you,to an extent of threating,degrading,singleing out someone,which i did not do.yes there are good decent officers,but you cant say that there are bad ones,and the ones i have had problems with are just that bad one,as i dont break laws,as much as some do.again i do apologizeto you few and others offended by the remark,and i will edit it out,i know its a day late and a dollar short,and im not doing it to avoid a ban,im doing it out of respect for you fellow members.

 

Way to make things right. :thumbup