Just returned from the Tail of the Dragon. Phew! What a marvelous time! I'd only been there once before back in the spring. Back then, I'd only had my bike a couple of months, I was carrying a passenger, and was following another 1800 who had a passenger and was towing a trailer! That time, we went from the north end southward to the store. At that time, I didn't think of using a stopwatch. On the north end, we all stopped at the dam overlook, so I use that as point A, and the store as point B. According to Micro$loth Streets and Trips, that encompasses 8.5 and not 11 miles. I didn't think to use my odometer to check it while there, but I did take GPS readings and saved the waypoints.
On this particular trip, I tried 3 different vehicles: 1) 2004 GoldWing
1800, riding alone; 2) 1994 Mitsubishi 3000 VR-4 twin turbo 320 hp; and 3) my wife's VTX1300C. During each trip I was the only one in or on the vehicle. Interesting results for a novice like me are posted, just for comparisons.1st run, south to north. Rode the 1800 Wing. Rear suspension preload set to 10. Lots of scraping. Uncontrolled crossing of the yellow line happened once around a very tight curve. Avon Venom R tires, 60 on rear, with about
1300 miles on them. Total run time: 15 minutes, 33 seconds. Average speed: 34 mph.2nd run, north to south. Rode the 3000 VR-4. All wheel drive. All wheel steering. Suspension set to "sport" mode. No scraping 8-). high performance 17 inch wheels. lots of tire squeals. brakes started getting soft about 1/4 of the way through (grrrrrrr.) 1 car in the way for a few seconds. At one point during this run, I was thinking how much fun the autocross training was, where I spun out twice, and if I spun out this time, it is FOR REAL! Run time: 15 min, 03 seconds. Ave speed 35 mph. Pulled into the store and all 4 brakes were literally boiling with smoke. People in the parking lot came running over, thinking the car was on fire.
3rd run, south to north. Lastly, the VTX1300C. Lots of scraping. 1 car in the way for several seconds. The 1300C doesn't have the acceleration of the other vehicles but the brakes are great and lean angles are excellent, especially for a cruiser. Tires were factory Dunlops with only 9k miles on them. Run time: 16 minutes. Average speed 33 mph.Speeds are based upon the 8.5 mile *calculated* length.
Conclusions so far:
1) I need a lot more training. 2) autocross training in the car needs to be pursued again. 3) big difference in the agility of the bikes based upon the tires. Riding her bike reminded me a lot of riding the Wing when it wore the factory Dunlops. I really like these Avons! (No, I don't own any stock.) 4) At no point did I get over 60 mph, even on the "straightaways." Just didn't see the point and didn't want to push the brakes that hard on any of the vehicles. Braking from 100+ into an unknown curve was not my idea of safety. Bear in mind, I had only ridden the Dragon once before. 5) My brother rode my Wing during one of the runs but he was behind a couple of sport bikes. He had no trouble keeping up with them until he hit his personal exhaustion peak, then slacked off due to fatigue. I was pretty well whipped by my 3rd run, too! 6) I had always thought that bikes were faster than cars, generally. I guess they are not when I'm the one driving!Summary: try to find affordable advanced training.