The Dragon, it's not what it's cracked up to be (Article).

As a commit to the article posted on the Dragon, I too have some commits from my experience.  Having ridden the Dragon in 2005, before the Law made it their personal play ground, I thought the road had difficult sections, was way to narrow, and may be overrated for fun.  After the ride, I was convinced that it was not what I expected, and except for having these tough section, wasn't that much fun.  I'm not trying to be a detractor, but traveling 200 miles, to ride 11 miles, just wasn't worth it.  I also traveled (several times) the section of Georgia 60 from Blue Ridge to Dahlonega.  Now it doesn't have as many hard areas, but it's 60 miles long, traverses two mountain section, has short straights, many and varying twisties, a small town for rest (Suches), and most important, it makes you grin uncontrollably while you ride it.  I guess the point is, there's lots of great roads to ride, and maybe as riders we shouldn't put too much emphasis on just one.  

To me the Dragon is an extremely exhausting road, physically and mentally, no matter what speed. I just live 50 miles away, and I can only ride it once per trip. Easy to make mistakes when tired, or at twilight. Very frustrating to get stuck behind drivers who refuse to pull over, as required by TN Code. So the temptation is to pass in blind curves and play the odds, rather than wait for a straighter section with decent visibility. This crash cost $150,000, because a truck refused to pull over in the parking area at the site of the crash:

Dragon Scar Story
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7772970103963352941&hl=en

BEFORE THE POLICE SURGE:

Deals Gap: Got Freedom?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=536643279293371622&hl=en

Deals Gap Chillout
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4036621878251490730

AFTER THE POLICE SURGE:

Cobras versus Cops on the Dragon
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7897701284152020417

Dragon Wars at Deals Gap Police State Boycott
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5896521387232688827&hl=en

Deals Gap Tourist Trap
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7126651785904879973&hl=en

The police Surge resulted in boycott by 200,000 sportbikers. Now the drunk 3% gangsters and rookies are taking over, resulting in DUI checkpoints, 18 cops per 11 miles, 150 $800 tickets per weekend, and 7 fatalities in 18 months of the Surge.

As for tickets, if riders would learn the basics of winning in traffic court, all these frivolous lawsuits would go way. Even the TN Court of Appeals says the 30mph limit is illegal.
http://piratenews.org/OakRidge-v-speed-limit-OPN.pdf
http://piratenews.org/how-to-win-in-dragon-court.html

“I’ll burn your house down, set your dog on fire and there won’t be a member of your family left, do you understand me? I won’t hire it done, I will do it myself! Do you understand me?”
-Blount County Dragon sheriff James Berrong, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Nuchols v. Berrong, No. 04-5645, July 11, 2005
http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/05a0586n-06.pdf  
"The MAINTAIN TOP SAFE SPEED sign may be used on highways where conditions are such that it is prudent to evacuate an area as quickly as possible." - US Dept of Transportation, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, Section 2I.06 - DealsGapDragon.com

I would like to agree with the commits about the Dragon being if you will "over rated".  Having never ridden it and hearing all kinds of great stories about it I wanted to try it.  Last Fall (2008) a group of my friends and riding buddies (Five bikes all together) traveled from West Virginia into Asheville and then over to the Dragon the following day.  It was on a Friday in October so we thought we would be able to "run it".  Boy was I wrong and disappointed.  The best thing about it was the store and T-Shirts and the overlooks.  The traffic was bad and the cruisers would not get out of the way.  However Route 28 and the Skyway saved the day.  These two stretches of road were great and we had a lot of fun.  So even if you didn't or don't like the Dragon don't give up on the area around it.  Have fun and Ride Safe.