SR555 Ohio's Tail of the dragon

[vw151]

Some say that this is Ohio's equivalent to the tail of the dragon (US129 on the border or TN and NC)  I am not sure if that is true but I can assure you that my knees hurt at the end of this 30 minutes of video and we had more to go after that.  555 continued on after this, followed by 676 into Marietta and then we hit up 26 and 260 on the way home all of which were fantastic SE Ohio roads.  Although I love the Appalachian valleys, there truly is nothing like SE Ohio. 

Anyway, enjoy the footage of me elegantly lugging my air cooled Ducati out of corners at less than 3k rpm at times.  Leisurely enjoying the corners.    Seriously, the bike was made for this, while superbikes work their asses off to carry speed in these corners, this bike, with it's straight bars and silly torque over light weight body and motor destroys these roads.  The only weak point is me, who can barely carry my giant gurth over the foot pegs as I have to hang off the bike in these corners going about 35mph. 

SR555 Ohio's Tail of the Dragon Part 1

SR555 Ohio's Tail of the Dragon Part 2

SR555 Ohio's Tail of the Dragon Part 3

[Rameses]

That road looks pretty awesome.

I don't think I'd compare it to the dragon though.  The corners are much more sweeping for the most part.  And there's not the stress of having cliffs to have to worry about driving off, which's nice.


What kind of camera were you using?  Looks like pretty good quality video.

It wouldn't hurt to raise the mounting point up some though so the instruments don't obscure the view quite so much.

[vw151]

I agree.  It's really not apples to apples with the dragon, but everyone in OH likes to compare.  SR555 is a fantastic road but honestly, in SE OH and down into WV there a lot of good roads.  People really only compare 555 to the dragon cause it has so many slow corners.   I have videoes of the dragon on the same bike if you want to make a direct comparison.  It's clearly not the same.

Tail of the Dragon pt1 Ducati Monster S2R1000

Tail of the Dragon pt2 Ducati Monster S2R1000

Tail of the Dragon pt3 Ducati Monster S2R1000


It's a goproHD.  I only run 720p though.  I am really impressed with the quality of the camera, espeicially compared to the old versions.

Yes, I want to raise the mount.  I had an unfortunate incident where I destroyed a lot of my mounts a few months ago and haven't replaced.  I think 1 more joint up would make it much better.   get me a lot more above the gauges.  

[Rameses]

It's a goproHD.  I only run 720p though.  I am really impressed with the quality of the camera, espeicially compared to the old versions.

I was at a local bike shop today getting my bike inspected and they had one sitting on the counter in a display.

It was the first one I'd ever seen in person.  I was really impressed by how small and compact it was.

[redxblack]

I like seeing the actual gauges, fwiw. It makes it easier to imagine what actually riding there would be like.

[DoubleEagle]

Great production Joe.

Have you tried mounting the Camera on top of your Helmet ?

It WILL really stay in place.

I put one on top of my Helmet and went 100 mph to test it and it stayed put plus ran it on the Helmet for over 45 minutes.......only problem........no video.

One problem w, showing your gauges is if you should happen to get stopped by a  he or she can review that video and see the speed you were going and 90 mph wouldn't look too good !

I also want to commend you on your choice of " Jethro Tull "  on the 1st segment.

I really like that stretch of road.

I stay mainly in Hocking, Southern Fairfield, Perry, Vinton and Athens counties.

The roads I ride are generally much twistier and Forested.

That 555 would make a great Road Racing road.

I didn't see any  , how is it generally as far as  ?

[Jobu]

And there's not the stress of having cliffs to have to worry about driving off, which's nice.

http://tiny.cc/like-this

 

[DoubleEagle]

What on Earth was the Rider thinking as he was passing ?

Dolph   

[Jobu]

What on Earth was the Rider thinking as he was passing ?

Dolph   

He wasn't.

[DoubleEagle]

He wasn't.

May be it was the 1st curve he had come to !

Dolph

[velocipede]

555 is great, as is that whole area (My in-laws live there, so I get to ride around there quite a few times a year), but it's a different experience than the dragon. The roads in TN are in better shape, and while 555 has some awesome curves, 129 is just amazing.  Still, the roads in SE Ohio are one of the hidden treasures for motorcyclists in the state, and this time of year is the best of all .   

[Tekneek]

Nice vid! Being a NE Buckeye, I too, run all around this area west of Marietta. Great getaway and an easy day trip from the Akron area. Ideally though, I use them as a means of dodging I-77 on my way down into the mountains of WV where the cautionary "turn" signs don't lie. Thanks for posting!

[ab]

Nice!  Yep, a few of us are out there whenever we have good weather, gas money and good tires. :-)

And yes, do not show your gauges when recording.  Lol


R555,r536, r255 are nice technical roads.

R26 is fun long swerve road .

Gravel is what sucks out there.

B safe !

[vw151]

I have never seen a cop on 555.  There is actually not much traffic on it generally.  I like having the gauges in the shot too even in spite of the fact that it could be used against me.  Let's people get a sense of what kind of speeds the corners are.   Although I definitely exceeded the speed limit at times I actually like to take it easy down there.  Lugging the straights and just trying to carry corner speed.  No reason to treat it like a race track since going off the road could hurt a lot.   I lost some of the mount joints otherwise I would have moved the camera up 1 more link.  

I'm going to try and make some more videos in the future of some of the other great roads in the area.  I've mostly used the camera on the track and that is all so far.  The public roads are kinda fun to make videos on.

Yes, I've had the camera on my helmet before.  I used one of the curved sticky mounts for that.  I didn't like it because every time I check my shoulder or look to the left or right so does the camera. 

[DoubleEagle]

No  ,........ makes my mouth water  .

Thanks Joe for the response.

Dolph....