First Dragon death of the year

[Trip]

21 year old? from Maryland lost it just pass Parson's Branch heading towards the store in one of the "fast" sections. Left a lot of rubber on the ground before going off. Was told a footful of rear brake. Happened around 9pm last night.

RIP

[NONE_too_SOFT]

http://geriandricky.maxwells.net.nz/wp-content/photos/USA__2000_07_29__TombStone__KingsChapelCemetryBost on___29July_.jpg

[marko138]

Yikes.

[OneSickPsycho]

What's the rest of the story? Gear, no gear, tree, cliff, etc, etc...

[Trip]

What's the rest of the story? Gear, no gear, tree, cliff, etc, etc...

cliff and trees, dont know about gear. They said speed was a factor, considering it is one of the fastest sections.

around the 6:42 mark in this vid, rewind it a little before to get the feel of that straight section.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1975780580368896071

[Rider]

:panic: People need to be careful....

[the chi]

oh damn, that sux...

[Trip]

God damn, 230 feet of skid marks.......Must of just panic braked.

A 21-year-old Maryland man was killed when his motorcycle traveled off of the road and hit a tree on Calderwood Highway Monday night.

Jerrett Andrew Proctor, 21, Brandywine, Md., was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper John Pedigo.

Pedigo said Proctor was riding a 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa southbound on the Dragon with a group of family members on motorcycles.

"He came out of a curve and was traveling up the hill and he left the pavement," Pedigo said.

When Proctor's motorcycle left the roadway between mile markers 3 and 4 on the Dragon, the back of the bike struck a tree.

Pedigo said the motorcycle fell 23 feet down an embankment, and Proctor fell 27 feet from the roadway. Proctor landed under a tree that had been cut down.

"He left 230 feet and 7 inches of skid marks," Pedigo said. "Speed was a factor."

According to Suzuki's web site, the Hayabusa is the fastest motorcycle in the world.

Pedigo said Proctor was wearing a helmet. His body was taken by ambulance to Blount Memorial Hospital.

The Blount County Sheriff's Office, Rural/Metro Ambulance Service and the Blount County Volunteer Rescue Squad assisted THP at the accident scene.

Monday's accident resulted in the third traffic fatality this year in Blount County.

[the chi]

230 ft of skid marks??!! You THINK speed was a factor, holy crap, what the hell was he even going that fast for??!! And in the dark?

[Trip]

I don't think he touched the front at all, this must of been all rear.

[Rider]

230 feet? He MUST have been going well over 100mph. 21yo and on a Busa.... :panic:

[No Worries]

From the motorcycle magazines, most bikes can stop from 60mph in under 120 feet. That's with a professional, using front and rear, and with the brakes almost at lockup. With a novice, at night, from out of town, on a new and possibly unfamiliar bike, going too fast, and stomping on the rear brake could leave hundreds of feet of skid marks.

[Southspice]

:sorry: Happens every freaking Spring here!!!
That's what has made it tough for us locals ....
Sorry to hear adout this incident!!! Riding way over his limits!!!
Got to have RESPECT you know!! Respect for the machine and for the road!! At least if you want to survive!!!

Couple of Friday's ago .. going up toward Lake City at 6am - little young dude riding a CBR was going thru some twisties .. a semi truck was parked on the side of the road at a gravel pull off. Somehow this guy lost it coming out of the curve and hit the back of the semi ... took his freakin head off - no joke!! Estimated going about 120-130 mph .. plus it was pretty chilly and foggy here that morning!! Pretty sad .. even though was stupid!! Don't understand what were they thinking??? :?:

[marko138]

:sorry: Happens every freaking Spring here!!!
That's what has made it tough for us locals ....
Sorry to hear adout this incident!!! Riding way over his limits!!!
Got to have RESPECT you know!! Respect for the machine and for the road!! At least if you want to survive!!!

Couple of Friday's ago .. going up toward Lake City at 6am - little young dude riding a CBR was going thru some twisties .. a semi truck was parked on the side of the road at a gravel pull off. Somehow this guy lost it coming out of the curve and hit the back of the semi ... took his freakin head off - no joke!! Estimated going about 120-130 mph .. plus it was pretty chilly and foggy here that morning!! Pretty sad .. even though was stupid!! Don't understand what were they thinking??? :?:
It's easy...they aren't thinking.

[z06boy]

That's sux for him and I'm sure really tough on the family...especially since somr were there.

I don't have much if any desire to run the dragon at night. I'm sure some of you more "dragon experienced" guys would disagree.

That's one thing I hate about sportbikes headlights...you may be leaning and turning to the right or left but the headlights are aiming elsewhere and it's just hard to see where you're going in the twisties unless you know the road pretty well.

[Rider]

That's one thing I hate about sportbikes headlights...you may be leaning and turning to the right or left but the headlights are aiming elsewhere and it's just hard to see where you're going in the twisties unless you know the road pretty well.

They talked about that in the MSF class I took. Don't out ride your head lights... I never ride at night and that is one of the reasons.

[z06boy]

They talked about that in the MSF class I took. Don't out ride your head lights... I never ride at night and that is one of the reasons.

I hear ya.:dthumb:

Yea in a straight line I can see this happening at a high speed so just slow down a bit but in the mountains even at low speeds...it is flat out weird to me to be looking into complete darkness rounding a twisty and my headlight aiming out front into the wilderness...just gives me an uneasy feeling...ok it scares the crap out of me...if I'm not familiar with the road :lol: Even if I know the road there could be gravel...dead animal...deer...etc....waiting...just a few feet away.:panic:

Having said this...following someone makes life easier.

[OneSickPsycho]

Of course the article couldn't resist stating, "According to Suzuki's website, the Hayabusa is the fastest motorcycle in the world."

[marko138]

Of course the article couldn't resist stating, "According to Suzuki's website, the Hayabusa is the fastest motorcycle in the world."
Thats a prerequisite when talking Hayabusa accidents.

[Trip]

Night runs are bad for a lot of reasons. It's not something one should do lightly. I still can't believe fpzx made his first run at night.

[jalaan1]

230 feet? He MUST have been going well over 100mph. 21yo and on a Busa.... :panic:


that's messed up but, i agree.
prob. riding well over his limits.

[NONE_too_SOFT]

Night runs are bad for a lot of reasons. It's not something one should do lightly. I still can't believe fpzx made his first run at night.

we werent doing anything crazy that night, but yea, i agree. specially after the wet weather we were having earlier.

[Trip]

we werent doing anything crazy that night, but yea, i agree. specially after the wet weather we were having earlier.

I started to get a little more serious about running at night when the cops first started coming up there all the time. Ya'll know about the velcro mounted helmeted flashlights. I quickly thought better of it and don't try to make hardly any night runs anymore. I don't really ride as much up there anymore and do most of my real hard riding on the track now. It's just not worth it, especially at night where you can not see a vehicle for hours.

[Mudpuppy]

yeah the night runs are spooky for sure.. we did a back to back last year around 11pm and it was pitch black.. i was good following twisty until he got his bearings and started going faster than i cared to.. of course then it was my lone headlight and i was even more lost.. i was following his headlight when i was behind him and it gave me ample opportunity to see what was coming up..

[dReWpY]

we ran the dragon a couple years ago at like 2-3 am and it was complete fog, i was ahead of nighthawk and it was like a cloud, i was in MC heavin and completly scared shitless, waiting for the droppoff from hell..... :pc:

[marko138]

we ran the dragon a couple years ago at like 2-3 am and it was complete fog, i was ahead of nighthawk and it was like a cloud, i was in MC heavin and completly scared shitless, waiting for the droppoff from hell..... :pc:
What is the point of this?

[dReWpY]

was trying to tell a cliff notes version of this
so after riding all day with jeeps, nighthawk, my gramps and my uncle we soon ran out of sun light and were about 3 hours from our camp site and on the other side of the gap, two of our riders decided to call it a night and stay the small town we had stopped for gas in, two decided screw that we can ride home, and jeeps was real close to home and just said his peace and left, night hawk and i started on our way to the campground and i cant remember if we got lost or what the deal was but it took longer then i remembered to get back, we pulled into the CRoT and took pictures, counted our blessing a few hail marrys later we got on our way up the dragon, this was my first night run, and what a night run it was, we would hit patches of fog that made even seeing the next 15 feet infront of you impossible, at one point i had pulled ahead of NH and didnt relize it until i was a good distance ahead, i stopped and pulled off and waited... and waited... and no lights, no sound for a good 5 mins, all of a sudden i could hear the bmw, no lights the fog was so thick, he was coming around the corner i got back in saddle and coninued threw the dragon with only limited visibility at best and pea soup at worst, lesson learned, never mess with a smoky dragon, in hindsite, it was fun and a story to tell but prolly woulda been safer to sleep at CRoT in the lot then play on the dragon

[Smittie61984]

Someone said it looked like a 7" wide 230ft black mark(Thats roughly 76 yards or 24 yards short of a football field). Just curious but how wide of a tire would you need for a 7" wide contact patch skid.

Someoen talked to the guys father and brother/cousin/etc. Said he got the Hayabusa for his 21st for a suprise from his father. Apparently his father and son did everything together. I'm guessing since they rode ATVs(As mentioned before) that the father felt he'd be fine on a Hayabusa or the bike his son drooled over.

But yeah I'm fairly inexperienced(Been riding since last July) and almost nailed a deer the other night. I was on the FRONT brake so hard I was doing an endo higher than I've ever done before. Never did I think "Rear Brake". I made a mistake by not shifting my weight back and pushing down on the pegs but the deer bolted out so fast I didn't have much time to react. I may have brushed the deers tail when going by.

And after a month of two or riding on my old SecaII I almost hit a deer and was on the brakes very hard. That time I did both front and rear brakes and never jabbed on them.\

Still a sad case but needs to be evaluated so others can learn from it.

[dReWpY]

hearing about the rear brake makes alot more sense
being from the atv racing background we almost always use the rear to "steer" the bike, its first nature, makes a hellva 'lot more sense now, this is why its nice to come from the dirt, but its a whole 'nother beast

[Mr Lefty]

still even if he got on the rear brake that hard... locking it up... 74 fucking yards?! didn't think there was a stretch in the gap long enough to build up enough steem to lock up the rear for 74 fucking yards and still leave enough un spent energy to kill ya

[dReWpY]

its not teh sudden stop that got this one i think, it was the long drop that followed

[Mr Lefty]

its not teh sudden stop that got this one i think, it was the long drop that followed

well as my uncle always said... it's not the fall that kills ya... it's the sudden stop at the end :lol: