I forgot about the Isle of Mann. It would be heaven to ride the TT course, likely a bit slower than the racers do. Like my dream of New Zealand, it would likely take a lottery win to achieve.
Regarding the Tail of the Dragon, I think it is far less exciting than I expected it to be. Firstly, it is almost always a crowded roadway. The tons of motorcycles even on what I had hoped would be a quiet weekday weren't a problem, but the cars and trucks using the road were scary. Drivers in sports cars who are not as skilled as they think they are, and who are crossing the double lines on curve after curve are a fatality just waiting to happen. And if you find yourself behind a truck, the only sane thing to do is to pull over and wait 10 minutes or so. I was there many, many years ago on a small displacement cruiser and my low clearance had me scraping pegs time after time. My more recent visit, 5 years ago, was on my then brand new Goldwing, and again I was scraping the pegs. With curve after curve, many requiring a rider to slow down to very low speeds, it actually got tiresome and I looked forward to finishing the 11 miles (but I did ride it back and forth several times, knowing it was not likely that I would return anytime soon). During that trip I came upon several serious crashes, all of them involving full dress tourers who must have entered a curve too fast and went off the road. I'm glad I went, but in truth the experience of riding the nearby Cherohala Skyway, and the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway was much more fun.
