***PENNSYLVANIA STATE ROUTE 125 MEET PART 2 ON JULY 17TH***
07-13-2010, 02:37 AM
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Everyone:
Well Victor and I can't get enough of challenging the king of all twisty roads within a day's drive of New York City: Pennsylvania State Route 125 and Gold Mine Road, located in the heart of Pennsylvania coal country. These roads are over 30 miles long, run over mountain after mountain and have hundreds of curves, including a number of 15 mph mountain hairpins that involve dramatic changes in elevation. There is simply no more challenging set of twisty roads that you can get to and return from NYC within the same day. And the area is very rural with little traffic. Reviewers have called this run the "Tail of the Dragon" of the Northeast. And so it is -- these roads are amazing. I just love them.
WHY: Because you want to experience twisty, mountain driving at its best. Because you want to push you car in a very challenging setting with little traffic. Because your E60 was designed for exactly this kind of challenge. Because you want to explore the full performance potential of your E60.
THE PHOTOS FROM OUR ROUTE and from last year's SR 125 meet: http://forums.5serie...__fromsearch__1 and http://forums.5serie...1&#entry1012275
THE REVIEWS OF OUR ROUTE: http://www.motorcycl...oads/pa125.html
WHEN: Saturday, July 17th, 8 am sharp.
WHERE: Isolated, very rural mountainous parts of the Pennsylvania coal country in the region between Allentown and Harrisburg. We will meet up just west of Newark, NJ off of I-78 West.
DIFFICULTLY LEVEL: Extremely High. This is a meet for serious drivers who want to push their rides to the limit on some amazing twisties in rural areas. These roads can be extremely dangerous and have claimed the lives of a number motorists/bikers who did not respect their hairpin curves. These are the kind of roads where you must be mindful of the road signs's warnings of curves ahead and speed recommendations. The hairpins are more challenging and dangerous than anything on Bear Mountain.
STARTING POINT: The starting point will be the parking lot of the Home Depot at 2445 Springfield Avenue in Vauxhall, NJ 07088 (908)686-2543. The store is about 5 miles west of Newark, NJ on I-78. Here is the link to driving directions to the store: http://www.homedepot...0&distance_2=50
From NYC, take I-78 West to Exit 50/B (Milburn/Maplewood). Off the exit, turn slight right onto CR-630/Vauxhall Road. In a quarter mile turn left onto Sprinfield Road. The store is about 1/4 mile on your left.
LUNCH POINT: Skeeter's Pit BBQ in Shamokin Dam, Pa (570-743-2727). Skeeter's is at the intersections of U.S. Routes 11 & 15 above Tedd's landing on a hill overlooking the Susquehanna River. I have eaten there and the food is great. If you love BBQ and a terrific view of a big river from a height, you will love Skeeter's.
ENDING POINT: Home Depot in Vauxhall, NJ -- same as the starting point.
THE ROUTE: The route will begin at the Home Depot in Vauxhall, NJ. From there, we will hop on I-78 West and drive about 115 miles to Bethel, Pa. We'll gas up there. That is where the real fun begins as we wind up and down about 40 miles of mountains and scenic twisty roads to the town of Shamokin, Pa. From there, we take a short, 20-30 minute drive to Skeeter's for lunch. Then we turn around and do these roads all over again the other way as we head back. I will distribute the exact route directions at the 9 am meet-up.
My guess is that we'll stop for lunch at Skeeter's about 12-1:00 pm. I expect that we will be back at the Home Depot in Vaxhall, NJ at about 5-5:30 pm.
Please gas up before the drive begins. There are two gas stations at the intersection of Vauxhall Road and Springfield, Avenue just 1/4 mile from the meet up point.
WHAT TO BRING:
?EZ PASS (If you don't own one, borrow one from someone that does)
?Walkie-Talkies - If you have a set of Walkie-Talkies, PLEASE bring them
?Radar detector
?Full tank of gas
?Camera
?Video Camera
I will distibute detailed driving directions for the meet at the 8 am meet-up at the Home Depot. This will be a long and fun drive so there will be pit stops along the way, so everyone can catch up, should people get separated from the group throughout the various drives.
Plan on carving out the whole day for this event.
Here is the current list of members who have told us that they are attending.
1. Sdg1871 (Scott plus Victor) -- 550
Let the good times roll.
Best,
sdg1871 (Scott)
Well Victor and I can't get enough of challenging the king of all twisty roads within a day's drive of New York City: Pennsylvania State Route 125 and Gold Mine Road, located in the heart of Pennsylvania coal country. These roads are over 30 miles long, run over mountain after mountain and have hundreds of curves, including a number of 15 mph mountain hairpins that involve dramatic changes in elevation. There is simply no more challenging set of twisty roads that you can get to and return from NYC within the same day. And the area is very rural with little traffic. Reviewers have called this run the "Tail of the Dragon" of the Northeast. And so it is -- these roads are amazing. I just love them.
WHY: Because you want to experience twisty, mountain driving at its best. Because you want to push you car in a very challenging setting with little traffic. Because your E60 was designed for exactly this kind of challenge. Because you want to explore the full performance potential of your E60.
THE PHOTOS FROM OUR ROUTE and from last year's SR 125 meet: http://forums.5serie...__fromsearch__1 and http://forums.5serie...1&#entry1012275
THE REVIEWS OF OUR ROUTE: http://www.motorcycl...oads/pa125.html
WHEN: Saturday, July 17th, 8 am sharp.
WHERE: Isolated, very rural mountainous parts of the Pennsylvania coal country in the region between Allentown and Harrisburg. We will meet up just west of Newark, NJ off of I-78 West.
DIFFICULTLY LEVEL: Extremely High. This is a meet for serious drivers who want to push their rides to the limit on some amazing twisties in rural areas. These roads can be extremely dangerous and have claimed the lives of a number motorists/bikers who did not respect their hairpin curves. These are the kind of roads where you must be mindful of the road signs's warnings of curves ahead and speed recommendations. The hairpins are more challenging and dangerous than anything on Bear Mountain.
STARTING POINT: The starting point will be the parking lot of the Home Depot at 2445 Springfield Avenue in Vauxhall, NJ 07088 (908)686-2543. The store is about 5 miles west of Newark, NJ on I-78. Here is the link to driving directions to the store: http://www.homedepot...0&distance_2=50
From NYC, take I-78 West to Exit 50/B (Milburn/Maplewood). Off the exit, turn slight right onto CR-630/Vauxhall Road. In a quarter mile turn left onto Sprinfield Road. The store is about 1/4 mile on your left.
LUNCH POINT: Skeeter's Pit BBQ in Shamokin Dam, Pa (570-743-2727). Skeeter's is at the intersections of U.S. Routes 11 & 15 above Tedd's landing on a hill overlooking the Susquehanna River. I have eaten there and the food is great. If you love BBQ and a terrific view of a big river from a height, you will love Skeeter's.
ENDING POINT: Home Depot in Vauxhall, NJ -- same as the starting point.
THE ROUTE: The route will begin at the Home Depot in Vauxhall, NJ. From there, we will hop on I-78 West and drive about 115 miles to Bethel, Pa. We'll gas up there. That is where the real fun begins as we wind up and down about 40 miles of mountains and scenic twisty roads to the town of Shamokin, Pa. From there, we take a short, 20-30 minute drive to Skeeter's for lunch. Then we turn around and do these roads all over again the other way as we head back. I will distribute the exact route directions at the 9 am meet-up.
My guess is that we'll stop for lunch at Skeeter's about 12-1:00 pm. I expect that we will be back at the Home Depot in Vaxhall, NJ at about 5-5:30 pm.
Please gas up before the drive begins. There are two gas stations at the intersection of Vauxhall Road and Springfield, Avenue just 1/4 mile from the meet up point.
WHAT TO BRING:
?EZ PASS (If you don't own one, borrow one from someone that does)
?Walkie-Talkies - If you have a set of Walkie-Talkies, PLEASE bring them
?Radar detector
?Full tank of gas
?Camera
?Video Camera
I will distibute detailed driving directions for the meet at the 8 am meet-up at the Home Depot. This will be a long and fun drive so there will be pit stops along the way, so everyone can catch up, should people get separated from the group throughout the various drives.
Plan on carving out the whole day for this event.
Here is the current list of members who have told us that they are attending.
1. Sdg1871 (Scott plus Victor) -- 550
Let the good times roll.
Best,
sdg1871 (Scott)
07-13-2010, 02:42 AM
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Here is a recent article full of pics and reviews about our route: Gold Mine Road and Pa SR 125:
http://www.pa-mag.co...5-gold-mine-rd/
Here is some of the key text from the article:
Few roads seem to generate the amount of ?buz? around the motorcycle riding enthusiast community in Pennsylvania as PA 125. If you spend some time at the MotorcycleRoads.US site and the MotorcycleRoads.COM site ? you will notice that this road seems to produce more enthusiastic comments and ?chatter? than any other road in Pa. Due to the challenging nature of the road ? it?s not at all unusual for motorcycles (particularly Sportbikes) to outnumber cars on this road. While this road does not compare to the gold standard of ultimate motorcycle roads ? Deals Gap ? it?s about as close as you are going to get in Pa. On occasion ? you will see groups of sports-car enthusiasts use this road to test the performance capabilities of their rigs. As is often the case with roads like this ? PA 125 has claimed more than its fair share of riders and drivers ? so be careful and stay well within your limits on this one.
This route is all about the road itself ? there are no attractions or especially noteworthy places to stop along the way ? just challenging roads. The combination of Gold Mine road and PA 125 is very much like a roller-coaster ride, with a series of very steep climbs and descents with sharp corners at the top and the bottom, with a few rolling hills and gentle corners mixed-in for good measure.
http://www.pa-mag.co...5-gold-mine-rd/
Here is some of the key text from the article:
Few roads seem to generate the amount of ?buz? around the motorcycle riding enthusiast community in Pennsylvania as PA 125. If you spend some time at the MotorcycleRoads.US site and the MotorcycleRoads.COM site ? you will notice that this road seems to produce more enthusiastic comments and ?chatter? than any other road in Pa. Due to the challenging nature of the road ? it?s not at all unusual for motorcycles (particularly Sportbikes) to outnumber cars on this road. While this road does not compare to the gold standard of ultimate motorcycle roads ? Deals Gap ? it?s about as close as you are going to get in Pa. On occasion ? you will see groups of sports-car enthusiasts use this road to test the performance capabilities of their rigs. As is often the case with roads like this ? PA 125 has claimed more than its fair share of riders and drivers ? so be careful and stay well within your limits on this one.
This route is all about the road itself ? there are no attractions or especially noteworthy places to stop along the way ? just challenging roads. The combination of Gold Mine road and PA 125 is very much like a roller-coaster ride, with a series of very steep climbs and descents with sharp corners at the top and the bottom, with a few rolling hills and gentle corners mixed-in for good measure.
07-13-2010, 02:44 PM
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07-13-2010, 04:11 PM
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07-13-2010, 07:19 PM
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I'm riding shotgun with you! LOL. Put me down. As long as my M5 gets here by friday, I can drive it. I gotta be extra careful with the turns tho. It's my first time driving a 500hp RWD car.
07-14-2010, 04:24 PM
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Sounds great. Just use lots of care as you won't know your ride's limits yet. It is an unforgettable ride.
07-14-2010, 09:15 PM
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Of course. I don't think I can pedal to the metal like with the V8s. I'll take it easy. I hope the OEM suspension is better than my current Bilsteins w/ Vogtland springs.
07-15-2010, 02:55 AM
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Richard had no problem on those roads with his setup on his M5, which I believe is basically OEM.
07-15-2010, 06:06 AM
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My Ride: SOLD...Jet Black 2008 550i M Sport with SAT, black interior. RPI exhaust and air scoop, 35% huper optik tint all around, CF roundels, flat black kidneys, Springfield Armory XD-40 jet black in glove box, charcoal filter removed.
how fast are you guys taking this road, on average? i mean is it balls to the wall the whole time or what?
also, sdg are you running OEM sport suspension on your 550? how does it handle on the road for you?
also, sdg are you running OEM sport suspension on your 550? how does it handle on the road for you?
