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Yeah, I know it's gonna be pretty crowded, we probably won't do the dragon at all unless we can get up before dawn on friday (arriving thurs). There's plenty of other twisties and backroads in the area, we're gonna rail those instead.
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Jun 24, 2015 19:49
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I feel like if you're making the trip, you might as well do it once. Motovlog that poo poo! 
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Jun 24, 2015 19:52
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M42 posted:Yeah, I know it's gonna be pretty crowded, we probably won't do the dragon at all unless we can get up before dawn on friday (arriving thurs). There's plenty of other twisties and backroads in the area, we're gonna rail those instead. Cherohala is a blast, but watch the decreasing radius corners. They (used to?) hurt a lot of people. Foothills Parkway can be fun as well. clutchpuck posted:
Include some more of those creepy-as-gently caress pictures where you black out your face in your helmet.
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Jun 24, 2015 20:31
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M42 posted:Yeah, I know it's gonna be pretty crowded, we probably won't do the dragon at all unless we can get up before dawn on friday (arriving thurs). There's plenty of other twisties and backroads in the area, we're gonna rail those instead. You should do the dragon, there're a lot of great roads in the area but it's worth it just for the overall spectacle of the thing. Plus it's easy to link it up with other stuff like the Cherahola Skyway or whatever other roads you want to do. I'd also recommend trying to get to SR-215 in NC. It was completely empty when we were on it, though I think it might have been a weekday and near sunset. It's really fun. Also if you don't do the dragon you don't get pictures of yourself in a corner, which is half the fun in my opinion. I think there's also a photographer somewhere on the Cherahola.
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Jun 24, 2015 20:49
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revmoo posted:We have twisty roads where I live. If I'm taking a three-day weekend to travel to a destination to ride, I'm going to want other activities to do during the downtime. I can get six-hours of out my bike at best before fatigue starts to take over. What kind of activities are you looking for? And what counts as a "city"? Robbinsville is right there and is city enough to me. I dunno who said there are no restaurants but I don't know what they're on about. Edit: nevermind....why am I trying to convince someone to make it more crowded? M42 it might take a while longer but you realize that the ride from DC to Deals Gap can be done a lot on the BRP and other roads like that? Some of the best roads on the east coast on the way to the Gap would be a trip. nsaP fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Jun 24, 2015 |
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Jun 24, 2015 21:00
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M. Night Skymall posted:. I'd also recommend trying to get to SR-215 in NC. It was completely empty when we were on it, though I think it might have been a weekday and near sunset. It's really fun. 215 is off the BRP on the way north to Asheville, right? As I was packing up on the way into Asheville a miata guy told me to ride it, he said it was a mini Gap. I didn't have time to stop unfortunately. M. Night Skymall posted:Also if you don't do the dragon you don't get pictures of yourself in a corner, which is half the fun in my opinion. I think there's also a photographer somewhere on the Cherahola. There was a guy on the Cherohala when I was there but just the one. 129 has people in at least 4 places iirc.
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Jun 24, 2015 21:11
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HotCanadianChick posted:You will be significantly less pumped once you spend a few hours behind a conga line of several hundred Harleys parking it in the corners because that's what happens there on holiday weekends. You're better off NOT going there on the 4th and planning it for the middle of some random non-holiday week. What was it like when you were there?
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Jun 24, 2015 21:19
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nsaP posted:215 is off the BRP on the way north to Asheville, right? As I was packing up on the way into Asheville a miata guy told me to ride it, he said it was a mini Gap. I didn't have time to stop unfortunately. It starts a bit south of the BRP, but yeah it finishes pretty close to Asheville. I think we took 281 south to it which ended up being full of slow commuters and people going in/out of driveways(pretty sure it was that road), but the road itself was nice and curvy, then took SR-215 back north and finished in Asheville. It was our last road of the day which was a bit of a mistake since it's pretty demanding and we were tired, but it was one of our favorites. I think it also has some weird surface issues with a bunch of gravel at the end but this was last september so maybe they've cleaned it up by now. Edit: nsaP posted:What was it like when you were there? 
M. Night Skymall fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jun 24, 2015 |
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Jun 24, 2015 21:24
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nsaP posted:M42 it might take a while longer but you realize that the ride from DC to Deals Gap can be done a lot on the BRP and other roads like that? Some of the best roads on the east coast on the way to the Gap would be a trip. Wish I could do that, but unfortunately I don't have much time off - I'm doing that specific weekend because my work's closed on the 3rd, so I don't have to take a day.
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Jun 24, 2015 21:31
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If they ever build the Bering Strait crossing, I wonder how much time off I'd have to take to ride straight to Deal's Gap from here, if I didn't take any detours or get shot halfway through Asia. Probably have to be retired*, though it'll likely take until then before it's finished, so that's no problem. *tablet tried to autocorrect this to "retarded". Thanks, SwiftKey
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Jun 24, 2015 21:43
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The Gap seems a lot like any one of a dozen twisty Colorado roads, only with 1,000x the idiots and infinity percent more semitrailers.
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Jun 24, 2015 23:04
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Its 40mph average turns of great pavement for 15 minutes straight or so with some nice elevation changes up and down, not really like much else I've seen. Other roads have good curves but not near the frequency. Then on top of that you have all of the other NC/TN mountain roads all around there which probably do compare to others places. Out of at least 10 runs on it I had only 1 where I was held up for a significant amount of time, cause of three trikes that would not pulled over but were spaced just too far to pass all three. Most cars and trucks moved over.
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Jun 24, 2015 23:50
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I belong to one of those communities Z3n described something like "a bunch of 999 people who love to trade parts back and forth between each other" but for Buell XBs. Someone is selling a Lightning: quote:$3k as is located in Maryland. Emphasis mine. All hail lord Erik.
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Jun 25, 2015 00:44
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Radbot posted:The Gap seems a lot like any one of a dozen twisty Colorado roads, only with 1,000x the idiots and infinity percent more semitrailers. Ditto for the west coast. It's mainly popular because good, long riding roads aren't as numerous in that part of the country, unlike out west where every third rural road or highway is an awesome riding road because of all the big mountains out here forcing road planners to put a bunch of switchbacks in everything..
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Jun 25, 2015 00:45
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Have you rode OR-242 between Springfield and Bend? I hope it's open in a couple weeks when I go through.
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Jun 25, 2015 00:50
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Clutchpuck I thought of you today  
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Jun 25, 2015 01:56
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Looks like my brother's.
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Jun 25, 2015 02:15
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clutchpuck posted:Have you rode OR-242 between Springfield and Bend? I hope it's open in a couple weeks when I go through. It should be open, there was zero snow in the pass this year. It is a gorgeous road if you haven't been through it yet. Honestly, even 126 is a pretty decent ride, if a bit straight at times, and the coast road, is the pacific coast, so there is that.
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Jun 25, 2015 03:32
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HotCanadianChick posted:Ditto for the west coast. Mods please ban this troll. Switchbacks???
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Jun 25, 2015 04:14
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:Clutchpuck I thought of you today It's like an east vs west of practical but monstrously ugly bikes.
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Jun 25, 2015 04:22
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Slavvy posted:It's like an east vs west of practical but monstrously ugly bikes.
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Jun 25, 2015 04:59
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HotCanadianChick posted:Ditto for the west coast. You're a moron. Switchbacks aren't fun to ride, stop talking out of your rear end.
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Jun 25, 2015 05:04
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clutchpuck posted:Have you rode OR-242 between Springfield and Bend? I hope it's open in a couple weeks when I go through. I think I rode that on my supermoto idiocy road trip and yes, it was awesome. Basically every twisty road in that area is awesome, so it's hard to go wrong. Also, for those who are saying "switchbacks aren't fun to ride", here's a California "switchback": https://goo.gl/maps/BNh8R Z3n fucked around with this message at 06:20 on Jun 25, 2015 |
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Jun 25, 2015 06:15
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Z3n posted:I think I rode that on my supermoto idiocy road trip and yes, it was awesome. Basically every twisty road in that area is awesome, so it's hard to go wrong. Oh okay, so like all other things, californians redefine generally agreed upon words. Then Deals gap is 311 switchbacks. Back to Back. The ultimate road. nsaP fucked around with this message at 06:24 on Jun 25, 2015 |
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Jun 25, 2015 06:22
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nsaP posted:Oh okay, so like all other things, californians redefine generally agreed upon words. I'm going to ride deals gap one day, I'm sure (during the week), but I have my doubts about it comparing to Highway 1 or any of the stuff north in OR/WA. Or hell, even the better sections of Angeles Crest in LA. Trees are nice, but when you run up and down a mountain to the ocean...it's pretty good. And there's many roads that are not "THE ROAD" so you have wonderful pavement without hordes of idiot harley riders/etc. I should take the time to upload the video of me on the MV and Spiffness on the 1290 running up Skaggs Spring Road, which is pretty much every road type you could want in 36 miles. It starts out single lane, goaty and narrow, and then turns into a massive 2 lane high speed section at the end. And there's a dozen other roads like it in the area, it's just one good option. Z3n fucked around with this message at 06:34 on Jun 25, 2015 |
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Jun 25, 2015 06:26
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Alright yeah, lets see it. A big thing I'd bring up between west/east coast is road quality so I'd like to see. Maybe where you are is good but I've been to a few states in the southwest and the roads were poo poo for riding overall. I dunno who's brother of a government employee owns the contract or whatever, but the state roads out here are the poo poo and the roads out there, namely a lot of the mountain roads, can't compare. Skaggs spring sounds like the poo poo tho. But your comparison of deals gap to like HW 1 or the like are apples and oranges, ya know? Closer would be like the Blue Ridge Parkway and HW 1, but still they are both great for their own reasons. I think we just downplay it. Partially because we're humble east coasters. Cali dudes can't go from waking up in bed to the shitter without telling 4 dudes how great the god drat weather is. I say "Deals gap was pretty good" which means "fuckin over 300 turns in like 15 minutes of riding at an average of 40 or so, pristine pavement and elevation shifts thru the corner that make it like a roller coaster" but all you people can gently caress off and stay away please. Just for us. They still don't compare but if you put HW1 with the BRP and the good roads off of them both I bet it would compare. Might not be as good as the best parts of HW1 or going from ocean to mountaintop, but it's consistently beautiful from start to finish. No desert cliffs. NorCal to WA, High 5. East coast approved. nsaP fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Jun 25, 2015 |
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Jun 25, 2015 06:43
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Z3n posted:I think I rode that on my supermoto idiocy road trip and yes, it was awesome. Basically every twisty road in that area is awesome, so it's hard to go wrong. I live 2 miles away from the CA-1/La Honda area and it is pure joy to ride. Empty twisties, and miles of sea waiting in the wings.
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Jun 25, 2015 06:46
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Meanwhile, in Ontario  :https://goo.gl/maps/kl14p 4km of the best riding road there is. 
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Jun 25, 2015 06:46
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The Intermountain West raises both coasts with this, White Bird Hill, ID; Yeah, we got your switchbacks. Edit: If that's not enough there's always US 212 (The Beartooth Highway) from Cooke City to Red Lodge, MT. Outside Dawg fucked around with this message at 07:00 on Jun 25, 2015 |
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Jun 25, 2015 06:54
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That doesn't look fun, especially going downhill.
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Jun 25, 2015 06:56
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nsaP posted:Alright yeah, lets see it. A big thing I'd bring up between west/east coast is road quality so I'd like to see. Maybe where you are is good but I've been to a few states in the southwest and the roads were poo poo for riding overall. I dunno who's brother of a government employee owns the contract or whatever, but the state roads out here are the poo poo and the roads out there, namely a lot of the mountain roads, can't compare. Well, yeah, something's gotta justify the taxes and the politics.  Here's some snaps from the road because the video's like 45 minutes long and 10 gigs. It starts out like this:  And then cleans up a little bit:  A little more:  Then you get a double yellow:  And then smoother pavement:  And at the end it may as well be a track:  The other thing that's great about Cali is it's so loving big that you occasionally find stretches of road that have no real reason to exist but clearly some road designer was a motorcyclist and just went all out. There's a section of one of the higways that eventually leads to buttonwillow that should be a hillclimb course. The road is from before the days of the freeways, but is freshly repaved and no longer has any reason to exist but for the enjoyment of those who get off the beaten path. You can see from the rubber marks on it that it's the preferred drifter stomping grounds, but typically you can see the bottom of the hill from the top of it, so you know if there's traffic coming and you can just tear down this wonderfully paved, incredibly cambered road at absurd speed with zero fear of oncoming traffic or anything else. It's wonderful.
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Jun 25, 2015 07:07
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Typical Caligoon waffling on about Cali...
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Jun 25, 2015 07:25
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Z3n posted:I'm going to ride deals gap one day, I'm sure (during the week), but I have my doubts about it comparing to Highway 1 or any of the stuff north in OR/WA. Or hell, even the better sections of Angeles Crest in LA. Trees are nice, but when you run up and down a mountain to the ocean...it's pretty good. And there's many roads that are not "THE ROAD" so you have wonderful pavement without hordes of idiot harley riders/etc. I've ridden that exact switch back you posted north of San Fran I think, and yeah the roads in Cali are great and there are tons of them. I've ridden tarmac tons of places all over the world but I still think the gap is still my favorite. The action cameras don't do it justice, it doesn't feel like any other road I've ridden. The road makes no logical sense, it goes where it wants and changes elevation in the weirdest ways, it's hard to describe. I tried looking for clips of the road not shot with action cams but with regular cameras and didn't find any good ones. This video has still photographs in it and they seem to do a better job and conveying the wackiness of the road, look in the background of some the shots to get an idea. Yeah the harley parades and the car clubs are annoying but if you get a chance, go ride it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74RQqdUly5U *edit this video has non action cam footage, but also terrible music and editing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rGbln3J4Sg HNasty fucked around with this message at 08:12 on Jun 25, 2015 |
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Jun 25, 2015 08:01
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HNasty posted:I've ridden that exact switch back you posted north of San Fran I think, and yeah the roads in Cali are great and there are tons of them. I've ridden tarmac tons of places all over the world but I still think the gap is still my favorite. The action cameras don't do it justice, it doesn't feel like any other road I've ridden. The road makes no logical sense, it goes where it wants and changes elevation in the weirdest ways, it's hard to describe. I tried looking for clips of the road not shot with action cams but with regular cameras and didn't find any good ones. There's a weird road out in the middle of nowhere that me and Motomind ended up running about a year ago when we headed down to the Carrizo Plain - it's got a similar thing to what you describe, where the elevation changes and the rest of it just make zero sense. I have a fond memory of him airing his Futura off the top of one of the crests, because it just didn't make any sense for the road to change elevation that sharply at that moment. Sight lines were fine, the road just decides that it's going to have a new elevation at that point. There's also apparently a chunk of road on the CA/NV border that again, has no reason to exist and is apparently just another strip of nowheresville wonderful to ride - I'm going to try and make it out there this year. Will shoot video when I do. But yeah, teh Gap is the list if for nothing else to show up and be smug about some obscure CA road that's obviously better  Edit: Yes, that road is just north of SF and if you rode Highway 1 you would have hit it. It's one of my favorite bits of road, especially since it's been repaved and is smooth and beautiful. Traffic during the weekends, obviously, but on a weekday it is glorious.
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Jun 25, 2015 08:22
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One nice thing I see about Cali roads is the sightlines. Out here it's all forest so 99% of corners are blind which reduces the speed you can carry by quite a bit. In the more desert-y environments you can often see a quarter-mile ahead or more. Also you have to deal with hillbillies floating their pickup trucks across the DY. (Seriously had this happen four times yesterday)
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Jun 25, 2015 12:44
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revmoo posted:Also you have to deal with hillbillies floating their pickup trucks across the DY. (Seriously had this happen four times yesterday)  Seriously, dumbasses cutting corners or making huge wide-rear end turns because they're too lazy to turn the steering wheel are the bane of my driving/riding existence.
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Jun 25, 2015 12:55
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California has some good riding but really the entire west from the Rockies to the coast is like riding nirvana. Even New Mexico has some fantastic roads, in fact in general their surface quality is some of the best I've seen. Nevada's roads are really straight but it is so otherworldly I can't get bored there. Even then you can accidentally find stuff like https://www.google.com/maps/dir/41.6821393,-115.8006057/41.8051724,-115.962171/@41.7671573,-115.8816618,12z
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Jun 25, 2015 15:31
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Yeah, riding sucks where I am. I can only do it on weekends because it takes me 1.5 hrs just to get to the mountains/twisty roads.
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Jun 25, 2015 15:45
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If you come through Asheville on your way to deals gap I can show you all of the kickass traffic free twisties in the area. I haven't been to deals gap in two years because I'm having so much fun around here.
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Jun 25, 2015 16:41
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clutchpuck posted:California has some good riding but really the entire west from the Rockies to the coast is like riding nirvana. Even New Mexico has some fantastic roads, in fact in general their surface quality is some of the best I've seen. Nevada's roads are really straight but it is so otherworldly I can't get bored there. Even then you can accidentally find stuff like https://www.google.com/maps/dir/41.6821393,-115.8006057/41.8051724,-115.962171/@41.7671573,-115.8816618,12z The mountains outside of Vegas are amazing as well. Tons of great elevation changes. You can go from the strip to snow-capped mountains in about an hour.
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Jun 25, 2015 16:49
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