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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> 2023 /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1673666964 Message started by MMRanch on 01/13/23 at 19:29:24 |
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Title: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/13/23 at 19:29:24 I just found out I can rent one of the Tepees at : https://codyponderosa.com/rates/ for $50.00 a night. What's that web site that has nice rides listed ? ........................ |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by verslagen1 on 01/13/23 at 20:28:31 http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1472701815 |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/13/23 at 21:33:06 Was reading this "Ride Report" : Went to Cody, WY in July 2010 for the 70th annual Motor Maids convention. While out there was told that we HAD to ride Beartooth Pass - that it totally rivaled Deals Gap in TN. Based on what my peers were telling me I was terrified to ride it, but excited at the same time. Lots of area without guard rails - just stay focused and you'll do fine! The scenery was breathtaking - many many switchbacks and hair pin curves. Came in through Red Lodge, Montana and went out through Cooke City. Must stop at the Top of the World gift store and take in the scenery. The temp at the bottom was mid 60's but at the top it was 29 degrees and probably about 6" of snow left on the ground. The roads were very clear. Great ride - a MUST! The 29 deg. part in July makes me rethink the whole idea ? Maybe Late August it might be a bit warmer ? Maybe something a little further South ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 01/15/23 at 11:28:37 I am not likely going to be able to participate in a Cody, Wyoming ride this year. It is just a bit too far to go to ride for a few days. My phone GPS says it is 1,600 miles and 20 hours of driving. That translates to more like 30 hours of driving once you factor in fuel, rest and eating stops......therefore it is 3 pretty longs days of driving to get there without any distractions along the way, and about $500 in gas towing with the car ($1,000 in gas if we take the RV). Deb and I are likely going to take a trip out west in a year or two - but it will likely be a 3 - 4 week trip where we can drive at a leisurely pace and stop and see many sights along the way. I am always willing to meet at Moe's or the Two Wheels of Suches for a few days of riding......I plan on wearing out a set of tires (or two) this year! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by TheSneeze on 01/15/23 at 15:26:08 If you head west and end up near Lake Tahoe, I have an acre of land. 30 minutes from the lake. Just throwing out options... |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/15/23 at 17:38:57 524D686F656C60736A010 wrote:
I've watched movies that started like that.. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/15/23 at 19:29:32 Yeah that nice place on Slaughterhouse Rd |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/15/23 at 21:35:44 August (the warmest month) If I can get someone else wanting to go spend 10-12 days on a low budget trip then I'd love to visit that area for a week. And "TheSneeze" , you saying you've got a acre to camp on for a few days makes it even sweeter ! Please PM the address ? If I can't find a local guy to ride out there with then I'm not sure its a good idea. I'm checking the KOA option too , but still there is safety in numbers. .................................... The year is more likely to be a few Dragon Runs , and Suches Ga. trip. The Guzzi group will do a couple Suches GA trip too. Hay Has anybody had the idea to ride the Blue Ridge NORTH up into the Yankee country ? I've read the speed limit drops to tourist speed but its OK to enjoy the scenery sometimes. Me , Lancer and Oldfeller did a "Different Campground" every night trip a few years back and it worked just fine ! ??? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 01/16/23 at 03:35:25 “ Me , Lancer and Oldfeller did a "Different Campground" every night trip a few years back and it worked just fine ! “ When did I do that ? I do not remember this one. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by verslagen1 on 01/16/23 at 07:53:02 07150715180B0409024A0 wrote:
If you come out this way for a week, I'll be there. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/16/23 at 20:04:09 Lancer , Do ya remember we got caught in the rain going to a restaurant and I was the only one with a windshield to duck behind , then just as we got to the dinner and off the bikes the bottom fell out of the clouds for an hour and a half ? On that same trip we stayed at Boone NC and the three of us shared a two person cabin and did some laundry while we were there . I think ??? we stayed a Cruso the first night and came back to it later the same trip , you left your truck there while we were gone ... but I'm not sure where it was really ? That same trip we found a parade of dump-trucks up on the Park-way . Me and OldFeller did a similar thing thing once ... but he made all the reservations and I just followed him , he was really good at planning fun stuff and doing all the set-up stuff. Sometimes I feel guilty for letting him do so much for us , You hear that OldFeller ... I owe ya dinner if we ever get to the same place again ! ;) .................. Versey , :) I was hoping you'd be interested in a ride like this ! It just wouldn't be the same with out ya ! ;) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 01/17/23 at 03:16:39 MM, I do remember the restaurant and the crazy rain, and the stay in Boone for the night, but the rest have faded from my memory. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/17/23 at 21:58:38 but the rest have faded from my memory. That's OK Lancer , I have to keep making new memories because I can't remember the old ones ! ;D ....................................... It seems to be time to have a meeting near Versey's neighborhood . :) but That's a long way to go by myself ! Safety being in numbers ... as in case of an unforeseen event having help riding along side being good. I am ridding on "Tubeless Tires" now ! ::) I can bring my 8'x10'x 72" tent for "once we get to the camp site". I have several to pick from but that's the big one that fits on the bike. There is a lot of planning and mapping time between now and August. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/18/23 at 08:12:52 I have a half dozen tents but only one with a 6 foot roof . I might be bring the truck ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by TheSneeze on 01/21/23 at 17:07:04 I have room for large trailers... 8-) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/21/23 at 20:01:24 Thanks for the info Sneeze ! "I have room for large trailers..." ................................... I'm too cheep to pay for pulling a trailer that far , even a little one. ::) I've got a dollar but I don't want to spend it ... ;D The less a trip cost ... the more I can enjoy it. Maybe that's where my love for motorcycles started from ? It's been so long ago , I forget ? :) If I need to then two bikes will fit in the back of my truck. The truck would mean a dinning shelter (tarp) , one of those 200" gas grills and a folding table. Hay Sneeze If you have electricity at the camp site then is an electric grill OK to bring ? The kind to make pancakes and sausage on. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 01/22/23 at 08:38:58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ZE_zvtEcI [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8ZE_zvtEcI[/media] |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by TheSneeze on 01/22/23 at 08:55:59 I have a gas grill on my back patio. We can also do breakfast in our kitchen as well. The electrical hook up on the outside of the shop is for RV's. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/22/23 at 22:01:33 I sure enjoyed the video ! ;) I'm not sure I can wait for August for a visit ?? :) Hay Versey , now that your retired ... does the timeline matter to you ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by verslagen1 on 01/23/23 at 07:44:39 011301131E0D020F044C0 wrote:
Only thing I have left to take care of is the tax man for my mom and I. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by TheSneeze on 01/23/23 at 08:34:11 You guys will at least have to wait for the snow to melt. The Sierra Nevada has gotten more snow so far this season than in many, many years. I think I heard the current total is 441" - so far. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/23/23 at 09:22:00 Hay TheSneeze I'm not good at ridding or camping in the cold ... or snow ! :-[ embarrassed ... I went to Such GA. (N-GA Mountains) too early one year and the days were nice and up to 75 degrees , but those nights dipping down into the 30's was hard to deal with. Suches is not even a full days ride from home. Repeating that same mistake for a trip halfway across the country ... would suck a lot of the fun out of it. So let me ask ya this, are ya'll nightly lows up in the 50's by early summer ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by verslagen1 on 01/23/23 at 11:42:59 Tahoe is 8hrs away for me 8-) 1 day drive no problem. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/23/23 at 12:39:12 Versey , you lucky dog ! ;D You can run over to that area as easy as I can run to NC. ! :) Hay Versey , so that area is only one days ride (long day) from Lancer's place ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by TheSneeze on 01/23/23 at 13:10:37 Early summer has pleasant overnight temps. We usually see mid 90's during the day for a couple months in the summer. Right now our highs are barely getting over freezing, two days ago it was 4 degrees at 7 am. In this picture of Lake Tahoe is part of the Carson Valley, which is just south of Carson City. My home is just out of the frame to the lower right corner. The lake is a 30 minute drive. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by verslagen1 on 01/23/23 at 14:49:53 647664767B68676A61290 wrote:
Only if you have really long legs... It's 25 hrs according to google |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 01/23/23 at 18:56:06 Paula and I spent 3 days driving from Sacramento to Oklahoma, and Tahoe is only a few hours from Sacramento. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/24/23 at 16:50:06 My USA geography is just BAD ! .... But that's the only thing ! Well ::) , that may depend on who ya ask ? ;D Really , I'll get the map out when spring gets here. We've got a plan moving for middle of the summer. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/25/23 at 07:56:27 I’m watching your plans curiously. Absolutely no promises but I would like to meet you all even if it’s just coffee somewhere. I’m peeking out from under my protective rock. A ride with you guys and I could scratch one off the bucket list ! California has a thousand killer roads fantastic views. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 01/25/23 at 08:59:46 Hay Ruttly I'd like to get in on California Bike Ride. The thing that we have found in Texas is a : Camping Cabin that can sleep up to 6 people without draining our pocket books . And Even more important ... A Tour Guide with a BIG SMILE all the time !!! :) ..................... Me for one , would be glad to meet ya and put a face to your name . ;) Here's a standing invite to any of you fellers that I've had out there for years : If your in my neighborhood ... I have a spare bedroom waiting on ya. If there are too many for the bedroom I'm got a "Garage Room" with a bed , a couch , heater , and AC. I've also got a REALLY BIG campground , but some of it has to be shared with the cows ... ::) And I'm retired , so I can play "Tour Guide" any day of the week ! :) :) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/28/23 at 01:19:26 Cattle don’t bother me a bit , tent placement is critical ! Lost the cattle ranch across the street last year we miss them a lot. One year I spent Christmas Eve herding couple dozen escaped bovine back into the ranch. Yeah me and a stick and the only cop in the world afraid of cows , wouldn’t even get out of his car and was visibly scared when they surrounded his cruiser. So I got all dem doggies back in the ranch then the rancher came home , yup the good ole days. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/28/23 at 09:21:26 I keep telling the wife when I retire we are moving out of town find a house with a porch between an orchard and a cattle ranch , I’ll be happy with some open space around me ! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by verslagen1 on 01/28/23 at 12:50:46 That's cool, you can call that place Green Acres ;D |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/28/23 at 14:40:45 Mow the grass ! No No No watch it grow. ;D |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by TheSneeze on 01/28/23 at 18:05:35 Ruttly - you are 3-1/2 hours from me via Hwy 88. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/29/23 at 12:06:10 That’s a long haul on the tracker , that’s a long haul even for the sportster. Have you ever been over 88 between here and there ? I’ve been as far as south of Tahoe where I think 88 & 89 mix. Ebbetts Pass is one lane over the summit it’s cool till some moron with a motor home crashes. I can pick up 88 off of 99 up by Stockton and I know the way up to 89 after that is where the adventure begins. Seems finding gas stations up in the mountains is harder than it used to be , fewer open gas stations , see old stations closed up where I used to buy fuel. Long haul or not still would be a very scenic twisty ride. Once you’re off the valley floor and heading up nearing Jackson the twisties begin and you better like twisties. I like it when you’ve turned so many times a straight section of road makes you smile. Now that I think about it Sportster would be a major workout on Ebbetts Pass. Danger awaits on the pass , deer & bears in the road , sure it’s seasonal. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/29/23 at 12:10:19 3 hrs 8-) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/29/23 at 12:20:52 I like the roads less traveled , fewer cruisers just less traffic all together. Going thru the mountains needs research on a map you can always see the roads all that M/C traffic will take , it ok but not for me. Ebbetts pass is one of those roads I like , I shouldn’t have even mentioned the name. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/29/23 at 20:50:05 My mistake Ebbetts Pass is wrong , that’s Hwy 4 |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/29/23 at 21:48:02 Hwy 4 goes to 89 north of 88. As I recall 88 is not as winding as 4. Still would be a killer ride thru the mountains over Carson Pass and beyond. I know I’ve been as far as where 88 meets 89 but it’s been at least fifteen years since going over the pass. And maybe 40 years since I came down 89 to 88 back to 99 cause of a huge landslide on 50 that year. It’s no straight line and may not be the quickest way but it may be the most direct route. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by TheSneeze on 01/30/23 at 07:45:02 The last time I went 88/89 I was towing my car hauler trailer with my 3/4 ton diesel truck. Ebbetts Pass had lanes so narrow I had all of 3" on each side of my trailer tires before I was riding on the paint. I picked up a vehicle in Placerville for a project I am working on (yes, another project!). Instead of taking that white knuckle pass I came home via 80 through Truckee and Reno. Wide lanes and more of them the whole way home. The extra 45 minutes added to the drive was worth it! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 01/30/23 at 14:51:25 Sonora Pass is tough too , lots of dumb riders. I’ve lost my brakes on that road several times , one time the plastic hub caps were melting and smoking , when we got it stopped , I said a great place for a picnic. ;D |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by springman on 01/31/23 at 07:09:24 Not sure I could take 2 weeks off from work, but it sure sounds interesting. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 02/02/23 at 08:37:18 Hay Springman You know me and Versey are retired ... what month is more likely for you to get off for a week and two weekends ? I was thinking of the Hottest month of the year so a ride through "BearTooth Pass" could fit in , but I'm not sure that is doable from where we're going ? Maybe the "Hottest" month is not the best plan now - but - on this COLD RAINNY FEBUARY day in TN. --- anything with the word "HOT" in it sounds good right now ! :P I don't know how many days to spend ridding about NV. Going through there on the Super-Slab is the only way I've seen any of it. I did go to the Painted Desert on one trip but then it was right back to the interstate (it might have been AZ. ? ) :-? Hay , why don't you see if Steve needs a summer ride ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by springman on 02/06/23 at 15:21:14 Steve always needs a summer ride. He probably has more leeway in being able to get away. Don't count on me for the ride but make your plans and let me know. If I can get away, I will join you guys. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 02/06/23 at 17:45:19 As Lancer would say - Okey Dodokey ! ;) .................................. I still don't know if I'm hauling or ridding ? It depends on the guy that might go with me , who won't know till later in the year ? ................................. But , we know where now ... |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by springman on 02/09/23 at 14:28:26 Heading to Beartooth Pass from my house is over 1500 miles. By bike it would be 3 days of hard riding to get there and 3 more to get back. Might be difficult to pull off right now. :o |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 02/09/23 at 19:58:08 Well , At least I saw a picture of it ! ::) I've got another 20 years to ride , so maybe some year after we all get retired ? https://www.montanahikes.com/the-beartooth-highway-and-beartooth-pass/ |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by TheSneeze on 02/10/23 at 21:41:06 A local friend of mine took this picture of our valley today while flying his plane over our house. The tallest peak is called Jobs Peak. Just behind the ridge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains lies Lake Tahoe. Beautiful shot! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 02/11/23 at 04:17:06 There’s nothing like getting your feet off the ground a bit for a Birds Eye view of things. It’s a beautiful sight. We see how small we really are in the grand scheme of things. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 02/11/23 at 10:01:54 Spectacular pic , almost doesn’t look real. Imagine if the camera was on the outside on the plane. Thanks for sharing that. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 02/12/23 at 20:45:09 That's a very nice shot ! I just was staring at it , flying must be like ridding a bike in the sky ! 8-) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 02/13/23 at 04:37:17 617361737E6D626F642C0 wrote:
One of the reasons I like riding a bike is that it gives me some of the sensations I remember of flying, especially on the curvy mountain roads. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 02/13/23 at 08:25:44 Me too , I especially like the sensation being airborne at speed. Be it only for a little or a lot , it’s an adrenaline rush. Gracefully leaving earths gravities brings on one big as$ grin. 8-) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 02/13/23 at 15:52:30 5F78797961740D0 wrote:
Fixed, rotor, Jet or prop ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 02/13/23 at 19:13:52 Haven’t earned my wings yet. Wait till I get healed. Direct drive ! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 02/13/23 at 21:39:56 I might be a natural born pilot and didn't even know it ! ;) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by TrevorKlein on 02/14/23 at 00:42:45 O really but how did you realize that?? ;D |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 02/14/23 at 03:18:52 455745575A49464B40080 wrote:
MM: Go find the local airport that offers flight training.....and see what it costs to get an "introductory ride". They used to be pretty cheap as they are promoting their business. You might have to sit through some sales pitch - but the chance to put your hands and feet on the controls is worth it! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 02/14/23 at 09:34:28 Do it. It can be addicting though. [ch128526] [ch127949][ch65039][ch128641] |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 02/16/23 at 18:51:56 O really but how did you realize that?? Flying a small plane might be like riding a Bike ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 02/25/23 at 05:06:03 Deb and I just reserved our lodging in Centerpoint Texas from April 30 to May 7th. This is the same place we stayed at last year. We are going to ride with Youzguyz for some of the days - but we are also going to spend a bit more time off the bike this year....we are going to ride the bike to visit the touristy stuff (museums, hiking, watching the bats come out of the bridge/cave, eat dinner and listen to music, see a gunfight in Bandera, dance a Texas Two Step, canoe/kayak on the river, etc.). Youzguyz will do some guided rides as usual......some days we will likely be doing too much touristy stuff to keep him amused. We are bringing the "big" motorcycle this year.....more comfy to ride but far less able to do any off roading - so we will be staying on the pavement. Anyone who wants to come to Texas is welcome to join us......you will need to arrange your own lodging. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by verslagen1 on 03/20/23 at 15:13:12 I'm trying to keep this on my horizon but I have things to take care of 1st. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 03/20/23 at 17:26:56 My stepdad, Don, is going to be 101 Apr.8 and in a veterans celebration & parade in Mcalester on the 29th. It’s our responsibility to get him there, round about and back home. He and two other WW2 vets are riding in the lead vehicle. It’s put on by a bunch of VFW’s from the whole area. This should be a lot of fun. But with the timing it interferes with riding. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by verslagen1 on 03/20/23 at 21:48:30 wish him a happy bday for me hope you have smooth sailing there and back. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 03/20/23 at 22:54:47 Wow ! 101 years 8-) what a blessed feller he must be to get so many years !! Thank ya'll for taking care of his needs . :) Lancer , I see why your month might be busy ! ................................. Thanks for the invite Dave I don't think I'm going to have but a day or two in April this year. We're putting a house up with our son this spring , so My spring ride for 2023 can only be out one day and back the next ! I hope it don't extend into the summer ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 03/21/23 at 04:08:47 Thanks fellas, he is a remarkable man, who is fully functional and drives, shops, his favorites are the discount stores, he cannot pass up a sale. He and mom have 2 freezers and several closets pact with food stores, part of living through the depression. But he is on the go almost daily, mows the grass and tills and plants a garden every year. He could easily hit 110 or 115 with a little Grace. Mom is doing ok but she is slowing down a little more each day. They would love to see you. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by youzguyz on 04/07/23 at 05:42:09 Dave, The extended forecast is looking good for your trip. I am slowly getting better and started riding again. Should be OK by the time you come down. Hope to take you on your favorite roads, and maybe see a few new ones that will become favorites! :D Right now, the wild flowers are going crazy. A good year. Just haven't been able to get out much. Did get this picture. Looking forward to seeing you and Deb again! 8-) ... and anybody else who might wander in. ::) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/10/23 at 20:58:30 Well , I hope the Texas ride went well this year ! Its a little surprising we haven't seen pictures yet ? I'm thinking our Southern Border is no place to be for a while , but maybe I just watch the news too much ? I'm planning on a ride to Suches Ga. in June for the 9th - 11th , maybe the 8th too ? I think there is a dual sport meet the same weekend and a Guzzi meet also , but sometime ya just don't know till ya get there ! Either way I think its time I got to take a 3 or 4 day ride and do some tent camping. Sometimes I wonder if I should have kept the DR200 even if it was worthless ridding double. :-/ Any of you folks want/need a trip to Suches and need a place to stay on the way there can find a room and dinner in Lynchburg TN. even if its not the second weekend of June ! Or it would be nice to have company if anybody else coming from a different direction I can just meet ya at the campground. I'll probably bring the Guzzi for this trip , the 350 Meteor don't run uphill nearly as good as the Guzzi does , down hill their both about the same ... but what goes down must go back up. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/11/23 at 05:05:22 MM: My neighbor and I are likely driving down to Suches tonight and will be riding Friday/Saturday and coming home Sunday - you are welcome to come and joint us. The weather forecast shows a chance of rain every day - but it appears to be scattered and not an all day rain. TEXAS: Well - the Texas trip was a "bust" for Deb and I this year. It is a long and somewhat complicated story. My 2006 Pontiac Vibe and small trailer needed an upgrade as I plan to do a lot more traveling now that I am retired. I sold my little 4x8 enclosed trailer that was 4' tall inside, and I bought a 5x10 trailer that is 5' tall inside. Now I no longer have to remove the windshield to put my 800 in, and the 1200 will now fit as well. I had hoped the Vibe could still pull it and it did....however it struggled a bit to pull it home from the manufacturer in Indiana with the trailer empty - it is light enough but the issue is the bigger size of the trailer just has too much wind resistance for the little Vibe. It is OK to pull the trailer around town and/or for a short trip - but going through mountains or long trips is no longer an option. I have been planning for more than a year on getting a new and bigger car that can tow the larger trailer. My Vibe will not last me the rest of my life, and I wanted to buy a new car before they are all EV's or so expensive I can't afford one. When the new Ford Bronco came out I as smitten - and about this time last year I investigated getting a 2 door version. Any of the vehicles the dealer had on the lot were going for $10-$15,000 more than the MSRP - and I was not going to pay Range Rover prices for a Ford. If I ordered one the dealer would sell it to me at the MSRP - and I waited for 9 months for Ford to open the "window" to accept new orders....the supply chain and parts shortage has made it impossible for Ford to accept new orders as they can't fill orders that have already been taken. About 3 months ago I decided that it was not worth the wait - the Bronco is cool....but I am really not an "Off Road" kind of guy and the Bronco does suffer a bit in the MPG area as it is boxy and has big wheels/tires......mpg would be in the high teens/low twenties with the 2.3 Ecoboost engine and auto trans. I decided a Ford Explorer would be a better tow/travel vehicle than the Bronco. I went to the dealer and all the models on the lot where 4wd, and I really wanted a 2 wheel drive for the reduced price, reduced maintenance and 2mpg increase in fuel mileage. I was able to order what I wanted, and I picked it up on April 5th. Getting the 1,000 miles of break in on the vehicle before our Texas trip would be a bit of a challenge - the manual says not to tow, or drive at high speeds or do hard braking until the break in period is over....I only had 22 days to get the mileage done. I started taking 60 mile drives to get dog food and numerous other long drives just to build up the mileage. I changed oil and filter at 350 miles, 750 miles, and and again at 1,000 miles....I reached the goal of 1,000 miles the day before we were going to leave (Thursday, April 27). I have been getting mpg in the high 20's and the last two long drives I took I was getting over 30mpg.....all seemed well. I hooked up the trailer with the bike inside and took a test drive.....it towed and drove so nicely you couldn't even tell the trailer was hooked up - but I did get a code on the dash when the transmission tried to shift while starting up a hill. I unhooked the trailer and took the Explorer to the service department....the code sent to my phone said I should get is service soon. The code was not displayed when I restarted the engine. The dealer said it was not an "active" code - that the error was just that event and it was no longer a problem...I should keep driving. We loaded everything up and headed to Texas on Friday. Our plan was to stay off the busy interstates for a while and keep the speeds low. We would take the Bluegrass Parkway from Lexington, KY, then a bit of I65 to get to Nashville, then the Natchez Trace all the way to Natchez, MS....we would stop in Tupelo on Friday night. We were about 100 miles into the trip and the Explorer was towing well - the mpg was around 18 with the trailer and climbing a bit once we got off the local roads and onto the Bluegrass Parkway...the hills in KY likely cut the mpg a bit. We did have the warning light for the transmission come on again - it appeared that when driving on flat ground the transmission would shift into high gear - then as the grade started to get steeper the cruise control would start adding throttle - but the transmission did not downshift soon enough and the engine would begin to struggle at the low engine rpm/high throttle situation. I discovered that if I applied accelerator at the beginning of the grade I could "force" a downshift and the code would not trip. This worked fine - but then suddenly the engine began to run rough and act like it was missing on a cylinder or two - this lasted for about 10 seconds and then cleared up. The "Check Engine" came on and the "Ford Pass" app on my cell phone sent a message that said the engine had experienced a misfire....and once again the message was to get the engine "Serviced" soon. About 10 miles down the road the engine suddenly began to run very rough and sent multiple codes "Detonation, Misfire, etc.". There was a Ford dealer in Elizabethtown, and we drove about 15 miles to get there. It was late in the afternoon on Friday when we got to the dealer - they said they could look at it but it likely was too late in the day to get it repaired. I unhooked the trailer and drove it into the Service Department....the engine was missing on one cylinder and had a loud tapping in what sounded like the head. After looking at it the dealer declared the engine needed to be replaced - the 4th cylinder was dead. At that point we were not sure what to do - we were 120 miles from home and stuck. It took us about 15 minutes to figure out there was no way to keep the Texas trip in our schedule. We telephoned our host in Centerpoint, Texas and cancelled our cabin, we phoned or neighbor and asked him to hook up his car trailer and come pull us and the broken Explorer back home. He arrived at 8:30PM and we got home at midnight. The next morning we took the Explorer to the dealer where we bought it, then I went back down to Elizabethtown with my wife's car to retrieve my trailer and motorcycle (her car hauls the trailer better than my Vibe - but it does not have a tow rating that is adequate for a trip to Texas). The dealer had my Explore for 10 days - and they installed a brand new engine from Ford. My attempts to get them to replace the vehicle with a new one was not successful - they apologized but said the vehicle was under warranty and being repaired...and that the warranty was my only option. So far I have only driven about 30 miles in the Explorer and it runs and looks like a new car - but I have to put another 1,000 miles on this engine before I can hook up the trailer and see if the transmission code occurs again. My friends Ranger has the same 2.3 Ecoboost engine and transmission and his tows in cruise just fine, as did my wife's car with the 2.0 Ecoboost - it is not a problem with power, and it just seems the transmission does not shift out of high gear soon enough to keep the engine rpm up at an acceptable level. I looked at some Ford forums and it appears the Throttle Position Sensor can cause this issue on some vehicles. I do hope this Explorer doesn't turn out to be a lemon. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 05/11/23 at 08:27:11 Wow, that’s quite an adventure. Not exactly the way you want to start a trip. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/11/23 at 10:09:19 Like Lancer said ! Wow, that’s quite an adventure. ........... Doesn't the Ford have "Manual Mode" for the shifter ? I know when I'm towing the cattle trailer with 5 or 6000 pounds of beef in it ... I don't let my Colorado shift its self above 5th gear even going down hill. As I approach the bottom of a hill, I go ahead and manually shift to 4th gear before starting up --- if its a really steep hill I'll even go to 3rd gear and get them rpms up . And the idea of using the "Cruise Control" while pulling a load is a ... Cruel ... thing to do to the drive line on anything but "Flat-land". Keep in mind that the in line four cylinder Colorado in 4th gear would red-line the engine about 110mph , not that I'll ever go that speed ! :) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/11/23 at 10:40:40 Thanks for the invite Dave. My do list has me a little "Handy-caped" this year ! Retirement is not what I dreamed it would be ! ;) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/11/23 at 13:20:34 TW0 WHEELS OF SUCHES is having a Buell Festival this weekend....likely to be a bunch of V-Twin sport bikes there this weekend. 514351434E5D525F541C0 wrote:
My trailer is only 1,715 pounds loaded...the Explorer has a tow rating of 5,300 pounds. My wife's MKC with the 2.0 Ecoboost tows this trailer with the cruise easily....it shifts when it should and climbs the hills just fine......no cruelty inflicted. My friends Ford Ranger works just fine with cruise pulling his 5x8 trailer and motorcycle and he has the same 2.3 Ecoboost and transmission that I have.......these are lightly loaded trailers we are pulling (not beef cattle). The issue is not if it can pull - the issue currently is that it is reluctant to shift out of high gear soon enough. There is no manual shift button that I am aware of, or a way to lock out high gear (although I thought I read in the manual that it does...I know that it adjusts the shift points higher and also uses compression braking at slower speeds). There is button to select: Trailer/Tow mode, Slippery mode, Sport Mode, Off Road mode, Eco mode, and Normal mode and those settings change the shift points and power settings. Once the new engine is broken in I will be able to get back to the transmission issue and sort that out. It should be able to know when to shift when it is in the Trailer mode and has a trailer that is only 1/3rd of the rated towing capacity. I don't mind helping it to select when to shift - but that dang warning light and Cell phone warning message is annoying. My Chevy Avalanche pulling the toyhauler was a different story, as it was far closer to the allowable towing capacity and engine power. The cruise was not useful when it was hilly. The shifting was smooth and operated properly - but the 5.3 liter engine was only 195HP and not powerful enough to hold 60 mph on some of the steep grades (without making the engine go 5,000 rpm!). If you set the cruise it would try to hold 60mph on the grades and keep downshifting until the engine was really working hard. On the steep grades - I just kept the rpm at a comfortable limit of 3,500 rpm and let the mph drop accordingly.....and just tucked in behind a semi and followed them up the hill. (I agree that using the cruise on the Avalanche would have been cruel). |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/11/23 at 20:18:37 Yea Dave , there is a world of difference in 1500 pounds and 5500 pounds , at least for my truck ! The last load I had 4 old cows and a half grown wild steer on two 3500 pound axles. ::) .......... I'm having to get a new cattle trailer this year , the floor gave out in the old one and the thin square tube racks are full of rust ... so , I just ordered a new on built to my spec's. I got to thinking ... a little bit narrower trailer would keep them bovine from turning around and moving about so much back there. It moves the hole truck when they get to jockeying for position as we go down the road !! It's a little un-nerving some times. ;D ......... So Where does a 600 pound bear go ? Then where does a 1500 pound cow go ? Same story. Don't even mess with Bull !!! :P He's over a ton !!! I'm getting slam gate latches this time too. I had a cow kick the dividing gate one time while I was getting the chain around the post and sent me flying six feet through the air only to bounce off the tail gate . Yea the gate hit me in the forehead on the way to my torso and took three weeks to heal up. So yes slam gates this time . ;) ............. I hope ya'll have fun this weekend ! :) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/14/23 at 08:54:04 What a weekend....I need a nap! We left on Thursday night around 8PM - much later than I would have liked - but my neighbor has a real job and he did the best he could. We had a 30' long RV and a 6x10 trailer behind with both bikes inside. We were on I-75 going about 60mph and around 10PM and traffic was pretty thick for that late at night, and a female deer ran right at us from the right side of the road. She saw the massive RV headed at her, and she tried to stop and turn around.....she slipped on the asphalt and her feet came out from under her. She ended up flat on the pavement on her side as the right front tire contacted her squarely......followed immediately by the dual rear tires - she was quite a speed bump! We pulled over and looked - we had disassembled the dear and scattered deer parts all over the undercarriage and onto the front of the trailer....but there was not a single dent, scrape or damage to the RV! For some reason we never pulled over and we drove all night and arrived at Two Wheels of Suches at 4AM, and went to sleep. We woke up around 7 and it was a heavy and wet fog....and the weather forecast was not promising. We decided that staying in Suches was not a good idea - we headed north and ended up in Franklin around 10AM as the clouds were dispersing and we could see some blue sky. We parked at a community center near the fairgrounds and unloaded the bikes and started riding. We went down 28 to the Highlands, and then continued south on 28 and rode a few miles on Warwoman toward Clayton. We then turned around and rode back up the Highland and got into a light misty rain. We then rode Canada Road and by the time we got to Lake Toxaway the weather was drier. We then rode back to Franklin and loaded up the bikes and drove north to Cherokee as Bruce wanted to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway on Saturday. When we arrived in Cherokee we parked in a public parking lot near the downtown shopping area that was pretty much deserted. It appears about 1/3rd of the buildings are vacant, and all of the shops were closed on a Friday evening. We ate dinner at a very nice restaurant and spent the night in the RV in the parking lot. When we got up it was very foggy and we unloaded the bikes and put on a bit warmer gear than we had the day before....the weather forecast was for all day clouds and possibly rain. We got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and pretty soon the weather started improving. The clouds slowly dispersed and blue skies appeared. Temperatures were in the high 60's at the bottom of the mountains and high 50's on top. Traffic was very light and we had no problems going 40-50mph and we were not held up by any traffic. The parking areas had a lot of cars parked for folks hiking - they stayed on the trails and off the Parkway for most of the day. We went to 276 and rode it down to Brevard and had lunch, then got a tank of 90 octane gasoline without ethanol (more on that for MM later), then we rode 215 back up to the Blue Ridge. Both 276 and 215 are wonderful little twisty roads that are a lot of fun (215 has a little less traffic). We then rode the Blue Ridge to Maggie Valley in hopes of going to the Wheels of Time motorcycle museum....they were closing in 15 minutes when we got there and let us take a quick walk through for free. We then rode back to Cherokee. On that uphill ride from Brevard up 215, and then then the 50mph ride Blue Ridge to Maggie Valley and to Cherokee my neighbor got 95.5 mpg on his Honda CB500F using the pure gasoline! When we got back to Cherokee we loaded up the bikes and headed out....we got home at 2AM Sunday morning. I would have preferred to stop somewhere and sleep and continue in the morning - evidently Bruce wanted to be home for Mother's Day. This was a really great time to be riding in that area, as the tourists were not yet dominant on the roads.....we had absolutely no issue with traffic (even on 28 between Franklin and the Highlands which is clogged with tourists in the summer). The only bad issue about riding down in that area in May - is there is a lot of wet weather in the forecast! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/16/23 at 07:39:18 Wow that is impressive ! It sounds like ya'll had a great time even if the weather could have been better . ;) .............. Honda is putting that same engine on the CL500 too . If only they could put it on a perty bike. That funky looking headlight or the Flat-Black stuff on their other machines just hurts my eyes to look at. It is nice to ride a machine that returns those kind of fuel millage numbers . 8-) If the paint and front tire on that 500 Rebel wasn't so darn ugly I'd try one of them out. They look like they would sit nice ! But Maybe someday they will get around to doing a "CB" that takes it's looks from the 1960-1980's , maybe they will put a larger fuel tank on it than they did back then too ? Yea I know I'm stuck in the past ... but ... I'm happy to be where I am !! ;) ............. I'm still planning on taking the Guzzi to Suches campground that second weekend of June. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/19/23 at 03:58:28 We really had a nice time on the Blue Ridge Parkway....and 215/276 leading down from the Parkway to the bottom of the mountain. The tourist season has not yet started and traffic was incredibly light on all the roads. We never had to pass anyone going slow and there were no RV or Campers on the parkway....we could maintain 50 mph with no problem (speed limit is 45mph in most areas and we did see one officer watching to see that we respected that limit). We should go back and stay in the Waynesville area again and visit......it appears the Blue Ridge Motorcycle campground is still out of business and has not recovered from the flooding in the fall of 2021, they have not posted anything on Facebook since December 2022 when they still did not have a bridge. I suspect they will have a difficult time getting a bridge replacement, as they will likely not get permits to build a small bridge that restricts the flow of water on the Pigeon River (like the old bridge did). We will need to find another place to stay. Yep, the 500 twin would make a great retro bike engine......a modern version of the 60/70's CB 450 would be a great bike. Back in the day that was the biggest/fastest motorcycle that Honda made.....until the CB750 came out in 1969. I will see when Deb has us scheduled for a vacation to Michigan. If the second weekend in June is open I will head to Suches! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/19/23 at 05:09:02 Yep, the 500 twin would make a great retro bike engine......a modern version of the 60/70's CB 450 would be a great bike. Back in the day that was the biggest/fastest motorcycle that Honda made.....until the CB750 came out in 1969. Yes , What Dave said ! :) Maybe they would loose all that Blacked Out Ugly stuff , and make a perty bike again with a proper round headlight ? or Better yet ... a 500cc version of the 350 that they make for India ? Air cooled and all !! I understand it to make it's HP at 5500 rpm !!! ;) https://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcycles/2021/2021-honda-cb350 |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/19/23 at 17:54:20 There may be hope for the Blue Ridge Motorcycle campground. I was able to get my Facebook account restored (mixed blessing), and a lady posted a few days ago that she saw that they are building a new bridge. She posted some photos and it had much bigger headwalls, and that was all that was completed so far. I suspect that they will be working on the bridge for a couple of months at a minimum. So....maybe the campground can reopen for next year? It is a bit weird that the owners of the Blue Ridge Motorcycle campground have not posted anything or provided any updates to their Facebook account or their website. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/20/23 at 05:35:23 Hay , we need to go by and see it 'First Hand" ! A little ride on the Blue Ridge is always good anyways. :) I don't think I've even been on it since that trip where it was so foggy that 25mph was crazy too fast ! ;D It may be a full "Day-Ride" from Suches to Crusoe ? I liked the Blue Ridge motorcycle campground every time we went there. That was the last place I saw that feller from Florida (Old-Rider) and his really neat Ninja-300 . He was so proud of his Air Force looking bike and it looked really good too. I also remember the traffic on the weekends up on the Ridge ! That is no place to be on a Saturday ! :P At one time I had the idea that I might bring the DR200 down to Suches to explore some of those "Forrest Roads" . But The DR200 had a slight knock in the motor like a wrist-pin ... maybe ??? and its seat was too short for two , so its gone now. But If the Super Meteor thing works out this summer (if they ever get to N.America) then the 350-Meteor might need a new home and I'll need a dual sport again. Or I'll need to put the skid-plate back on the 350 Meteor , get it some dual-sport tires and a bigger rear sprocket for it ? It looks like RAIN TODAY ... again ... :'( Seems you can make a scrambler out of anything ??? ;) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/23/23 at 04:56:00 Deb and I are at Black Rock Mountain State Park - just a few miles north of Clayton, GA. Deb arranged this camping/motorcycle trip to replace our cancelled trip to Texas. The campground is small and at the top of a very steep/curvy road....it is nice and peaceful here. She had a bit of a tough time getting available camping, as the Memorial Holiday is approaching and campgrounds are full for that weekend . We drove down on Saturday and spent the night at the Cleveland, Tennessee Cracker Barrel parking lot - they allow overnight RV parking for free, We arrived around 8PM and were the second RV in the lot - by morning there were a total of 5 of us parked in the lot We then had a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel and drove the rest of the way on Sunday morning. We are in the RV and trailered down a motorcycle - the steep curvy hill was a bit of a challenge in the RV with a trailer! On Sunday afternoon we unloaded the motorcycle and detached the trailer and parked it in a small gravel lot at the camp store, as there was no room for the trailer in our camping spot....we spent the rest of the afternoon just hiking with the dog and getting settled in. On Monday morning we did hiking and visiting with neighbors and exploring the campground. In the afternoon we put the dog and cat inside the camper and took off on a motorcycle ride. We rode east out of Clayton on Warwoman to 28, then rode south on 28 down to South Carolina and went to Walhalla and turned east on 11 over to 130. We then rode to 130 and went north Lake Toxaway and picked up Canada Road (281) to Tuckesegee, then north on 107 to Sylva, then on 74 and 23 back to Clayton. (Canada Road is the place where we stopped at Jimmie's Market when Springman, MM, The Hammer and maybe Versy and a few others met the couple from Canada on the big Harley, and we all discovered the curvy road over to the Highlands....where the Black Bear crossed the road in front of us). The riding temperature was great in the afternoon with 68-74 degrees on the ride. The overnight temperatures are down in the high 40's/low 50's which might be a bit coolish for sleeping in a tent. The light traffic is wonderful however, and once out of the towns we pretty much have the roads to ourselves. The roads are not yet busy with tourists and there are no RV's or camping trailers blocking our progress. The only slow vehicle we passed yesterday was a truck on a hill that was loaded down with water from a Crystal Geyser bottling plant on Route 130....it was easy getting past him as he lumbered up the mountain grade. I am starting to believe that the first weeks in June (before Memorial Day) are perfect for riding down here.....if you can find days that it isn't raining. I don't believe you can plan the trip long in advance - you need to watch the weather forecast and go when the weather forecast is good....and stay home when the spring rain settles in for several days in a row. We got lucky as the weather this week is likely going to be dry the entire time we are here! After this Memorial Day Holiday - I believe the tourist season begins, and the traffic will increase (especially on weekends). MM: I warned Stewmills about your plans for Suches in June....he is going to try and come down to annoy us. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/23/23 at 06:28:27 MM: I warned Stewmills about your plans for Suches in June....he is going to try and come down to annoy us. That's OK , I'm always ready to be annoyed by Stew ... He's one of my favorite Annoying People ! ;) Seems he's always ready with that "Well - OK then" annoying grin ! ;D It seems like there should be more Savages (type people) If the Guzzi crew show up ??? There might be a campfire we sit in on , I'm bringing a chair just in case ? ........................... I'm glad ya'll are exploring Black Rock Mountain State Park ! I use-to wonder how you always know your way around places so far away from home ! :) So Thank you Deb ! :) :) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 05/23/23 at 12:02:10 “It seems like there should be more Savages (type people).” I hate to miss such a nice week to ride in such a nice area. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/23/23 at 16:53:33 Lancer You've always got a parking place and a bed over in Lynchburg ! Remember I'm only a half days ride from paradise. ;) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 05/23/23 at 17:13:33 544654464B58575A51190 wrote:
I know and I appreciate your heart. Y’all have space here as well Michael. Hopefully before long circumstances will allow. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/26/23 at 17:33:40 Deb and i are headed home from Clayton......the Black Rock Mountain State Park campground. The place was wonderfully peaceful and scenic......about 1/4 of the campsites were occupied during the week - it was the calm before the Labor Day crowds arrived. We met wonderful people and every night was really peaceful. I am not yet certain that it is a "go to" place for us to use on a dedicated motorcycle trip. We had great rides to Hiawassee, Helen, Wayah Road, etc. - but they did require some highway riding somewhere along the way. We were incredibly lucky on our ride pn Wednesday. We were a bit late in getting going and left around 2PM. We rode south on 23 and then took a route over to Helen so we could buy some corn meal from the mill. We then rode up 17 to 75 and rode over to Lake Burton....one of my favorite roads. It was around 6PM and making dinner at the campground would have been a bit late - so we decided to stop at the restaurant at the marina on Lake Burton. As we got to the top of the stairs a man asked us if we had reservations - we said no....did we need them? He said no, and followed up that they were all new management and that they weren't really open until Friday night - but they were having a "Soft Opening" and we were welcome to come in and order anything we wanted from the menu....at no cost! The menu is upscale from the marina food that they used to serve - however there will be a Carry Out restaurant downstairs for simpler food. Deb ordered a Ceaser Salad and a Shrimp Cocktail....I order a slab of Ribs! The food was excellent and the ribs were the best I ever had - I suspect that with taxes and tips it would have been a $90 meal! (I did leave them a nice tip). It was unbelievable that we just happened to be there for this "free" evening. On Thursday we rode Wayah Road, then went east to Almond and route Moonshiner 28 down to Franklin...then continued down 23 to Clayton and our campground. Friday morning we had to pack up and head out of Clayton, as all the campsites were reserved for the Labor Day weekend. We got packed up and left by 11AM, and we then stopped at Tellico Plains and the Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground was able to get us a spot to camp for the night. We unloaded the bike and rode about half the Skyway, then stopped at "The Beach" for an ice cream. Tomorrow we will head home! IT was a great week. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/28/23 at 03:43:01 Deb had made the camping plans only a couple weeks ago, and all the campgrounds were full over the Memorial Day weekend - so we had no camping spot for Friday night. Well.....the thought of being on I-75 on a Friday night before the holidays was a bit scary, I think the traffic would have been awful. (And we found out later that there was a large accident on the I-275 loop around Cincinnati that created a parking lot....and we would have sat for hours had we been in it). So rather than head home on Friday - we headed to Tellico Plains. We called the Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground and they said to come on over and they would get us a place to stay. It turns out that on "Family" holidays their business is light as their clients spend time with family rather than going out and camping with their motorcycles. We arrived around 2PM and unloaded the bike and took a ride on the Cherohala Skyway before dinner. The owners of the campground live behind the store and are very dedicated and helpful....it is a nice place to stay and they have small cabins for $51 a night, tent camping spaces at $10.50 a person and RV hookups at $28 a night. https://cmtrails.com/ We headed home on Saturday around 10AM and got home just after 5PM. We spent the rest of the evening unpacking. It was a great trip with absolutely no rain for an entire week....the rain is coming back and the next week looks wet - we were very lucky to have great weather. We saw a sign posted at the Firefox Museum that stated the climate is the second wettest region in the US...it is no wonder we have trouble finding dry days to go riding! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/28/23 at 08:50:27 MM: I won't be able to go down to Suches on June 9,10 or 11. Deb is out of town and will be coming back on the 11th. I could likely get down to Suches late in the day on the 11th if you wanted to stay and do more riding in the area......or if you wanted to ride up to the Kickstand Lodge and ride for a few days. Or - I could do some other weekdays. So much of it is weather dependent for me - as I really don't like going down there when there is an overwhelming chance of rain. It takes me about 8 hours to get to Suches - around 6 to get to the Kickstand Lodge. Dave |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/28/23 at 19:14:29 Hay the camp on the Skyway sounds like a nice place to meet next time ! I'm thinking the weather should warm-up a little in June . Maybe durning the week might be the best time to be camping in the mountains anyway ? The traffic is a lot more friendly Monday-Friday ! ;D I need to put one ride behind me before I can Schule the next one. After we get Anders moved into his house , my "do" list will loosen up a lot !. Nice find on the Skyway campground Dave !! 8-) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 05/29/23 at 03:34:41 1D0F1D0F02111E1318500 wrote:
The Cherohala Skyway camp is very similar to the Kickstand Lodge - they are very laid back and easy going, and the bathrooms are clean (but a little run down). Their breakfast biscuits are very good. The only downside about the place is the location - which is also one of the benefits. You are pretty well locked in to riding the Skyway morning and night to get to most of our favorite riding spots...about the only option is to ride 360 to the north to get around the Skyway, and it is not a stellar ride. Riding the Skyway from Tellico gets you to Robbinsville - which puts you about half an hour from Deals Gap, Wayah Road and many other good rides......there is about 1.5 hours of commute morning and night! Still......the Cherohala is a nice ride when traffic is light, and the tourists generally don't clog up the road early in the morning or later in the evening and the rides are generally traffic free. Well....let's watch the weather and plan something during the week later in June when the weather is good. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 05/29/23 at 19:35:23 My first thought on ridding the Sky-Way early in the morning was a Chilling thought !. :P Kind of like one June we went up Mount Mitchel : it was about 80 deg. at Deals Gap when we took off in the morning. On the way up to Mt.Mitchel we stopped and put the full fingered gloves on , then stopped to put the jackets on , then was glad to see a vender selling Hot Coco at the top ... when we finally got up there. :) It sure feels good on those hot summer days to run-up the Sky Way where its nice and cool. The next time we went up to Mount Mitchel , OldFeller didn't have enough fuel to get up to the top and then back down to a fuel station. That's when we discovered Hwy 30 going down from the park-way to Marion ! We forgot all about Mt. Mitchel after that , Hwy 30 is good ! :) :) ........................ Hay Dave , You ever been North on the parkway past the NC. section ? We Had a feller from NH. that used to come every summer . He gave me impression that the most northern sections were really nice. He worked at a saw mill and we call him "Al from NH". and he rode a White Savage with side opening hard saddle bag. He got himself a Suzuki S50 and faded into history after four or five years . But his tales of the Northern Parkway have lived on (at least in my memory). Any of you other fellers remember him ? .................. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 06/12/23 at 06:27:30 MM: How was the Gutzi weekend at Suches? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/12/23 at 22:50:16 I'm very glad you ask me that question . I got back Saturday night to a bustle of activity and just now (Monday 11pm) am getting around to logging back on. One of our local community centers was having their annual "Ice Cream Social" Saturday night . Well , part of me taking off Thursday morning for the weekend ... was to be back in time to meet Marcia at the Ice Cream Social. To get to Suches from Lynchburg is 200 miles. The easy way is to hop on the Interstate for about a hundred miles . I was planning to ride the Guzzi ... but ... I sold it last Sunday before leaving the following Thursday (opportunity knocked ::) ) I was a little hesitant about ridding the 350cc Meteor ... but ... it has gearing for about 95mph and the speed limit is 70mph so , come Thursday Morning off I went , saddle bags and trunk full with the tent tided on the back seat. To my surprise on flat ground 70mph is only about 1/2 throttle. Going up Moneagle mountain I was passing all the trucks as they had to slow down . I had no problem going as fast as I wanted to. On toward the top of the mountain everybody dropped to a crawl , and it was plain we were going to a single lane. When I got to the reason ... someone had run-into the rear of one of the trucks going up the mountain ... and there a mini van sat in the middle of the right lane , bent up with the front grill against the fire-wall. and radiator fluid just steaming up a cloud ! I couldn't help to think , what kind of Idiot could pull off a stunt like running into the rear end of a semi trailer hard enough to bend a vehicle up like that ? There must have been at least 40mph difference in their speed when the collision occurred . :-/ I had written instruction on what to do after I got off the interstate from goggle map the night before but the road signs were all missing. So , I went to plan "B" , which was to use the GPS. Well , that sorta worked , but apparently "Suches Ga." is nothing but a cross roads in the middle of NO-WHERE. My GPS kept suggesting other towns that began with "SU" in Ga. and wouldn't even let me finish putting Suches into the search box. So On to plan "C" ::) The Enfield came with a built in "Tripper". That's a Bluetooth device that plays off of a cell phone by way of an Enfield app and Google Map , then it shows instructions on the Tripper's screen. It worked flawlessly ! :) :) :) So, I got to the Suches with the whole afternoon to set up camp and look around. The first night it was just me and the feller who puts the meets together. We had a fire pit to ourselves and a bunch of green wood. I managed to split some of it into small enough pieces to make it burn enough to char the green stuff . It was still a nice evening. Friday morning the Dual-Sport bikes started rolling in. Well , there was a guided ride for Saturday with 280 something ridders pre-registered . Friday afternoon and Saturday morning they all were going through a vehicle pre-ride inspection . Apparently , since there was a National forest involved ... they all had to have their "Spark Arrestors" and stuff in place. ??? Friday , I went to pick up my brother Kent who lives in Hiawassee now (30 miles away) so we could visit and ride some. He is still ridding the old Harley Sportster. His (New to Him) Road-King is still in a local shop with an oil leak ... who would have thought Harleys leak oil ??? So , Kent worked out a plan to go over Hellen Mountain , over Hiawassee Mountain , then over Blood Mountain. Well , since I was on a 350cc bike and he was on a 1200cc "supped-up" bike he suggested we ride at my pace and I lead the way , so , off we went. The little 350 is coming up on 10,000 miles now and it's still getting better all the time. I ran off and left him with the first bunch of twisty road we came too. So , once we established the who can leave who thing we took turns leading and the day went really well. Up on Blood Mountain there was a bicycle rally/ride going on and the patrol officers were really thick so instead of running up and down the back side of Blood Mountain like I wanted to do we just back tracked our way to Hiawassee . I did get to ride the Wolf Pen twice Friday and then again Saturday once more. Saturday there was a British Bike Rally in Hiawassee , so that's the way I went home. It was more than British , there were German , and Italian bike too. I'll post some pictures , but ONE PICTURE per post is the only way I know how. Friday night the campground was full and the wood was dry enough to burn so we had a nice fire with 11 more Guzzi and ??? fellers join us. One of the Friday night guys had a Himalaya Motorcycle , so Saturday morning we swaped bikes and took a short ride. I'm glad I didn't buy one of them ... the 411cc was slower than my 350cc bike and a lot rougher too. The ride home was - out the Wolf Pen gap , then the British Rally , then Hwy 64 and River Road , then the Interstate. There was a traffic mess going into Chattanooga that turned into 1st gear idle . But The mess going into Chattanooga from the west was from - the river bend all the way past the I-59 cut off. I could see a bit down I-59 as I went by it , there appeared to be no end to it. Just a 20 mile long parking lot. I was glad to be going the other way and headed home to my Ice Cream Social Date ;) . |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/12/23 at 22:59:03 more |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/12/23 at 23:00:08 again |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/12/23 at 23:02:22 Vincent was there too |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/12/23 at 23:04:50 The Commander was there with two buddies , here's one of them |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/12/23 at 23:06:35 Vel and Ariel showed up looking good ! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/12/23 at 23:10:04 A REALLY OLD Guzzi came to visit too ! I think it was the Bacon Slicer one. Look at the rear and front shock , that might be the first "Up-Side Down" shocks ? Now days we're putting them on the front . |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 06/13/23 at 15:26:56 Looks like fun....unfortunately I just could not get away. Deb was out of town all that week - and so were my neighbors. I was feeding our animals and also pet sitting for the neighbors 16 pound cat "Boots". I nicknamed him "Brunswick" - as he weighs as much as a bowling ball! I am in the mood to go riding down that way and take the Savage. So far i have been down that way 3 times this year and taken the F800GT each time (Twice for the weather protection as it was cold......and once as Deb was with me and the Savage won't haul a passenger). I would like to go a few days during the week so that traffic is a bit less. I think maybe it is time to go back to Waynesville and ride in that area for a while. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/13/23 at 20:40:52 I would like to go a few days during the week so that traffic is a bit less Waynesville is up in the Ashville area if I remember right ? I think that's where we found Hwy 30 that runs through Marion NC. It's like the Dragon with a legal 55mph speed limit and no enforcement and no campground. Hay , Lancer , Oldfeller and me stayed at a campground near Waynesville. There were cabins with two beds and floor space. I hope I get graduated to a bed this time if we find it again. Boonsboro NC. ? Lancer or Oldfeller might remember ? Maybe Booneville ? Oldfeller was always so good at planning stuff . :) I have to use the next 5-day stretch of Hot weather to roll hay then I'm free again for bit. Tomorrow , its using the tractor frontend loaded to pass the floor beams up to the second story ... it might take two days ? Then I'll put the hay cutter on and watch for a week of sunny weather. Then I can take a three or four day ride , I hope ? I'm down to one bike , but the Meteor has got "loosened-up" now and I don't feel like I'm "Handy-caped" anywhere but the interstate and even then cruising the high side of 70 is OK , (95mph=6750rpm/rpm-limit) so I've read. I'm itching and ready to bring home the 650 version if the test ride don't turn up some dreadful something. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 06/14/23 at 03:51:30 The place we stayed at in Waynesville was the Bluegrass Motorcycle Campground.....Phil was the owner/operator at the time. Later on it was owned by someone else who we have not met. Waynesville is a bit west of Asheville. We will have to rediscover some of the good riding roads in the area. The road in front of the Blue Ridge Campground is 276, and it was a nice curvy road up to the Blue Ridge Parkway......we had a DR650 that could have been Phil toying with us one day as we headed back to the campground.......on the other side of the Parkway the road is also very curvy and is the place where the Sliding Rock is located - that is the place where folks slide down the rocks in the creek. Brevard is the place where we stayed way too late one evening and had to ride home in the rainy mist, fog and swarm of bugs that where so thick it looked like snowfall in the headlight. There is another good road back up the mountain to the Parkway just west of Brevard....for some reason Google Maps doesn't list the route number but calls it Parkway Road. Waynesville is also not far from Cherokee, Maggie Valley, Sylva and other areas where we found good riding. In August 2021 tropical storm Freddy hit the area and washed several bridges out along the Pigeon River, and one of the bridges was to the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground. Deb and I were in the area in May 2022 and we just happened to be there on a morning after a hard rain. We were driving along the road headed to the Bluegrass Parkway and just as we got to the Bluegrass Motorcycle Campground a "Flood Alert" warning came on our cell phones. We stopped and I got some video of the Pigeon River right at the campground. This is the location where there bridge used to be - you can see one of the small cabins on the other side of the river. We could hear the loud "Boom, Boom" sound as large rocks were tumbling down the river bottom while we were watching the fast moving water. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo3ozDL2B4E[/media] There is a bridge being built - but there is little chance the campground will be open for this riding season. The owners have not made any post to Facebook in about a year. https://www.facebook.com/p/Blue-Ridge-Motorcycle-Campground-100064069893979/ I will start looking around for a new campground area near Waynesville, I am sure there are some available. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 06/14/23 at 06:58:33 This place is just down the road from the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground. It looks a bit upscale from what we are used to. Tent sites are $28 a night for two, cabins are $90 a night and have 2 bunks beds that sleep 5 people (one bottom bed is a double)....the cabin would be reasonably priced if we had 4 people going. I imagine cabins have to be reserved in advance....especially on weekends. https://campinginthesmokymountains.com/ This place has cabins for $64 a night that will sleep 2. https://moonshinecreek.com/ I will be bringing my car and trailer - so I can get a campsite and sleep in my trailer like I normally do. It likely would be easier to find a campground and just share a campsite....plus we likely could find a place that would not require a reservation, and we would not have to pay a fee if we cancelled on account of rain. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/14/23 at 16:23:41 It likely would be easier to find a campground and just share a campsite....plus we likely could find a place that would not require a reservation, and we would not have to pay a fee if we cancelled on account of rain. This is right up my alley ! sometime in July ? Suches is $20./night now. I guess they have to make a living too ! ;) Thinking about campgrounds My little one person tent tore-up durning my Suches trip last week. So I got a military surplus one person tent now. It packs up to fit inside a saddle bag. I've still got the 8'x10'x6' that me and Oldfeller split on his last trip too , but I don't think anybody makes saddle bags that size ? ;D |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 06/19/23 at 09:12:04 594B594B46555A575C140 wrote:
Today is the 19th of July.....the forecast for home and TN/NC is rain all week and half of next week. I could travel June 26-30 which are weekdays and a bit into July on the weekend of July 1 & 2......not sure how busy the area will be right before July 4th. Perhaps folks will be down there taking advantage of the Tuesday holiday and vacation on the July 1-9 dates. Once we get past that I will not be able to travel until late July/August, as Deb and I are going to Michigan July 7th - 20th. Does any dates June 26 - July 2 work? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/19/23 at 20:25:02 All this work keeps getting in the way of my vacation times ! :-[ Last week I was helping the guys building Anders's house and couldn't do hay like I wanted/needed to ! This week I've still been helping the same fellers and it's rainy all week anyway. Next week , I'll have to do hay if the weather cooperates. Then 4th of July week will have the roads all clogged up. After that I should be free for a while ? But that's to far out to be sure ? I'm Blessed with a lot Fencing to do anytime there is nothing else to do also. But the cows do buy me a new motorcycle once in a while ! Does it ever end ? :-? I've been retired for 16 years now and the elusive "hammock in the back yard" gets further and further away every year ! Surely I'm not the only one with this same problem ? Maybe a Hooligan Run on the Park-Way in the last of July ? :-/ I'm down to one bike for a while , but the Meteor did a trip to Hiawassee and Suches just fine the weekend before last. It ran off and left Kent on his Sportster once we got to the twisties and ran down the Interstate at 70mph just fine for 100 miles each way. It seems to just get better all the time. ;) I'm liking those BT46's just fine too ! Sometimes , I wonder if I really need to get a Super Meteor ? :-? But I'm still wanting one !! ............... So Dave , Are ya'll going to the "Upper Peninsula" area ? Here's another idea , barber Motorsport museum in Oct. for a long weekend. Hay Versey , If I get a campsite (20'x20') then you could leave your truck at my house and ride the 150 miles to Birmingham too , I've never been there but the online story sound good. Vintage motorsports weekend. ? Same for any of you other Savage Guys ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 06/20/23 at 03:32:21 The Barber Vintage weekend is fun.....but really busy and hectic. The campground at the event site is like being at Woodstock - crowded and really noisy.....I doubt I could get any sleep there. I have been there 3 times and stayed at a hotel in town and got a good nights sleep. The times I was there we attended on Friday and Saturday...and left the area on Sunday. The museum is overly crowded during the event - but it sure is a nice place to visit and get out of the heat and into the AC! The swap meet areas are huge and take nearly a full day to walk through if you are looking at each booth. The practice and races go on most of the day and there are lots of good viewing areas....there is a tram that can move you around to the different sites. I have never been able to see the Trials contest and I have only been able to see one motocross race......there is just too much going on to see it all. It is likely that camping is sold out long in advance.....I am not sure. The time I have gone my friend got the tickets and arranged for the hotel far in advance - so I don't know how hard it is to get tickets at the event site. We just had to go to "Will Call" and pick up our stuff that included wrist bands that get you past the gates quickly.....there are long lines for those who are paying when they arrive. It is a great event - but I do believe it requires advance planning if you want to stay in the area or campground. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/20/23 at 10:49:39 Wow ! Maybe a nice ride in the mountains sounds better , and a trip to Barber's should happen in mid summer ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 06/20/23 at 17:45:26 Tent camping spots are still available, they are $70 for the period of 11AM on Thursday, October 5th until 10AM on Monday, October 9th. The camping spots are 20x20 and the vehicle needs to be parked within that spot. General Admission is $65 for the full 3 days, $45 for Fri or Sat, and $30 for Sunday. The admission does not include the museum which is an additional $40 for a 3 day pass or $30 for a single day. It is definitely a fun event and worth going to see - I just don't know about tent camping there. There are no trees in the campground and I have no idea where the bathrooms or showers are.....in this photo it looks like the bathrooms are the white trailers and porta potties in the bottom left corner of the attached photo. (I believe there are showers in the pit area.....I don't know if campers are allowed to use them or only the racers). |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/21/23 at 17:53:02 I found this : We would be in lot "B" , with 4 bathroom and one shower house. I went to Bike week in 2014 and the showers were ... a trailer with 3 showers on each end women one end / men on the other. They were private stalls and the hot water came from a big black bag in the front yard laying in the sun. The showers were "pull rope for water" style - it was like being in the military again ! ;D It was warm enough ... ;) After learning the details , thinking on the crowded campground and the line to get into the port-a-pot's I'm not sure I even want to go anymore. A ride up the parkway on a sunny week seems much better. ............................ That last ride to Suches was fun and I'm glad I went , But There was a Bicycle thing going on and Bicycles everywhere , There were also a lot of State Troopers and County Patrol making sure those "HOOLIGANS" running up the back side of BLOOD-MOUNTAIN were behaving them selves . So , Kent and me just stopped at the top and walked around the store , then down the trail a bit , then went back down the North side to his house . It was all good but there wasn't the usual Hooligan Run up the back side of the Mountain stuff. So Sometime this summer I'm going to need to go back for a Suches ride. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 06/22/23 at 03:31:05 When I went to Barber I went with an experienced fellow....he showed me the comfortable way to do it. We stay at this Holiday Inn. It is about 15 minutes away from the track, and there is a "mostly" rural road that can get you back and forth to the track. The last 1/2 mile is on a very busy roadway - but you are rewarded with plenty of good food choices for dinner. Breakfast is at the hotel for free.....Lunch is at the track and not very cheap (soft drinks are around $4 and burgers/pizza is around $10). The cost for the hotel has gone up in recent years and is likely around $65 per person each night if you split the room with a buddy. https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/birmingham/bhmtb/hoteldetail?cm_mmc=GoogleMaps-_-EX-_-US-_-BHMTB So when you add it all up, $65 for admission for 3 days, $130 -$195 for 2-3 nights hotel, $30 for lunch/dinner/drinks each day.....the trip is going to cost about $400 for 3 days.....plus for me there is 1,000 miles of travel that takes a minimum of 2 days (another expense to factor in). For me it is a far more rewarding trip than Sturgis......you get to see vintage motorcycles and incredible racing at a race track that is wonderfully maintained - not just a bunch of bikers behaving badly in a small western town! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/22/23 at 05:02:50 Yes , ::) I've got a few dollars ... but ... I don't want to spend them both at the same time ! ;) Unless I'm buying a new bike that is !! :) ............... |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 06/22/23 at 07:22:36 150715070A19161B10580 wrote:
Mapquest says the track is about 2.5 hours from your house. That makes it entirely possible for you to drive there in the morning and back home in the evening....or spend 2 days at the track with only one night at a hotel or more "user friendly" campground near the track. If you want to go.....you can do it without spending a bunch of money. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 06/22/23 at 17:57:42 Yea , I'm just kidding about buying a two dollar motorcycle . ;D I should look for a place near Barber's and go visit it one day. But I think I'd rather do another ride to Suches durning the week after I get the hay in the barn. :) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 08/18/23 at 17:50:10 My neighbor Bruce, Stewmills and I are considering a trip to Deals Gap for the Fiddies 4 Life races on September 16th. We would likely arrive for riding on Friday the 15th, then ride again on the 16th and get to Deals Gap in time for the races that night. Anyone else interested? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrHYDD3TOVo [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrHYDD3TOVo[/media] |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 08/23/23 at 19:02:35 That should be a funny little race to watch ! I'd like to go with you fellers but Anders is getting married on the 15th , and the wedding is at our house . I'll be picking up from a 150 people yard party while ya'll are running the Dragon . But , I'll be grinning when I think of you fellers ! ;) .................... Hay Stew , did you ever get that Ninja 400 ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 08/24/23 at 13:51:17 524052404D5E515C571F0 wrote:
You have just gotten too busy the last couple of years. Stew did not get a Ninja 400....he got a Honda NC700X. https://www.cycleworld.com/2012/10/18/honda-nc700x-road-test/ |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 08/24/23 at 19:18:05 Yea , this retirement life is sure hard to deal with ! Maybe after the wedding my life will get a little easier ? Ya'll have fun :) . That NC700X looks like a very sensible machine , Dave didn't you have one of them one time ? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 08/25/23 at 04:22:01 504250424F5C535E551D0 wrote:
Nope - I had a Honda NT700....it was a VTwin with saddlebags built into the back. It was a nice bike but the built in luggage was a bit limited in space and they could not be removed. Even with the wider saddlebag covers the space was not sufficient for Deb and I when riding together. The NC700 is half a Honda Fit engine. It is a parallel twin that has the cylinder leaned way forward. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 09/10/23 at 05:05:43 Stewmills and I are headed to see the Fiddies races on the 16th. We will be driving down on Thursday the 14th so that we can get a full day of riding on Friday. I emailed the Kick Stand Lodge to reserve a spot to camp....as their website says they now require reservations (I don't remember that being on their website in prior years). I got an email within a couple hours that stated they are closed for the season and they cannot provide us a spot to camp. I believe Mo and Bobby are easing into retirement and cutting back on the number of campers they take......the Kickstand Lodge may not be an option for camping for too many years. That is unfortunate as the folks we mt at the Kickstand were always friendly and laid back, the bath house/showers were always clean, and Bobby and Mo are very nice people. I looked at the website for the Iron Horse campground that is on the road behind the Kickstand Lodge, and they are open all year. Reservations are not required for camping and it is "first come -first serve" - I tried calling them and left a message about us coming.....they have not called back. I assume they just don't feel the need to return a call when we are just going to be camping in a tent. Stewmills, MMRanch and I rode back there once and looked at the place - it is really fancy! Last week I went for a ride a few hours south of here around Grayson, Kentucky. There are some great roads in that area - next summer I am going to have to explore the area east of Lexington.....the motorcycle maps show great riding down there, and it is only a few hours from my home. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 09/11/23 at 19:13:57 Hay Dave , Last week I went for a ride a few hours south of here around Grayson, Kentucky. There are some great roads in that area - next summer I am going to have to explore the area east of Lexington.....the motorcycle maps show great riding down there, and it is only a few hours from my home. Find us a camp site in the area , I hope next year I have a lot less "Home-Life" going on ? And I hope to have either the Super Meteor or a Performance cam in the 350 Meteor ? Not sure which one yet , but either way I should be able to keep-up better next year. Ya'll be safe and have fun this weekend ! :) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 09/16/23 at 05:09:04 I drove down to the Iron Horse Motorcycle resort on Thursday. I left right at noon and with the fuel and food stops along the way I arrived just before dark. The place was a bit confusing to learn in the dark, and it was even harder to set up the new tent for the first time in the dark (by myself). The new tent attaches to the 10x10 Pop Up canopy and is easy to do alone....the previous big tent I had was really hard to set up alone. This tent is really nice as it is tall, and the roof is fully waterproof. Ventilation is good and moisture doesn't build up inside at night. It is great for car camping - definitely too big to pack on a bike. Stew left after work and arrived around 11PM. The Iron Horse is a great place. They have covered parking for your motorcycle, the showers and bathhouse are clean, the kitchen/dining area is open every morning and night adn the food is great. The place is only about The place is only about 10% occupied this weekend and it is very peaceful. I imagine the place could be really busy and perhaps hectic on a weekend where the place if fully occupied. Yesterday we rode up through Cherokee and rode the Rattler = it was a ride I had never done before. Along the way when we stopped in Maggie Valley for fuel, a woman airing up her car tires told us her favorite road is the Devils Drop.....so we added that to the ride. We rode the Rattler and it was a very nice ride and ate lunch in Hot Springs. We turned around and rode back on the Ratterl to the Devils Drop (151) - it was a very nice curvy road through a thick forext with lots of cuvves and steep grades. We then navigated through the outskirts of Asheveille and got on the Blue Ridge {arlwaul bacl tp Cjerplee amd cpmtomed home. The day was great with temps from 59 to the mid 70's. It was dry although on the way home we hit some damp pavement from a previous spotty shower. We rode about 300 miles. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 09/16/23 at 10:52:53 You guys riding Savages this ride ? Hey Dave tell Stewy I said Hi . |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 09/17/23 at 05:34:57 Yesterday Stew and I headed to the Dragon first thing so we could ride it before it got too busy. As we passed the Deals Gap hotel the parking lot was about 1/3rd full all ready. We got about 1/3rd of the way up before we decided to turn around and abandon the area. The Dragon was already so crazy that is was just not safe to be there. There were sport bike guys riding crazy fast, lots of cars.....and a few tourists in SUV's all mixed together. Fontana Village was hosting some kind of car event and there were a lot of European cars with numbers pasted on the doors...we saw these cars spread onto every road and suspect they were having some kind of road rally event as part of their event. When we left the Dragon we rode down to the Nantahala Outdoor Center and had lunch - then a check of the weather showed we needed to head back to the Iron Horse where we were camped to avoid the rain headed our way. The rain drops on our visors as we turned into the campground confirmed we had made a good choice. When the rain eased up in the afternoon we got back on the bikes and headed toward the Cherohala Skyway to ride as the rain appeared to be to the north. We rode into rain as we approached Robinsville and dediced not to ride the Skyway. We rode some local back roads and they turned out to have wonderful paving and nice scenery....speeds were reduced as the roads were wet....and then we headed toward Deals Gap for the races. We arrived at Deals Gap around 7:45PM and we were surprised to find dry roads as we approached the hotel. They said it has rained a bit around 3PM but stopped and had been dry since........seems you can't trust the weather radar to give an accurate account of where the roads will be dry. The races were great and a lot of fun to watch. The little 80cc bikes were fast and there was a lot of tight racing and a couple of crashes that resulted only in a few lost races positions....no injuries. It is something we need to repeat next year! Ruttly: I washed the Savage and was going to take it - at the last minute I changed my mind. The morning rides were going to be just a bit too cool I thought, and as it turned out too wet! We had to ride in some rain yesterday, and it rained a lot overnight......it is likely we won't be able to get out on the roads until 11 AM this morning when the rain leaves the area. Stew brought his new Honda NC700X as he wanted to see how well his bigger windshield worked. We both stayed pretty dry during the wet rides even before we stopped and put on rain gear.......Stew's kneecaps and our arms were the only things that got wet while we were moving. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 09/17/23 at 17:20:03 It rained pretty good this morning from around 4AM to around 9AM. We got breakfast at the lodge and then slowly got ready to ride as the roads dried, We headed out about 10:30 and were able to ride the Dragon "north and then south" safely. The traffic this morning was far less crowded and folks were riding at reasonable speeds. As we rode north we saw a State Trouper headed onto the Dragon.....on the way back we saw he had 2 Porsche cars pulled over. After we left the Dragon road south from Deals Gap and ate lunch at the Tapico Lodge. We had a Pizza and it was the best food we had the entire trip. We then rode south on 129 to the Cherohala Skyway. The Skyway is closed about 40 miles in near Tellico - so traffic was very lght and we rode both ways with only a few passes being made to slower cars or motorcycles. We then rode back to the Iron Horse and got Stew loaded up and he is headed home - I am staying one more day so I can pack up the tent and get loaded up for home....I am likely to take a short ride in the morning as the tent dries out. The trip was nice and the only damper was the light rain and the damp roads on Saturday. You just have to accept that when you ride in the mountain of TN/NC/GA you are likely going to get wet at some point. I was told that this area is the second wettest area in the US - I love having a clean bike but I need to learn that a dirty one still rides just as well. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by stewmills on 09/18/23 at 11:21:52 Ruttly, I heard you were trash talking me so I had to resurface and create some boundaries. I'll try to me more combative... I mean social. Still have the savage (will never sell it) just haven't been on the forum much but Dave keeps me in regular check on our rides. You need to make a trip to this area one day (it'll be too cold here in the next month or so) and we'll attempt to treat you to some great riding. Treatment will be directly related to your attitude and behavior ;D ;D ;D ;D My new (used 2012) NC700x. Odd but interestingly fun little bike I found on a whim after I sold my little Ninja 250 earlier this year. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Ruttly on 09/18/23 at 14:49:43 Well I should have kept my mouth shut , just opened myself for more abuse and badgering. Ya know when you stopped posting I thought you just cut your other hand off and I just wanted to compliment you on you typing. Must be tough typing with your feet ( glad I’m not your keyboard ) but then again I forgot your feet are equipped with thumbs. Ah but I see you are out riding after the recovery. I know it’s useless to say it , ride safe and stay away from sharp objects !? ::) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by stewmills on 09/19/23 at 07:44:24 Those are fake arms strapped inside my jacket and just there to keep me upright. I have a bluetooth steering system and I just tell it where to go and it does the rest. I tried steering with my feet but they get too cold without boots on and the wind fills up my pant legs and parachutes me off the back of the bike like a parasailer. Fun for 10 seconds until you make that abrupt landing :o :o I have learned (or "learnt" as some say) my lesson about saws and guards...I still have all my phalanges! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 09/19/23 at 18:15:03 Camping Wake Up Call: This weekend camping at the Iron Horse was a bit of a wake up call for me. The Iron Horse is a very nice place with an exceptional dining hall and lots of covered parking, and great breakfast and dinner meals at reasonable prices (no lunch). I first started going on trips down to TN/NC/GA with this group in 2012. Cabins that the group rented were simple and had 2 twin sized beds and rented for $40 a night at the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground......we could fit 3 people in as MMRanch would sleep on the floor! Camping in tents was around $20 a night for 2 people, and extra folks over that were around $5 each.....we packed a bunch of folks in a tent a few times. Prices have gone up considerably since those days. The tent site at Iron Horse was $35.99 for 1 occupant and each extra was $8 a night. The Kick Stand Lodge is still $20 a night for the first person in a tent and $5 for each extra person - however they are not doing as much maintenance as they used to and although the bathrooms are clean - the buildings, picnic tables, pavilion and clubhouse are not in good shape. Earlier this year I stayed at Tellico Plains at the Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground - it is still a bargain if you want to stay in that area as the small cabins are $60 a night and tent camping is $12 a person each night. Two Wheels of Suches is also still a bargain with camping at $20 a night for 2 and each additional is $8, RV or camper parking is $30 a night. The cost for a cabin is $100 a night or more at a large number of places if the cabin/room has a bathroom inside.......that number is a bit less for cabins that require you to walk to a bath house. Parking sites for parking a camping trailer or RV are $40 or more ($80 for a full hookup site at Iron Horse). I may go back and look at the Simple Life campground in Robbinsville and see if it is an option. They still have 2 bed cabins for less than $50 a night with camping at $24 a night for double occupancy. The place is on a steep hill and they don't have any kind of food service or clubhouse - but they are on the north edge of Robbinsville and all the stores/restaurants. Trying to camp at a State Park is difficult - as they most often are reserved far in advance. I much prefer being able to get a camping site with no advance notice - that gives me an option of going when the weather is good and staying home in bad weather. For tent camping your don't need any advance notice at the Iron Horse, Two Wheels of Suches or The Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground - however the Kickstand Lodge website now states they require reservations (a call to Bobby/Mo may be all that is needed to get one). |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 09/20/23 at 18:20:46 Thanks goodness for Two Wheels of Suches ! I like the place as much as anything in the area. Hay , how about those places along the river at the bottom of the Blue Ridge ? I'm trying to think of the name of the area but drawing blanks. There were a lot of campgrounds along the river ... surely all of them didn't wash away ? I'll see if I can find some pictures from there . |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 09/21/23 at 09:58:36 The Blue Ridge Motorcycle Campground is the name of the place we used to go. Their website and Facebook page have not been updated to provide any information on how the bridge construction is going and when they may be open again. The Google Maps page shows Camp GiGi is across the street and just a bit up the road - they don't have a website but a phone number is listed: 864-710-8752 I don't see any other campgrounds along that road. One campground downstream was hit hard int storm, and I believe 4 people were died in the flood. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 09/26/23 at 09:56:32 i was looking to see where that big water pipeline goes to...the one that you drive under when you are on 129 south of the Dragon, and you can see it does down the hill to the power plant on 28 between Deals Gap and Fontana Village. It turns out the pipeline goes to Lake Santeetlah! They take the water across a couple of mountains and valleys to get the water some elevation so they can make power! But what caught my eye was a marker on the Google Map that stated: "Start of the Chasing the Dragon Hllclimb". What.....that sounds like my kind of place! https://www.google.com/maps/@35.3701152,-83.9138706,14.54z?entry=ttu I tried to do a Google Street View to see what the road looks like - but it is not posted. I then did a YouTube search: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMpQ3kAX_U8 Looks like we have another road to explore! Stew and I were just down there last weekend, and we were on the Joyce Kilmer road....we were so close to this road and didn't even know it was there! We have found some other roads that are a lot of fun to ride. The Rattler and Devils Drop are great roads! |
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Title: Re: 2023CHEATED Post by MMRanch on 09/26/23 at 10:53:07 Hay that person in the video driving the car is Disqualified ! If ya don't stay in YOUR LANE then your time DON'T COUNT . The person CHEATED !! :( :( :( When will they learn ? .......................... I don't remember seeing road 1127 ? But I'll be looking for it next time I'm in the area . :) |
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Title: Re: 2023CHEATED Post by Dave on 09/26/23 at 12:23:53 687A687A77646B666D250 wrote:
I don't believe it is cheating when the course is closed to other traffic and you are in actual race conditions. You get to 1127 by going off 129 and onto the Joyce Kilmer Road. It is something you need to look at a map to find. It is amazing how many small local roads are fun to ride........especially useful when you find too many folks riding the Dragon and you need to ride somewhere else! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 09/27/23 at 06:26:35 Winter is coming.....the daylight hours are growing noticeably shorter, the overnight temps are cool, and the leaves are beginning to fall. For those of us in the north the riding days are starting to be numbered. I would like to take another ride in the TN/NC area before the end of the season - but I cannot get away again until November. The wife and I have trips scheduled for the first and last weekend in September, my neighbor and I are planning a riding trip to the Hazard, KY area the weekend of 13/14th, and I am going to a Tommy Emanuel concert on the 21st. The November temperatures in the Robbinsville area range from the 30-40's at night, with daytime temps in the 60-70's in the daytime. It appears to be one of the driest months in the area with rain being forecast for only 6 days the entire month.....however we all know that can change continually. We likely would need to be somewhat flexible in the days we go. Lodging likely is going to be limited to hotels, as the motorcycle campgrounds will all be closed for the season. The Two Wheel Inn is a good choice as they have small garages for storing your bike at night, and they cost is very competitive with the big hotels. A two bedroom unit is $85 plus tax with an extra $10 a night for more than 2 people in a room - they provide a fold out bed. Stewmills and his brother Bailey and I did this late season ride one year. The forecast was for daytime highs in the 60's and overnight temps in the 50's when we made plans 2 weeks in advance. By the time the event arrived I got there on Thursday and rode in 37 degree rain/mist/snow the day before the others arrived. The weather dried up after that but got colder........when we got up Sunday morning it was 23 degrees and we could see heavy frost on the hillside trees. We waited for the sun to warm things up a bit and we rode the Cherohala Skyway when it was in the 30's! We had to stop frequently to get our fingers warmed up! I expect that only MMRanch and Stewmills and I are likely to go - however it anyone else wants to go and ride/shiver with us - let us know! I am not planning on making any reservations in advance as the Two Wheel Inn will have plenty of space in November. I will call a day or two in advance and let them know we are coming. I could go down on a Wednesday or Thursday and/or stay after Sunday if the weather is good - Stew has a day job and likely will be coming Saturday/Sunday. AND........we go to the mountains as the roads are fun - but the mountain weather can be colder and wetter than the lowlands. Maybe there is a warmer place to ride in November that has interesting roads and good riding. For me that would have to be somewhere I could drive in 12 hours or less (at least for this trip). |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 10/11/23 at 08:31:53 Thanks for the invite Dave . :) I'm not sure I can join in with ya. Marcia had an idea to take a ride down the Natchez Trace for our next getaway. I'm having doubts about that even panning out. That would be a mild putt ,putt ride down the Trace the big half-way for day one , then on to Natchez for an afternoon walk-a-bout day two , then day three going up the Trace and getting back home day four . There are some nice days in November , and the color show might still be going on too ? Every day when I get up there is something needs doing next door at Anders and Ella's house. They are enjoying our spare room for now , and that's good . Its like Anders went out and brought me home another daughter. :) :) I still do manage to get some kind of a short ride in most days . If there's not somewhere I have to go , then I use the excuse of "I need to go to Planet Fitness and tighten my gut a little." It's working too , I've only lost 10 pounds but have gone down 2" in pants size. (no Stew - I'm not getting SHORTER ;D). Now if I can slow down the habit of eating so fast and so much then my ridding years could go on into the 2050's ;) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 10/11/23 at 19:12:00 Versey is visiting for a little while and today we went to the worlds largest private collection of firearms in the world. It was quite the place, and only a 90-120 minute ride away. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 10/12/23 at 04:20:17 505D525F594E0E0B3C0 wrote:
Which one of you got there in 90 minutes......and waited 30 minutes for the other to show up? ::) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by verslagen1 on 10/12/23 at 05:55:03 We got there together but it was a great ride and we couldn’t remember when we started or when we got there. :-? |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by LANCER on 10/12/23 at 10:42:16 Our guidance system told us the museum was 86 miles away, which should take about 90 minutes, but with many road construction zones along the way it was about 2 hours. Weather was great for riding, only a long sleeved t-shirt needed. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 10/12/23 at 18:38:12 I am leaving early tomorrow morning with my neighbor to ride down in southern Kentucky near Hazard and Whitesburg, Kentucky - and Wise and Norton, Virginia. The area is about 4.5 hours from my home.......not really close - but it takes me 7 hours to get to Robinsville and 9 to get to Suches. It is close enough that leaving at 5 AM should get us on the road riding by 11AM....we will stay overnight in Wise at the Best Western and then ride again on Saturday. The weather forecast is promising with a wonderful Friday and a chance of rain early Saturday morning and then clearing up as the day goes on. At the end of the ride on Friday we will decide if we are staying for Saturday or just going home.....we might have so much fun we even stay until Sunday! |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 10/12/23 at 20:17:57 It is close enough that leaving at 5 AM should get us on the road riding by 11AM ? So , ya'll taking the truck with the bikes in the back ? ......... How-ever , I hope the weather is good for ya ! :) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 10/13/23 at 01:28:36 We are taking my neighbors truck and the 6x10 trailer that we own together. I went halves on the trailer with him so we had a trailer that can haul 2 bikes. Looking at the weather I doubt we will stay until Sunday. Friday high will be 75, Saturday high is 63.......Sunday high is 45! :o |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 10/13/23 at 07:21:38 I'm in the same boat there , the after church ride is looking chilly ! Sometimes we just have to take what we can get ... still hope for the best for both of us . :) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 10/15/23 at 17:49:22 My Sunday afternoon ride got sprinkled out ! :( |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 10/16/23 at 03:58:27 We had a good Friday ride. We left home at 5AM as planned, and arrived at the Best Western in Wise, VA around 10AM. We got our room reserved and unloaded the bikes and were on the road as quickly as possible. The roads were really nice and some were very much like the Tail of the Dragon. The pavement was in good shape, traffic was incredibly light, the town were small and quick to get through. The weather was absolutely perfect with cloudless blue skies, no wind and temperatures starting out at 60 and up to 75....the temps would change 10 degrees as you went from the valleys to the mountain tops and you could get near 80 when you were in the towns. The leaves were turning colors and they a few were falling onto the roadway - the Walnut trees scattered a few nuts onto the roadway and they were generally easy to see and steer around. We rode until dark to get as much riding in as possible. Saturday morning was a misty rain, and the weather radar showed that when this rain stopped there would be a few hours of dry weather and then another band of showers would come through. We elected not to ride and headed home.....the wet leaves on the pavement would have made the riding slow and a bit scary. We went through Lynch, Kentucky on the way home - it was a coal mining town until the mines closed down in 1963. This was the kind of place where everything in town was owned and operated by the mine.....company store, company theater, company police, company hospital. It turns out the mine was owned/operated by International Harvester.....the refrigerators in the museum that were sold in the company store had International Harvester name badges on them! The mine buildings were made from limestone and they were really cool buildings. We tried to take the mine tour - however it was sold out until 3 hours later and we didn't want to wait that long and headed home. The trip to the area was a bit slow driving for us, as there just aren't any big highways that connect the the civilized world! The roads were a pleasant drive and it was relaxing - it just wasn't quick. It is certainly and area worth going to when you want to ride and explore for a few days. The scenery is really good - you do have to accept that there are a lot of run down or abandoned houses and business buildings............the area is poor and what mining and logging exists are not enough to keep everyone gainfully employed. There are some small mines that are still digging coal and limestone, and you will see logging trucks on the roads occasionally. The lumber is generally White Oak that will be made into barrels for Whiskey/Bourbon production. There may be a few random warm days to go riding this year - but the onset of fall weather has begun and we will not get above 60 for a week or so in this area. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by Dave on 10/16/23 at 05:20:13 Lynch, Kentucky.......Portal 31 mine tour. This is the entrance to the mine, the lamp shed, and the shower building. |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 10/17/23 at 20:43:22 It's hard for me to picture a lot of Coal under all those nice looking rolling green hills ! It looks like a nice place for a ride ! :) |
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Title: Re: 2023 Post by MMRanch on 12/14/23 at 16:35:26 I can sleep on a cot if need be , they weigh 21 pounds each . https://www.sportsmans.com/camping-gear-supplies/sleeping-gear/cots/teton-sports-adventurer-with-pivot-arm-camp-cot/p/1320296 I'm ridding with Lancer ... so ... I could put two of them on the bike since I'm not bring a tent . Then Lancer's truck don't care if we have cots or not ? Two cots on rear seat , Duffle bag and Sleeping bag on top of them. Not too aerodynamic but it could work . |
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