MMRanch has told me that he would like to ride the Blueridge Parkway for a couple of days at some point in his life.

http://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/upload/blrimap-2.pdf

The Blueridge Parkway is approximately 460 miles long....it could potentially be done in a single day - however with traffic, fuel and rest stops, and stops for sightseeing.....it would be 2 longs days or 3 average days of riding.  Starting at either end would still result in the other end a long way from anybody being home.  (For me either end is 6 hours away form home.......for MMRanch the south end is 5 hours away and the north end is 9 hours away).

There is nothing that requires us to ride the entire length - and it could be a 1 - 3 day excursion (both ways) and we could ride whatever length we felt comfortable doing - some of the best trips are done by must "winging" it.  We could all meet in Waynesville at the Blueridge Motorcycle campground for a night and then head for the Blueridge Parkway.

Does a Blueridge Parkway camping trip interest anyone?  I suspect that when you are not in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area the traffic thins out a bit.

The prettiest part of the parkway is between the two of you.    Mebbe do it twice (once in each direction) in separate years, starting at one persons end and riding to the other person's end?

I hate to say it, but the parts further past the Virginia boarder begin to get kinda "flattish" and mebbe not altogether as breath taking as what lies below ???

This trims it down a bit to allow for travel time to and from.   Plus, knowing that you are going to be spending a lot of time in the saddle, you could take your bigger more comfortable bikes.

MM,

Dave gets Weds noon - Sunday night as his biggest off work stretch.  

Say you get on your end of the Blue Ridge Parkway (Cherokee at Hwy 411)  on Weds AM to go north and meet Dave at a spot on the Parkway that Dave picks on Wednesday night, then Thursday - Friday both of you go tripping north as far as Dave feels like going into Virginia.   Spend the night and then he can run back home on major roads and if you wanted you could continue on north for several more days of Blue Ridge Parkway changing to Skyline Drive and then going north all the way up to Washington DC where the Skyway ends.

This give you the long long jaunt you want and gives Dave something that he can fit into the 3-4 days of time he has off.

If you folks are doing the B.R.P., you should take Rt. 80 down to Rt. 70 and back. It' a ways east of Mt. Mitchell down to Marion.  I have gone up it 3 times on a bicycle, switchback city. Would be great on a M/C. The rides I did started in Spartinburg, SC, and ended on top of Mt. Mitchell. We rode down in old school buses. They don't corner like a M/C, SCARRRRRY!

Here is an interactive map to the Blueridge.  You can use it to mark fuel stops, camping areas, museums, etc.

http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/map.php

Here is some planning help for motorcycle riders, and it lists some good rides adjacent to the Blueridge Parkway.

http://www.blueridgemotorcycling.com/

A feller could spend months planning a trip!

considering everyone said the dragon run I went on was laid back, too, I tend to agree with OF, although the scooter changes direction much more easily that the S40, it's not super stable at lower speeds, and decreasing radius curves are my nemesis]I was a decreasing radius curve that dumped me into the wall on the Sister ride (luckily at low speed) it was the decreasing radius turns that scared the mess out of me on the roads all around NC, and I still don't like them much (I have a few around here, but not as tight as the ones in NC)
MM rides his Savage with NO HANDS ON THE GRIPS on roads and at speeds that I found very intimidating, that's why I won't let him blow any happy smoke up my tushy about my ability to keep up, and I really do wonder if you remember following me on the road TO the Dragon, where I held the group up as well
If I ever ride the Parkway, it'll be with a group of riders who have a similar skillset to my own (if any such low skilled riders exist outside a BRC)
TOUR GLIDES were eating my tushy on the Sisters last time

Now now ---- another one of them stories where I was gone and never saw it .....

All my very best stories take place AFTER I have left the area, apparently.

Did this one spin round and round & round because his engine was still running and the throttle lock was still set?

(I like that one the best --- it has the sparks flying off the exhaust as it scrubs along the pavement and the big Hurley motor roaring and the bike jest keeps on spinning and spinning around while the injured rider hops up and down on his one good leg)

   Some people shouldn't use throttle locks, huh?