Another FJR Visits the Tale of the Dragon

[dnj1965]

Graphically:

2324 Miles via Odometer

High Points included US-129 through Deals Gap (Tail of the Dragon), Cherahola Skyway, NC/GA/SC 28 (Moonshiner 28 and/or Hellbender), Cherokee TN, Tellico Plains TN, Franklin, NC, Greater Smokey Mountains (including Clingmans Dome), vistas, waterfalls, lots of other motorcycles and plenty of kind folks.

Monday (199 Miles): Home to Easton PA for a work-related dinner meeting. Bike was loaded to the gills as I'm still learning to pack responsibly...

Tuesday (397 Miles): 5 hour work-related meeting followed by rendezvous with my riding partner (on a KLR 650) at a truck stop in Harrisburg, PA. Plan was to ride until tired. Stopped in Roanoke, VA. Dinner and drinks at a chain steak restaurant walking distance from the hotel (Longhorn Steakhouse – had a GREAT strip steak). No photos of worth (sorry, no food **** the entire report...). You can tell from this photo we had all the necessities....

Wednesday (391 Miles): Roanoke, VA to Robbinsville, NC, via Cherokee, TN and Greater Smoky Mountains National Park (with a short hike up to Clingmans Dome), including coming into town the “long way” to run some of Route 28 and visit Fontana Dam). Dinner at “Carolina Kitchen” (food mediocre at best). [please ignore the stuffed dog - "Duke" was along for the ride at my daughter's request, and I sent her regular updates with Duke in interesting places...)

Clingmans Dome...

Thursday (200 miles): Rode the “Trail of the Dragon”, interacted with a Blount County Sheriff Deputy for a “fun tax”, lunch in Tellico Plains (still stewing over the “fun tax”), continued onto “Cherahola Skyway”, other local roads and a beer run (Robbinsville is in a dry county), stopping several times to smell the roses. Dinner at “El Pacifico” in Robbinsville, NC (GREAT food for the price! - if only they had margaritas [dry county, remember...]). Discuss altering plans for Friday as we had so much fun on The Dragon that is seemed a shame to just do it once...

Always worth remembering...

Views like this are common in the area...

One of the many "high" points (Duke was hard to control at times)...

Friday: (255 Miles) Ran up-and-down the Dragon again, went down a good stretch of the “Hellbender / Moonshiner 28” (having adjusted the route to include “Wayah Road”, hitting NC/GA/SC with lunch in Franklin. Came back North mostly on 107 with a side trip on Wiginton RD to White Water Falls. 255 Miles for the day. Dinner at Lynn's Place in Robbinsville, NC. Good food, great friendly service.

Free Bike Wash...

Waterfalls were everywhere if you looked...

Fair warning...

Saturday saw SLAB city - Robbinsville, NC to Harrisburg, PA (630 miles hotel to hotel). My first 500+ mile day. My riding partner for this trip and myself were ready to get back and see our kids (we both have children under 16, and started to REALLY miss our families on Friday).

Sunday finished up the trip (just shy of 250 miles) - Home before noon to hugs and kisses.

Other Notes:

Bike - 2008 FJR (purchased gently used off this this forum), helibars, Givi E-55 top-box (SR-357 mount/rack and admore light kit), and wearing PR2s with 5+ thousand miles on them. Bike ran flawlessly and was a joy to ride on the slab and sweepers. The twisties were fun with it, they really were, but part of me wanted to try my WR250R, a Ninja 250 or a CBR250R on the Dragon. That road would be a blast on a bike you could keep wicked up.

Gear - HJC helmet, Tourmaster Transition 2 Jacket and Tourmaster Caliber Pants. While hot at times, the combo handled everything (including a few downpours) just fine.

Roads – I don't know what they make the roads out of in NC, but it is a different material than in my home state of NY. The grip was FANTASTIC. I was humbled by the roads in the area. MUCH room for improvement in my handling of the FJR in tight, technical stuff. The FJR is a better bike than I am a rider by several orders of magnitude.

Robbinsville, NC, which we (and many others) used as a home base for visiting the area, is in Graham County, an area designated by the Appalachian Regional Council as one of the “Distressed Counties, Fiscal Year 2012”. When many of us think of poverty, we think of inner-cities. The poverty in Appalachia is palpable. Business people were very welcoming and seemed genuinely glad to have the added business. Other locals seemed a bit less happy to see bikers around, and it is hard to blame them. People riding around on $10k + motorcycles, clogging narrow local roads, with obvious disposable income, stick out like a sore thumb in parts of this region.

The joy of riding in the Greater Smokey Mountains is well documented, and believe what you read. GREAT riding down there! If you go, I encourage you pay careful attention to the recommended speed for curves, as it appears different guidelines are used in different areas, and on some roads, a 10 MPH curve is serious business...

THANKS to all on this forum who post trip reports, advice, and encouragement to go out and *ride* the FJR. She is a great mount for this type of touring, and this forum is a great resource.

dnj

 

[03HiYoSilver]

Nice photo essay of your trip... Thanks for Sharing!

 

[azitlies]

those are some great pics brings back memories when I lived in Florida and rode the 500 up to the gap luv that area

 

[xcsp]

Nice ride report & pics!

 

[hppants]

Well done - I like your riding jacket. My next one will be Hi-vis Green.

 

[03silverbullet]

Many found memories of the Dragon, Haven't been there in years.

 

[user 28803]

Great trip and photos! Thanks for taking us along. Sort of.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Good photos and report. On the "tourist roads" you seem to have some cushion between the recommended speed on the sign and what you can do. On the back country roads that are not set up for tourists, if the sign says 10mph, you better stay close to that speed. I was curious about the larger waterfall and the yellow sign with the truck advisory. Is that sign for 129? I did not remember it and the Dragon does not have much of an elevation change. Thanks for posting.

 

[dnj1965]

Good photos and report. On the "tourist roads" you seem to have some cushion between the recommended speed on the sign and what you can do. On the back country roads that are not set up for tourists, if the sign says 10mph, you better stay close to that speed. I was curious about the larger waterfall and the yellow sign with the truck advisory. Is that sign for 129? I did not remember it and the Dragon does not have much of an elevation change. Thanks for posting.

Hi Redfish Hunter,

I forget where that particular sign was, but I *think* it was on 28. However, here is a picture I *KNOW* is on 129 (at the TN/NC border headed south) that claims 129 is 12% in places (sorry the sign got cut off a bit, but I think you can tell the state thinks part of 129 is steep...):

Of course that part of 129 may not be "The Dragon".

The picture of the falls you ask about is "White Water Falls". Whitewater Falls are on the Whitewater River (in the Jocassee Gorge area in NC). If you enter the following into Google Maps, you'll see the parking area: 35.029794,-83.01607

There is a $2 fee per vehicle. It is about a third of a mile on a sloped paved path to the first observation area. A better view can be had if you are willing to go down (and later back up) some stairs (I didn't count, but between 150 and 200). WELL worth the $2.

dnj

 

[garyahouse]

Daughter and I are planning a trip to the Dragon in two weeks. We'll be trailering up there from home here as her little Honda can't handle too much slab w/o a windshield. Could you recommend any reasonable hotels near the dragon... or to the south? We were looking at running south from the Dragon.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[dnj1965]

Daughter and I are planning a trip to the Dragon in two weeks. We'll be trailering up there from home here as her little Honda can't handle too much slab w/o a windshield. Could you recommend any reasonable hotels near the dragon... or to the south? We were looking at running south from the Dragon.

Gary

darksider #44

Hi Gary,

We stayed at the Microtel Inn (photo below). It is the only "chain" hotel in Robbinsville (it is locally owned). They have motorcycle-only parking right out front, towels, buckets, water, hose and cleaning supplies (for free!) for washing your bike, and have nearby trailer parking. They are, obviously, biker friendly. Walking distance to at least four restaurants, a laundromat, and a grocery store. Room was clean, had two queen beds that were very comfortable, and total, with tax, was under $70 per night (there is a discount for 3 or more nights). Closest to the gap is the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort - Looked fine, but did not see the rooms, and you are captive to their food choice unless you are willing to ride to-and-from dinner (we liked to have a pre-meal beverage, and won't operate a motorcycle with *any* alcohol on-board, so appreciated locations with multiple restaurant choices within walking distance).

Note: NONE of the facilities I saw would get more than 2.5 stars. Again, the area is depressed. The Microtel was fine, but I can't say that other places wouldn't be fine as well. I did notice that some of the other places were almost exclusively populated by Harleys. The Microtel had its share, but there were Connies, BMWs, Ducks, etc., as well, and folks were *very* friendly and respectful towards each other, independent of what they were riding.

Hope this helps.

dnj

 

[Redfish Hunter]

dnj1965, thank you for the info. Parts of 129 are pretty steep, but the 11 miles of the Dragon don't have alot of elevation change. Did you happen to stop at Dry Falls on Hwy 28? The parking area is on the west side of HWY 28 just a mile or two north of Bridal Veil Falls where you got the bike wash.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Daughter and I are planning a trip to the Dragon in two weeks. We'll be trailering up there from home here as her little Honda can't handle too much slab w/o a windshield. Could you recommend any reasonable hotels near the dragon... or to the south? We were looking at running south from the Dragon.

Gary

darksider #44

Gary if you go to the tailofthedragon.com website (that's not a link btw) there is a very good list of local places to stay. Also several useful riding maps and write-ups on the various rides in the area.

When we go we stay just south of Robbinsville at the Dragon's Rest. It is off the road just a bit, is not fancy but if you like the little cabins and the relative solitude, it's not bad. The area is very dependent on the bikes and sports cars for cash flow, most of the restaurant and lodging people you deal with are actually grateful for your business.

 

[PhilJet09]

Daughter and I are planning a trip to the Dragon in two weeks. We'll be trailering up there from home here as her little Honda can't handle too much slab w/o a windshield. Could you recommend any reasonable hotels near the dragon... or to the south? We were looking at running south from the Dragon.

Gary

darksider #44

We go to the Smokies every fall and stay at a friend's cabin, but I've also stayed in Maggie Valley (which is beautiful, btw) here: https://jonathancreekinn.com/index-welcome.html and love the place. Great people that own it and the creekside rooms are very peaceful.

Maggie Valley may be a little further away from Robbinsville than you want to be, I don't know.

 

[Bugnatr]

Cool picture, thanks for the report!

 

[hppants]

Not to jack the thread, but a few years ago in anticipation of my first Deal's Gap m/c trip, I bought this map:

https://shop.americaridesmaps.com/12-Classic-Deals-Gap-Motorcycle-Rides-NC007.htm

It is absolutely fantastic - I still have it although I've pretty much memorized all of the road in that area. I highly reccommend it for anyone venturing out there for the first time.

 

[dnj1965]

Now that it is settled, thought I'd follow-up on this line in the original post: "interacted with a Blount County Sheriff Deputy for a “fun tax”".

First run on the Dragon was South to North. After stopping at the lookout for a quick debrief, we continued North. Thought we had timed things such that no one else was near us, but somehow got behind a Harley doing about 20 mph (as you know if you've been in the area, the whole stretch is double-yellow). Tried to give the guy his distance and hope he'd take advantage of a pull-out, but no such luck. Then the road opens up on a downhill, and the Harley slows, pulls over to the white line on the right edge of the lane, and *very* clearly signals us past him.

In my head:

* DO NOT CROSS THE DOUBLE YELLOW (knew this);

* WATCH MY SPEED (knew this);

* TN allows two motorcycles to ride side-by-side.

My overall assessment was that I could safely move past this guy, and his moving right and waving me forward was an invitation to share his lane with him, something that is, again, legal for two motorcycles in the state of TN. My honest assessment of the situation is that I executed a safe and effective maneuver (there is no dispute that I did not cross the double yellow and I was not cited for speeding).

A Blount County Sheriff Deputy, who was off to the side in the shadows at the end of what I now see labelled on some maps as "Revenuer's Straight", witnessed the whole thing, *including* the Harley rider's slowing, pulling to the right, and waving me next to him in a clear invitation to share his lane and move past him. The Blount County Sheriff Deputy who waved me over next to his parked car (bringing me across the double yellow and the opposing lane of traffic, putting me as way more risk than my move did) made clear that safe or not, it was an "illegal pass". Citation had no $$$$ amount on it, with instructions to call the court. Clerk's office said there were two options: Pay the mid-$200 fine and have the ticket get reported to my home state, or, if I had not availed myself of this opportunity over the last 5 years, take a defensive driving course (had to be 5+ hours and *in person*), pay $106.50 in court costs, and have the ticket dismissed.

And THAT is how I got to spend a day in a windowless room learning not to drive drunk, speed, or pass a stopped school bus, all the while remembering the great parts of my trip.

Side note: Contacted one of the lawyers who advertises in the area that he "rides" and helps with motorcycle traffic citations on the TN side of the Dragon. His minimum fee was $2,500, suggesting to me there must be much bigger fish to fry in terms of the citations that get written down there.

Next time I am in the area, and I do hope to get back, I will make a concerted effort to lodge, eat and generally spend money in NC, SC, GA, KY, VA, WV, etc. TN already got theirs...

Lastly, I will say that everyone I interacted with on the court side of things was polite and efficient. Customer relations, I suppose.

 

[user 28803]

Thanks for the great RR and for the warning. Fun taxes suck.