user 10225
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2007
- Messages
- 45
- Reaction score
- 0
Just returned this past weekend from 15 days on the road with a couple of friends. Route was from Houston, TX to Gettysburg, PA - via the Natchez Trace, Deal's Gap, Blue Ridge Pkwy, and Skyline Pkwy. The return trip was ad hoc, but we spent a decent amount of time tooling through WV and KY before heading back through the Ozarks then finally back into TX.
Daily Trip Blog Here: https://twowheeledoxherder.blogspot.com/
Also, I'm pretty sure I picked up the picture on the header of that blog somewhere on one of the forums I frequent, I just can't remember where. If it belongs to anyone here please let me know and I'll either take it down or ask nicely if I may continue to use it, give credit, etc..
Ok, on with the short story (long version is on the blog for those who drink alone and have nothing else to do!)...
I had put nearly 7,000 miles on a 2003 K1200GT that I purchased this year in preparation for this trip. 5 of us met up for breakfast north of Houston and proceeded to slab it towards Natchez, MS. As is our M.O., we chose to put as many miles as possible between us and home on that first day. It helps to usher in that sense of disconnectedness that usually takes a couple of days to settle in when you're on a long trip.
We picked up the Natchez Trace in...well...Natchez, MS and spent two days riding it into Nashville, TN. For what it's worth, the Trace is a beautiful ride, but with 50mph limits and it's gently swaying roads it tended to put me to sleep. The scenery was great, though the weather was still warm in late Sept. For myself, the best part of the Trace was the last hour or so, between Route 412 and the terminus near Franklin, TN. Once it started to get curvy I broke away from the rest of the pack and had a little fun. I was with three Harleys and a Goldwing...and we weren't going to get the dudes on the cruisers to speed; unfortunately my buddy on the 'Wing decided to stay with them.
Day 4 of the trip brought us to Tellico Plains, TN and the Cherohala Skyway. We had tried to position ourselves to overnight within striking distance of the Skyway, The Dragon, and US 441; the intent being not to hit any of those roads after a long day of riding.. we wanted to be fresh so that we could enjoy the ride. However, we arrived at Tellico Plains with plenty of time to knock out the Cherohala Skyway and overnight in Robbinsville, just south of Deal's Gap.
Unfortunately, it is here that my adventure with my beautiful K1200GT came to an untimely end. About mile marker 9 on the Skyway, coming out of a decreasing radius turn, an oncoming car pushed me off of the road and into the guardrail. After a short slide along said guardrail and then a little spill and body-surfing after trying to muscle the bike back onto the pavement, I checked myself out, picked the bike up off the pavement, and rolled it to the loose gravel on the inside of the curve. Long story short, bike was done; 3/4 of my clutch lever was gone and the clutch module was free spinning on the handlebars, leaking fluid; the fairing was bruised and battered, and my bags were trashed from the guardrail on one side and pavement on the other.
Good news is that the bags probably saved my leg on the guardrail side. Somewhere during the wreck the lower half of the laces on my right boot had been ripped right off the boot...though the upper half was still relatively intact. The jacket, gloves, and helmet absorbed most of the abuse and I walked away with nothing but a small friction burn from the sleeve of the jacket. Moral of the story? Wear your freekin' gear!!
Of course, cell phone was useless at 5,100 ft, so fortunately one of the locals on the volunteer SAR squad stopped by shortly after and radioed down the mountain for a sheriff and tow truck, and to another volunteer at the bottom to track down the other 4 guys waiting at the bottom for me to let them know what happened. All in all, a decent experience.
No, the offending car never stopped. They came around that blind corner so far into the outside lane that my only choice was the guardrail or the hood, and they never stopped. Merry Christmas, you bastages!
As a side note, the guy who stopped to help me out whipped out a water bottle and proceeded to fill it up from a stream of spring water coming right out of the side of the mountain. After seeing him drink it and offer me some, I tried it. Holy crap that was some of the best water I've ever tasted.
Anyhow, after the rest of my party came back up and the NC State Trooper showed up to hand me my default performance award - it defaulted to me since there was no other vehicle on scene - I push-started the bike and rode it down the rest of the way into Robbinsville.
The next day, two of the guys in our party split off and continued on up to York, PA where the H-D factory is. They were trying to get there by Saturday and since I was ok there was no real reason for them to stay. We waved them off and I started the process of tracking down a wrecker and calling Wheeler's there in town to see if there was anything he could do for me. By the time the wrecker driver arrived, I had decided simply to run the bike all the way up into Knoxville and to Destination Motorcycles, the only BMW guys close enough to make a difference.
I just want to point out that the ride inside the cab of that truck was one of the scariest rides in my life. The only way to Knoxville from Robbinsville is straight up US 129 and through The Dragon. Even after hearing how I wrecked my bike, that wrecker driver tore through The Dragon without a care as to which lane he was in. Luckily it was late afternoon on a weekday...otherwise I know that guy would have killed someone.
The guys at Destination Motorcycles were great; but unfortunately my insurance rep totaled the bike out first thing Thursday morning. The cost of repairing the bike was well beyond the 75% of NADA value...so I said my goodbyes to my baby and proceeded to figure out what was going to happen next. I squared away the financial piece with the adjuster, had my wife email the receipts for all my damaged gear and decided to go shopping.
I couldn't afford the new K1200GT, though I wanted the one on Destination's showroom floor badly. So, with a heavy heart and a newly paid off loan for a 2003 K1200GT, I hopped in the rental car and drove down the road to Alcoa Good Times Yamaha. Unbelievably, the Yamaha place had not one, but TWO 2005 FJR's for sale. In Texas I had trouble finding even a single used FJR at a dealership. Very well; by Saturday morning I had all of my gear dropped off at the dealership and was loading up my new (to me) '05 FJR. I had replaced all of my protective equipment the previous day, so by noon of the fourth day following my wreck I was back on the road, headed straight for The Dragon and then onto Cherokee, NC to pick up the Blue Ridge Pkwy. I still had 8 days left, and I'd be damned if a wreck that I was able to walk away from was going to ruin a vacation that I'd been planning all year.
The Dragon was relatively slow going. Mostly because I the FJR was still new to me, but partly because the police were thick on that 11-mile section of US129. Real thick. I read an email posting at Destination Motorcycles in Knoxville that upwards of 150 tickets were being handed out on that 11-mile stretch of road during the weekends. Watch yourselves, boys and girls
We picked up the Blue Ridge on the east side of the Cherokee Indian Reservation and proceeded to Asheville, which was to be where we overnighted. The next day brought us to Roanoke, VA; and the following day had us in Gettysburg, PA. The Blue Ridge Pkwy, start to finish, was by far one of the most beautiful stretches of road that I've ever seen. I saw enough to make me take a serious look at a couple of the regional real-estate rags in the areas we passed through.
For those who don't know, Skyline Pkwy through Shenandoah NP (at the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge Pkwy) costs $10 for motorcycles to enter. The final 1/3 or so of the Pkwy up until it ends at Front Royal, VA is littered with loose gravel...making for an interesting day. For beginning riders, as long as you're obeying the speed limit you should be fine, though I could have done without the additional road hazard given that more than one deer decided to play Wildlife Chicken. Anyways, not sure what's going on with the road, but hopefully it's not always like that.
A day in Gettysburg to be tourists and soak up some history and we were back in the saddle. We backtracked to Winchester, VA and picked up Route 50 westbound...which turned out to be one of the best picks of the entire trip. Between Romney and Grafton, WV, Route 50 is filled with banked hairpin turns, descending AND decreasing radius turns, and plenty of ups and downs. I really got to put that FJR through its paces chasing that 'Wing up the mountain. Yes, chasing. My buddy on the 'Wing is an excellent rider, and though I could have passed him easily on that FJR, we were already riding at the limits of what was safe on an unknown road with unknown dangers. Consequently, there was no reason to pass him - so I just continued to chase him.
We overnighted in Grafton, WV, which was a cool experience. The weather was beautiful in that little mountain town, and we didn't even turn the a/c on that night...just left the windows open.
The next couple of days we slabbed it down to Nashville and I-40 to Little Rock, which put us within striking distance of the Ozarks before we had to head home. However, the next morning over breakfast we decided to scrap the Ozarks and head home. 15 days was enough for now, we figured that trying to fit in only a single day of Ozark scenery and twisties was just trying to fit too much in what was left of the trip. We decided that day would be better spent with our respective families. So, at the end of the 15th day I pulled into my garage with a different bike than I had left with.
Next year, it's 3 weeks and British Columbia and Hwy 1 all the way up the west coast!
Ride safe -
Dave
Daily Trip Blog Here: https://twowheeledoxherder.blogspot.com/
Also, I'm pretty sure I picked up the picture on the header of that blog somewhere on one of the forums I frequent, I just can't remember where. If it belongs to anyone here please let me know and I'll either take it down or ask nicely if I may continue to use it, give credit, etc..
Ok, on with the short story (long version is on the blog for those who drink alone and have nothing else to do!)...
I had put nearly 7,000 miles on a 2003 K1200GT that I purchased this year in preparation for this trip. 5 of us met up for breakfast north of Houston and proceeded to slab it towards Natchez, MS. As is our M.O., we chose to put as many miles as possible between us and home on that first day. It helps to usher in that sense of disconnectedness that usually takes a couple of days to settle in when you're on a long trip.
We picked up the Natchez Trace in...well...Natchez, MS and spent two days riding it into Nashville, TN. For what it's worth, the Trace is a beautiful ride, but with 50mph limits and it's gently swaying roads it tended to put me to sleep. The scenery was great, though the weather was still warm in late Sept. For myself, the best part of the Trace was the last hour or so, between Route 412 and the terminus near Franklin, TN. Once it started to get curvy I broke away from the rest of the pack and had a little fun. I was with three Harleys and a Goldwing...and we weren't going to get the dudes on the cruisers to speed; unfortunately my buddy on the 'Wing decided to stay with them.
Day 4 of the trip brought us to Tellico Plains, TN and the Cherohala Skyway. We had tried to position ourselves to overnight within striking distance of the Skyway, The Dragon, and US 441; the intent being not to hit any of those roads after a long day of riding.. we wanted to be fresh so that we could enjoy the ride. However, we arrived at Tellico Plains with plenty of time to knock out the Cherohala Skyway and overnight in Robbinsville, just south of Deal's Gap.
Unfortunately, it is here that my adventure with my beautiful K1200GT came to an untimely end. About mile marker 9 on the Skyway, coming out of a decreasing radius turn, an oncoming car pushed me off of the road and into the guardrail. After a short slide along said guardrail and then a little spill and body-surfing after trying to muscle the bike back onto the pavement, I checked myself out, picked the bike up off the pavement, and rolled it to the loose gravel on the inside of the curve. Long story short, bike was done; 3/4 of my clutch lever was gone and the clutch module was free spinning on the handlebars, leaking fluid; the fairing was bruised and battered, and my bags were trashed from the guardrail on one side and pavement on the other.
Good news is that the bags probably saved my leg on the guardrail side. Somewhere during the wreck the lower half of the laces on my right boot had been ripped right off the boot...though the upper half was still relatively intact. The jacket, gloves, and helmet absorbed most of the abuse and I walked away with nothing but a small friction burn from the sleeve of the jacket. Moral of the story? Wear your freekin' gear!!
Of course, cell phone was useless at 5,100 ft, so fortunately one of the locals on the volunteer SAR squad stopped by shortly after and radioed down the mountain for a sheriff and tow truck, and to another volunteer at the bottom to track down the other 4 guys waiting at the bottom for me to let them know what happened. All in all, a decent experience.
No, the offending car never stopped. They came around that blind corner so far into the outside lane that my only choice was the guardrail or the hood, and they never stopped. Merry Christmas, you bastages!
As a side note, the guy who stopped to help me out whipped out a water bottle and proceeded to fill it up from a stream of spring water coming right out of the side of the mountain. After seeing him drink it and offer me some, I tried it. Holy crap that was some of the best water I've ever tasted.
Anyhow, after the rest of my party came back up and the NC State Trooper showed up to hand me my default performance award - it defaulted to me since there was no other vehicle on scene - I push-started the bike and rode it down the rest of the way into Robbinsville.
The next day, two of the guys in our party split off and continued on up to York, PA where the H-D factory is. They were trying to get there by Saturday and since I was ok there was no real reason for them to stay. We waved them off and I started the process of tracking down a wrecker and calling Wheeler's there in town to see if there was anything he could do for me. By the time the wrecker driver arrived, I had decided simply to run the bike all the way up into Knoxville and to Destination Motorcycles, the only BMW guys close enough to make a difference.
I just want to point out that the ride inside the cab of that truck was one of the scariest rides in my life. The only way to Knoxville from Robbinsville is straight up US 129 and through The Dragon. Even after hearing how I wrecked my bike, that wrecker driver tore through The Dragon without a care as to which lane he was in. Luckily it was late afternoon on a weekday...otherwise I know that guy would have killed someone.
The guys at Destination Motorcycles were great; but unfortunately my insurance rep totaled the bike out first thing Thursday morning. The cost of repairing the bike was well beyond the 75% of NADA value...so I said my goodbyes to my baby and proceeded to figure out what was going to happen next. I squared away the financial piece with the adjuster, had my wife email the receipts for all my damaged gear and decided to go shopping.
I couldn't afford the new K1200GT, though I wanted the one on Destination's showroom floor badly. So, with a heavy heart and a newly paid off loan for a 2003 K1200GT, I hopped in the rental car and drove down the road to Alcoa Good Times Yamaha. Unbelievably, the Yamaha place had not one, but TWO 2005 FJR's for sale. In Texas I had trouble finding even a single used FJR at a dealership. Very well; by Saturday morning I had all of my gear dropped off at the dealership and was loading up my new (to me) '05 FJR. I had replaced all of my protective equipment the previous day, so by noon of the fourth day following my wreck I was back on the road, headed straight for The Dragon and then onto Cherokee, NC to pick up the Blue Ridge Pkwy. I still had 8 days left, and I'd be damned if a wreck that I was able to walk away from was going to ruin a vacation that I'd been planning all year.
The Dragon was relatively slow going. Mostly because I the FJR was still new to me, but partly because the police were thick on that 11-mile section of US129. Real thick. I read an email posting at Destination Motorcycles in Knoxville that upwards of 150 tickets were being handed out on that 11-mile stretch of road during the weekends. Watch yourselves, boys and girls
We picked up the Blue Ridge on the east side of the Cherokee Indian Reservation and proceeded to Asheville, which was to be where we overnighted. The next day brought us to Roanoke, VA; and the following day had us in Gettysburg, PA. The Blue Ridge Pkwy, start to finish, was by far one of the most beautiful stretches of road that I've ever seen. I saw enough to make me take a serious look at a couple of the regional real-estate rags in the areas we passed through.
For those who don't know, Skyline Pkwy through Shenandoah NP (at the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge Pkwy) costs $10 for motorcycles to enter. The final 1/3 or so of the Pkwy up until it ends at Front Royal, VA is littered with loose gravel...making for an interesting day. For beginning riders, as long as you're obeying the speed limit you should be fine, though I could have done without the additional road hazard given that more than one deer decided to play Wildlife Chicken. Anyways, not sure what's going on with the road, but hopefully it's not always like that.
A day in Gettysburg to be tourists and soak up some history and we were back in the saddle. We backtracked to Winchester, VA and picked up Route 50 westbound...which turned out to be one of the best picks of the entire trip. Between Romney and Grafton, WV, Route 50 is filled with banked hairpin turns, descending AND decreasing radius turns, and plenty of ups and downs. I really got to put that FJR through its paces chasing that 'Wing up the mountain. Yes, chasing. My buddy on the 'Wing is an excellent rider, and though I could have passed him easily on that FJR, we were already riding at the limits of what was safe on an unknown road with unknown dangers. Consequently, there was no reason to pass him - so I just continued to chase him.
We overnighted in Grafton, WV, which was a cool experience. The weather was beautiful in that little mountain town, and we didn't even turn the a/c on that night...just left the windows open.
The next couple of days we slabbed it down to Nashville and I-40 to Little Rock, which put us within striking distance of the Ozarks before we had to head home. However, the next morning over breakfast we decided to scrap the Ozarks and head home. 15 days was enough for now, we figured that trying to fit in only a single day of Ozark scenery and twisties was just trying to fit too much in what was left of the trip. We decided that day would be better spent with our respective families. So, at the end of the 15th day I pulled into my garage with a different bike than I had left with.
Next year, it's 3 weeks and British Columbia and Hwy 1 all the way up the west coast!
Ride safe -
Dave
