A Day in the Smokies

[Twitch]

I got into Waynesville, North Carolina for a rally...a day early, so yesterday I headed into the Smokies.

Roughly, Moonshiner28 from Franklin north up to Deals Gap, a run on the Dragon into Tennessee; then Foothills Parkway to Little River Road over the Cherokee, and then Blue Ridge Parkway and an odd lot of roads back over the Waynesville. Great weather!

And that was just day one! ;D

 

[hANNAbONE]

...very hip, Twitch...

Wish I was your wingman.

 

[sail2xxs]

Nice! I passed through Deal's Gap, Cherohala Skyway, Moonshiner 28, last Friday! Can't wait to get back down there again.

Chris

 

[HoebSTer]

Oh how i miss the Smokies and the Blue Ridge Pkwy!!!! Before moving out here, I was able to ride the whole parkway twice over two years time. Each ride was mid week, and few weeks before memorial day, so there were noooo RV's on it!!! I like 128 heading north out of Franklin, great series of twisties there.

 

[justbob]

Yes 28 north out of Franklin is one of my favorites in that area. Especially the last 12 miles before you get to Hwy 19/74.
My new favorite is a road that was not previously paved all the way thru so a lot of people dont know about it. Its 281 or 284 IIRC, it ends at Rosman on Hwy 64. Its about 25 miles long and offers every type of sport riding, sweepers, real tight stuff with elevation changes along the way.

 

[spklbuk]

Those pics bring back some good memories. Ride safe Twitch...ya lucky dawg.

 

[1reddawg]

Those pics bring back some good memories. Ride safe Twitch...ya lucky dawg.

::026::

 

[tomatocity]

Beautiful!

 

[GrahamD]

Beautiful!

::026::

::012::

 

[MotorcopBBQ]

I'm Jealous! The wife and I had a couple of days in Pigion Forge, TN a couple of years ago. We didn't get to ride the Dragon or Blue Ridge Parkway. But just riding thought the Smokies National park was amazing.

 

[motocephalic]

Nice trip, Normally I would be at the Vstrom rally this weekend, but this is the first year I did not make it. That area is the easily the most incredible on the East Coast.

happy trails

 

[Maxified]

Great time of year to travel. So many fine roads & beautiful scenery in that area as your great pics show. Wish I could spend a couple of weeks just riding the back roads there. Been three years since I've been.

 

[JaimeV]

::026::

::012::

::026::

 

[Twitch]

Just getting back last night from a great week in the Smoky Mountains. We really had some awesome weather. It seems like past years it rains a lot this time of year. Except for a few drizzles here and there it was clear skies and nice and cool…except on top of the mountains where it was still pretty cold.

I dug through the Killboy photos from last Thursday and found that they’d caught me on the Dragon. I thought this next photo was a keeper. This is a white-knuckle, severely off-camber hairpin turn coming off a steep decline. I know why Killboy sits there...probably catch a lot of wipeouts.

On Monday, I took the morning to visit the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley. I’m a huge vintage motorcycle fanatic and thought it was awesome. Very different from the pristine condition of the Barber Museum pieces, most of the bikes in the WTT are untouched and leaking oil all over, and the place reaks of exhaust and oil, like a motorcycle shop…very cool! Here’s a link to a PHOTOBUCKET SLIDESHOW of about 120 photos that I took at the museum.

Member Coastie (John) met me and another guy at WTT to ride the rest of the afternoon. There was also another blue Super Tenere parked right next to mine in the parking lot when I got out of the museum. Don’t know who it was, but it had an Ohio plate. Anyway, there were three Super10s at Wheels Through Time!

We rode the Blue Ridge Parkway out past Asheville for the rest of the afternoon. It got dang cold up on the mountain and I had to throw on another layer. It seemed like we had the whole thing to ourselves for most of the ride…until we ran into a convoy of (all things) PT Cruisers…lol!

We stopped for a late lunch at the coolest place called the Mount Pisgah Inn. It was right on the side of the mountain up high on the parkway. The restaurant looked out on the mountain range and down into the tree covered valley. Geesh was that a nice place! Oh and don't let the name fool ya; they had some great food there.

Overall, I clocked over 1,200 miles in the mountains, plus another 1,250 riding up and back…tipped 12K on the odo by the time I pulled into my driveway last night. The Super Tenere has been an absolutely incredible machine. The dang thing feels and fits me like a glove. I'm not the least bit hesitant to take off on 500-600+ mile days on this motorcycle. We’ve done a lot of miles together and it’s performed absolutely flawlessly. From long stints on the highways, to rough terrains and river crossings through the Texas hill country and deserts, to now the twisty elevations of the Smoky Mountains. Next stop, if I can make it, Whitehorse and Alaska. Egad…that’s next month, isn’t it?!

 

[elizilla]

I rode with Coastie on Saturday, so, yet another blue Super10 was roaming the area. But that was not my bike at WTT.

 

[howie ronic]

Nothing beats perfect weather and a perfect bike when out for a ride. Have many more this summer.

 

[trinc4me]

There are some great dirt/gravel roads with stream crossings and such off the Blue Ridge parkway between Cherokee and Soco Gap......did some of those on my WR250R last year......maybe we can have an east coast S10 gathering up there some day! ::008::

 

[coastie]

There are some great dirt/gravel roads with stream crossings and such off the Blue Ridge parkway between Cherokee and Soco Gap......did some of those on my WR250R last year......maybe we can have an east coast S10 gathering up there some day! ::008::

I'm in! I'll be back up there in September, let's do it!

 

[trinc4me]

That sounds great Coastie! I'm going up this weekend in my Jeep, so plan to recon some of those routes