| Author | Message | ||
     Mdoughten |
I'll be leaving my home in West Tennessee Sunday morning (5-15), and heading east ! I have a friend who lives in Soddy Daisy, TN, and I'll be staying with him. Plan to ride in the mountains Monday, and Tuesday. At least on one of those days, I'm going to the Deals Gap area. If there is anyone who can/wants to ride, let me know. It would be nice to meet new peeps, and have someone to ride with. Matt | ||
| 86129squids |
Holler for Monday- I'm off, may be able to ride a bit... | ||
| Rotzaruck |
Hey! Me and my my old Cyclone stopped the trains one day in Soddy Daisy! It's just up the road. Pretty country all around. You can find some ways to get there that are heaps better than I-24 or 40, especially when you get past Nashville, if you aren't in a rush. Take the area BRAN with you, there are a few of us around. Rotzaruck! | ||
| Mdoughten |
No interstate for me ! I'll be swinging south of Nashville, on Hwy.96 going through Murfreesboro.(is Bumpus Buell open on Sundays?) Then, on east on Hwy 70S to McMinnville, where I'll pick up Hwy. 8, which will take me on in to the Soddy D area. At least that's the plan. Do you have a better route. I'm open to suggestions, and in no rush. Thanks Matt | ||
| Tbolt_pilot |
Matt, I grew up just north of McMinnville in Sparta. 8/111 is cool down through there. Just before Dunlap, look for Rifle Range Rd/399 and turn right then left onto Fredonia Rd. There are 180deg switchbacks on it down the mountain. You'll end up on the main drag in Dunlap. Make a left, go a mile and you're back at 111. Enjoy and ride safe. | ||
| Whatever |
Keep an eye out for THP !!! | ||
| Mdoughten |
Rifle Range Rd. to Fredonia Rd. Check ! T H P Check ! I'm pulling out within the next hour. If you see a little silver X1 pointed east, on some two lane road in rural Tennessee, good chance it's me. NO RAIN, please ! Matt | ||
| Whatever |
Oh, and carry your PAPER REGISTRATION in your wallet... I wish I lived closer, I would love to run up there tomorrow... | ||
| 86129squids |
Yo Matt- hate to say it, but there's a 60% chance of rain tomorrow, plus it'll be COLD in the AM- be sure to leave your jacket liner in and take a rainsuit... On the plus side, of course this time of year the weather peeps are often off a fair bit- yesterday they had called for 60% chance of rain and we barely got a sprinkle or 2 all day, then it FINALLY rained as we were heading to bed... otherwise it was a GORGEOUS day. I would still recommend the Cherohala, even if it's raining- going slow and really taking in the views is just as fun as burning a hot lap through, and much less likely to attract the po-po! Take the side road up to Bald River Falls nice and slow too... I'll be watching the radar all day on the laptop- Matt, if things stay clear, I may still saddle up and meet you somewhere. Have you figured out all the secondaries between Soddy Daisy and Maryville? Lemme know, I'll try to help! | ||
| Tnxbrider |
Hope you are having fun. | ||
| Mdoughten |
Well, It beats the hell out of working, but I sure could have used some better weather conditions. At the end of the day, it wasn't too bad, but I got to say my run across the Cherohala Skyway this morning was just about miserable. It got to raining pretty hard, and the FOG was all but unbearable above 3000 feet. I guess it's hard to have fun when you can't see the freakin road. The rest of the days ride consisted of a mild drizzle to light rain. Just enough to keep the roads wet. I did get to explore some new roads. I also ran across some of the areas destroyed by the recent tornadoes. Unbelievable! Hopefully I can get everything dried out tonight and better weather tomorrow. Tom, I stopped by to visit with you sunday. They told me you were "out of country" I hope your having fun. I'll be back through the Boro Wed. I try you again. Brad, I got your voicemail. Thanks. Ima holla back. Matt | ||
| Tnxbrider |
Back in country Matt... got a week in Mexico for being a good boy... shoot me a PM when you know a schedule Wednesday. T | ||
| Rotzaruck |
FOG was all but unbearable above 3000 feet That might have actually saved me a lot of time. I had to stop every 15 feet and look off. At least we know now who to blame this cold ugly weather on. | ||
| Tnxbrider |
Great to meet you today Matt. Glad you've had a good trip and I hope the rest of the trip today was a good one. | ||
| Whatever |
Yeah... I learned that about the fog the hard way up at Mount Mitchell... in a downpour turned a corner and could not even see the five feet to the sign for the park... nothing to be messed with ! | ||
| Mdoughten |
Made it back home wet and dirty, about dark thirty Wednesday. Silly me, actually thought I was going to ride 1 whole day without any rain. Well, I got about 35 miles from the house and guess what? It rained the rest of the way in. If they were still building Buells, I would be tempted to trade this X1 in as apposed to cleaning it up. It is one nasty machine. Great trip none the less. Beautiful country side, what of it i could see. (except for the tornado damage I ran across.) Good roads, even when wet, and 1200+ miles on, what has to be, the most fun motorcycle on earth to ride. 100% reliable as well. It never coughed, or sputtered. I averaged 49 miles per gallon over the whole trip, and used about 1/2 quart of oil. Most of that prolly got dumped out of the catch can. My butt is still sore !  A few pics from my travels : clean bike and clean leather suit not the case now  roadside shot had to stop and empty catch can  bout the best view of the whole trip. most of the time it was foggy/hazy and you just couldn't see very far  self portrait  the next 2 pictures can't possibly describe what I saw. It made my eyes bleed, and my heart ache. I couldn't imagine dealing with something like this. God Bless these families. Hwy 317, around Collegedale, TN. just north of Ringgold, GA  house completely gone  neat little store in Tellico Plains, TN  Hey Brad, thanks for the tip on where to eat lunch. I had a FIRE roast beef sandwich. I'm going back ! Tellico Plains, TN  This pic turned out good I think. Artsy. Hwy 129  Tom, very nice talking with you again. Thanks for the sweet deal on the shirts. In this pic, only 2 guys tough enough to ride on a "BadWeather" day like this !!  Matt | ||
| Mdoughten |
one more thing. Dave, thanks for the detour tip. (Rifle Range Rd. to Fredonia Rd.) I enjoyed it both going and coming ! Matt | ||
| Tbolt_pilot |
No problem Matt. They are really fun in a cage so they are perfect for a bike. Have you ever gone down the mountain into Chattanooga? Past the spaceship house? Thats a fun road too but usually very crowded and the morons make it a bit dangerous. | ||
| Mdoughten |
when I got to Dunlap, I turned the GPS back on and set it for my destination (least use of freeways) I only made like 2 or 3 turns (onto different roads) but the last road took me off a mountain side into Soddy Daisy and it was really fun. One switchback after another. I came out on Dayton Pike, beside a Dollar General, if that tells you anything. Didn't see a spaceship house. | ||
| Tbolt_pilot |
Looks like you were on Mowbry Rd. It's crazy. The spaceship in on 8/127 south out of Dunlap it goes down into Chatt. Also called Signal Mtn Blvd. In heavy traffic it's an adventure. That whole area is cool, you could make a lot of routes to go up and down the mountain all day. Nothing like the Dragon or anything, but fun. | ||
| Mdoughten |
Yup ! Mowbry Rd. I believe that was it. | ||
| Whatever |
Ok... here is a really strange question... gorgeous bike btw... what kind of frame do you have on your lightning ? The right side looks stock, but the left side looks like it is custom. Am I seeing things? The left side looks like some kind of oval tube and it is definintely not in the stock configuration. What is the story behind this?  Am I just imagining things? | ||
| Mdoughten |
the only changes made to the bike have been cosmetic. the frame is stock. Matt | ||
| Guell |
Char, time to put it down  | ||
| Whatever |
I might have to see that bike in person for a closer inspection !  |
