| Author | Message | ||
     Jmartz |
Mark: Glad you hear you did not injure yourself too badly. The damage you describe on your bike might be "cosmetic" but I bet it will still cost a couple of $'s. Hope to see soon In SC for some lidless riding now thw weather will soon get cooler. Jose | ||
| Mbsween |
Ed, Racerboy, any update on Roger? Hope he doing better. I made it home safe and sound, 2100+ in 4 days and not a damn problem! (its probably falling over as I speak) Roger did manage to grab some good footage from the front of his bike. I'll have it and the pictures posted by Wednesday. Matt | ||
| Fairassbueller |
Yeah, looking at the "statistics" (or should I say body count), combined with the weather report (say, ain't that a jazz band?) -- the '02 BRAG Dragon wing ding sounds like it was a bust. Wrong-o, fellow Buellees. For the Friday BBQ there were about 75 bikes and riders, incl. from Australia and Germany (and one guy who rode from Seattle (after shipping his bike down from Fairbanks, AK!). There was even a couple who rode two-up from the deep South on a Blast! Lots of hot iron & customs, and plenty of tasty roads (come to think of it, the pulled pork bbq wasn't too bad either...). Basically, if you weren't riding a Firebolt that weekend, you had a good time (except for Jose Quinones and his bastard S-3, but that is his own personal hell -- and the subject of several previous postings -- and for more postings to come, no doubt.) The weather? Face it folks -- S.W. North Carolina is a rain forest; that's why it's so pretty. That's where all those neat waterfalls come from. And in a rain forest it, well, rains sometimes, year 'round. All those mountains, valleys and chasms produce their own weather as well, and the trick is to keep moving around and through them and ride where the rain ain't. That all those road features are connected by made-for-moto ribbons of joy makes this a challenge worth undertaking. Fellow DC BRAGER Chris and I scratched our way through just shy of 300 miles of scintillating curvies that Sat. "rain day," going down to Bridle Falls, over Wayah Rd. & up the Chalupa (aka Cherehola) and round and round Tennessee, getting sunburned in the process, and coming back "home" down the Dragon and over to Fontana in time for the dinner event. My third time in the area, it was by far the best riding I had ever done down there (and among the more memorable riding in my life!) The only bad part was coming home Sun., partly assuaged by one last run up the Dragon and a stellar vista view from Foothill Pkwy (but almost ruined by the subsequent pass through Pigeon Forge and its concomitant traffic jams-- what was I thinkin'?) Anyway, this is not a posting for the purpose of gloating, but just to set the record straight. Face it, you can crash in your own backyard. Any chance to ride the Smokies is one worth taking. FairassBueller | ||
| Kcfirebolt |
What made the Firebolt the roadkill of the day. I'm very curious to know for obvious reasons. Is it lack of traction from the tires? Twitchiness of the bike (mine loves to stand up in corners when I grab the front brake)? Too much bravado? I'd like specifics, so I can avoid similar outcomes. | ||
| Erick |
What a great weekend! I'm the "green Thunderbolt rider" in Darthane's post above. I'll do a separate post about the fall-down. I traveled in to the gap from the west on Friday, sunny and cool on the Skyway (165, 143). Very little traffic and gorgeous, the trees are starting to turn colors at the high altitudes. I met the first group of Buells at an overlook and we had a good chat. It was like meeting old friends!? Funny how Buells work. Rt 143 T into 28, I turned right and after a few miles came to Wheelers cycle shop. I stopped for a soda (a coke, here in the buckle of the bible belt) and some local knowledge. I also met a guy on a XB9R, Dave from Ohio, that I followed around the hills for the next two days. Dave & I finished our 7Ups and headed for DGMR. DGMR is where it was at! More Buells in one spot than anything I've ever seen since '99 Daytona! Red ones, white ones, blue ones and many colors that will never come out of Wisc. I started looking around for any of several guys that were supposed to be there ... and found some that I've traded posts with. The BBQ Friday Night 'hit the spot'. We were all hungry, and most were into adult refreshments ... In Chattanooga I found a bottle of Arrogant Bustard Ale (from a micro in San Diego) and figured it could be a laugh. Turned out to be a good ale! I'll let someone else report the headcount. It started to rain after the food was gone, we were still looking for the perfect beer. However, the rain caused some gravitation of riders that don't mind riding in it. The weather channel in the store didn't look good for Saturday, with the storms in the Gulf supplying lots of water. Typical Hurricane bands of rain were starting to extend over the area. Saturday didn't dawn, the ooze just got light. After a hearty breakfast of a DRAGON MUFFIN and several cups of coffee, I was ready to go ... rain or more rain. Six of us headed East to the ROAD TO NOWHERE, just out of Bryson City. This is a Federal promised and partly built road for the community after the TVA damming project cut off access to burial grounds. Just another beautiful road in NC with twisties, and without side roads ending a hundred yards after a big, long tunnel. After communing with nature and marveling at the short sightedness of some projects, we headed back to Bryson city for lunch. Great lunch in Bryson City at a pizza/spaghetti place, then off to the BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY. The Blue Ridge Parkway is an old love of mine, that again brought back many memories of a well spent youth. Some drizzle as we started up, building to a heavy shower by the time we got to the Visitors Center at a high point (not the highest). The rangers were hospitable and had many interesting stories and factoids. The rain let up some and thoughts were turning to Saturday night dinner at Fontana Village, so we headed ‘home’. It was interesting that through the day, we made many positive comments about touring in the wet conditions: “It’s like riding in an enclosed area, a terrarium, a greenhouse,” “The trees are sooo green.” “Not many cars.” “Not many bikes.” “What happened to the traffic at scenic overlooks?” The dinner at Fontana was a success, for some only declared. But for me, a true success … it was great putting faces to Bad Weather Bikers’ names. And, I haven’t had so many laughs in years. Many of these guys missed their calling as a comedian that night. The ride back to DGMR was almost as wet as the ride to Fontana. The evening at DGMR continued to the wee hours with plans made for an early morning ride on the Dragon with Mbsween. Early morning turned out to be 7:30 ride out. The Dragon was dry in some spots with nothing coming down. Cautious ride up that found some of the gravel that riders were talking about the night before, no wet leaves. At the dam overlook, we were joined by a Kaw 650 rider. There nothing like someone enjoying his machine in the quiet morning. The trip back was a bit quicker, I can see where this thing (the Dragon) could get addictive. Back at DGMR, upon close inspection of my rear tire, I decided it would be prudent to replace it before the trip home. Mike had one at the shop, three hundred yards up the road, and he had time to put it on. This story continues under another post. See You next year at the Gap. Growing some new skin at home, Erick | ||
| Darthane |
Phew. Unfortunately for me I didn't bring my rain gear (I trucked my Firebolt in there) and my girlfriend doesn't have any, so the rain hit me a little harder than others. I'm willing to ride in the rain, but I prefer to stay dry myself doing so! A couple of my buddies that had ridden up with me took off Saturday morning. I had them help me load the bike since I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find anyone to help me do so on Sunday morning to go home. They left around 10, and my girlfriend and I took off in my truck at about 10:30 on Racerboy's "So You Say You Like Waterfalls' ride. Holy COW what gorgeous roads. Too bad it was pouring for the first 3 hours of that tour. It started drying up in the afternoon and by mid afternoon I was itching to get back to Fontana and get my Firebolt back out of the truck. We returned about 6:00PM and I wandered aimlessly for about a half hour before finally finding a pair of Buellers to give me a hand unloading the bike. I managed a quick 6 mile run down 28 south from Fontana (whoo...beautiful twisties) before it started to sprinkle. I figured I'd better turn around to make it back in time for the dinner and it just started to POUR on me. As I said, I didn't have rain gear so I was drenched aside from that single part of my anatomy mated to the seat. I got back, changed, and headed dor the dinner. I believe we had ~45 people there and it was awesome. We did a round of introductions and as a result I can now put some faces to the BadWeb names. On the way out I got another treat. As I pulled out of DGMR after taking some pictures and doing my souvenir shopping, three Miatas from a local club pulled onto 129 behind me. Not wanting to spoil their fun, I pulled over and let them get ahead of me, figuring I'd never see them again. WRONG. I discovered that my 2002 Ram 1500 Quad Cab handles like a dream (even with my Firebolt in the bed), and I tailed those little four-bangers through every single one of those 318 beautiful curves. And I have pictures to prove it, which I'll post when I get them compressed. ::snickers:: All told, I only got about 35 miles of riding in due to wrecks and weather, but I still had a great time and I can't wait to come back again next year. Huge thanks to the DC and St. Louis BRAG groupd for putting this together. You guys rock, and I look forward to seeing you all again soon. Now I'm off to post my crash. ::sigh:: LOL Bryan | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Pictures From Deals Gap 2002 Friday: Tom & Jeremy from Baltimore and Blaine from Frederick met Linda and I in Strasburg, VA, then Took I-81 south to Roanoke where we picked up the Blue Ridge Parkway, a national treasure!    Pic of Me courtesy of Blaine We ended up the day in Boone, NC  | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Friday: We finished the Blue Ridge all the way 74 near Sylvia and headed over to the gap via 28 (still under construction, but the completed sections are sweet!) Just like last year, the first thing we saw was a crashed bike on the back of a truck, this time a Firebolt:   I think this is Roger's Bike?  We also started to meet new Buellers and renew aquaintances from last year. AJ is the guy facing the wrong way, that is also his S3T in the picture. He did the California ride this year and he came all the way from Alaska for this event!!!! | ||
| José_Quiñones |
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| Dynarider |
It was a great time, even if my bike did die again. At least I got in 3 runs down the Dragon & a couple hundred miles riding over many of the other roads before she puked. The rain didnt bother me at all. It was saturday, bike was broken, & it gave me an excuse to take the truck everywhere. The dragon is a blast to run in a 4x4. I had no problems keeping up with the Harley riders, but the Honda S2000's & Porsches kicked my ass  It was good to meet everyone & actually put a few faces with the names. Glad to here you are ok Roger. We missed the accident just south of Fontana but when we came back thru the wife mentioned the road sign definately was hit & hit hard. Hope the rider comes thru with the full use of all his bodyparts. | ||
| José_Quiñones |
After unloading our stuff we went to the Gap for the BBQ.  We got greedy though, instead of wainting for the dinner to start, we went and rode the Dragon and got back to the dinner late, so we had to pay for it! It was worth it, especially considering what what happened next. I decided to ride through the gap without my earplugs on, and when I rode the bike I realized I had an exhaust leak somewhere, but I had not heard it when riding down. Once I got to the Dam Overlook, I saw that the top bolt on the exhaust header mount was missing. Actually it snapped, flush with the head. So I rode back to the DGMR, my head full of thoughts of WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY WHEN I GOT BACK ON BADWEB. But the BBQ was awesome, and I had fun shooting the bull with all the Bueller's there and making fun of my troubles. But I had to fix it somehow, I didn't think the bike would make it very far like that. After Dinner, we rode back to Fontana, just as the rain started..... | ||
| José_Quiñones |
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| Fasteddieb |
Back home safe in S. Florida after one night in Tallahassee. The BMW GS is a great "Land Cruiser" Just to let you guys know I had a great time, rain and all! More, with photos tomorrow. | ||
| Mbsween |
Erick, Glad to hear your okay! You looked a little shaky in the ambulance, well I guess anybody would look shaky in that situation. On a good note, the footage from the 7:30 run came out very nice. Well maybe except the parts when the slow X1 was in front of you.  I'll have it posted to a site tomorrow for all to take a look at. Again, glad to hear your okay | ||
| Erick |
To All that helped me after the fall ... Mung-a-tuck. (a million thanks in Norwegian) Particularly, Sam, Frank and Bob who brought my gear to Knoxville. I'm working a post with the fall details. Roger (ERICK) | ||
| José_Quiñones |
But not before I got to the Fontana Parking Lot to see Linda, her bike, and a crowd around it. Linda does not like BBQ. Dave (Fairassbueller) attempted to convice her to stay by telling her "Linda, if you don't eat the BBQ, the terrorists win!" That didn't work, so she decided to go to Fontana and eat, and she would ride back to meet me at DGMR. She never came back to meet me, so I was worried. Apparently she dropped the bike while pushing it around the sloped parking area at Fontana and dropped it, snapping the shift lever toe piece and the end of the clutch lever, and the bike would not start. I showed up as her bike was being repaired and suggested that they wiggle the clutch switch, and the bike started. My own SV did the same thing when Linda droped it on the way to the Pocono event. Bypassing the switch with a paper clip in the connector fixes it. Anyway, thanks to the great help (I'm sorry I don't remember the names), a hole was drilled in the shift lever and temporary shift toe piece (a bolt with the original rubber boot placed over it) was installed, and the bike was operational again. Then it started raining....... Saturday: Woke up to see that it was still raining. I walked out to see who was around and what the plans were. What I saw was not encouraging, I saw a lot of people putting their bikes back up on trailers heading home. But there were still plenty of people planning on going places.   At this point the manager of Fontana showed up and asked us how many people should they expect for the dinner. Bob(Racerboy) and I thought about it and told her "35", thinking that half of the nearly 70 riders that were at the BBQ Friday would stay. By the way, 70 was way more bikes/riders than I thought would show up, the turn out was excellent! Anyway, I'm still trying to decide what to do about my bike. Dave and Chris had left on their ride earlier, and Linda was not too thrilled with riding in the rain, so I figured that I could fix the bike and not miss much. I was leaning in the direction of heading to that Wheeler's place in Robbinsville, or up to the Buell Dealer in Knoxville. At this point Bob mentions that Mike at DGMR runs the shop there, DragonWorks, and that John (V2win) might be carrying an exhaust stud. So I figure that should be the thing to do. So Linda and I rode the 11 miles between Fontana and DGMR, trying to avoid the wet leaves along the way and babying the bike to keep the stress on the exhaust to a minimum. At DGMR, I found John and Mike, Mike felt he could get it out, but we needed the stud. John looked among all his stuff, and found one! So we were in business. All we had to do was remove the stud, put the new one in there, and go ride after the rain stopped! EASY! It was about 10 am.  The broken Stud  Mike  John I thought Mike would do the work, but John basically took over and did most of the work. I just looked and took pictures and kept Linda entertained. Well, to make a long story short, John couln't get the stud out, even after sending Linda out to Robbinsville to get an Easyout. So at around 3 pm, we gave up, put the bike back together, and I rode the bike down the hill to DGMR and waited for Linda to show up and head for the Dinner at Fontana at 7 pm. Hanging out at the DGMR was fun, talking bikes and looking at what people had done to their bikes, and cars, as there were a bunch of Porshes and Honda S2000's running around. | ||
| José_Quiñones |
So I took some Pictures there:    I think this is where Erick went down, this first turn out of DGMR has claimed many bikes/cars. | ||
| José_Quiñones |
The tree of shame is always a good photo op:  | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Here's the coolest Pumpkin S2 ever built!     | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Linda finally showed up at around 6:30 pm, she dropped her SV again pushing the bike into a parking spot at an overlook on the Foothills Parkway. She was Ok, the Bike suffered a busted windshield and she bent the shifter again. She got some help and got it fixed. We got to Fontana for just in time for Dinner. Almost 45 people showed up! We had a lot of fun, I made everybody get up and introduce themselves, and this led to the many funny stories and jokes that ensued. Everybody got Buell/Brag stickers for their efforts. The Funniest was the story involving a Firebolt with NO kickstand going to Knoxville to get it fixed, I'll let him tell it later. Sunday we met up with Dave at DGMR to head home. He offered to ride behind us in case my bike decided to quit. We left around 9 am, going through Deals Gap with the road still wet and with wet leaves at quite a few turns. We got lost a little bit, hit a major traffic jam at Pigeon Forge (where my bike flashed the DDFI light and made some awful noises), helped Linda after she crashed on some slick concrete coming out of a gas station (I almost went down too, and recovered in time to see Linda fall in my mirror). She was shaken but Ok, this time she tweaked the rear brake lever and scratched the exhaust pipe. We also hooked back up with Blaine on I-81 in the rain, and rode together for a while. We got home at 10:30 pm. My bike made the whole trip without breaking the remaining stud on the front cylinder, so I was relieved. Today Linda got new brake and shift levers ($180, Ouch!!!) and I installed them. I'm still debating what to do about my bike. I don't have the money to fix it right now. I might try to fix it myself, but that requires tools, time and experience that I also don't have right now. | ||
| Brentx1 |
It sure was nice to see old friends and meet new ones. Here are a few of my pics:  This is the Fontana campsite | ||
| Brentx1 |
 This is Paul, he came all the way from Down Under. | ||
| Brentx1 |
 Here is the biggest hillbilly that Rides an awsome M2.  This proof that I really was there. It's hard for me to believe. | ||
| José_Quiñones |
Latest statistics that I know about. Close to 70 bikes, 8 crashed (five were Firebolts, one X1, one M2 and one Green S3T), at least one rocker box leak, a few DDFI glitches, one "enhanced" Firebolt sidestand that broke, and two broken exhaust studs. | ||
| Edmanning |
Wow, Great weekend with the exception of a few wreaks. BTW, Glad to here your up and at it Rog. Sam, Frank and myself left the GAP this morning and made it to my place here in the hills of KY before dark so we rode Nada "The railroad Tunnel",the Red River Gorge and Broke Leg Falls before they cut out around seven tonight to head back to Kansas City. Hey Bob the boys said you would have flipped over Broke Leg. All together I got in around 500 miles at the GAP and the Skyway, not to mention the awesome scenary in between And to you guys that missed or and went home early, Larry highsided his 03 aniversary Road King passing me on the inside on the Tail of the Dragon. It looked like the Shriners circus train derailed right in front of me. I was already commited to the decreasing radius. Fortunatly he missed me and is OK. He's probably sippin one down ther right now Will get back with some pics. Ed "Hillbilly" Manning | ||
| Edmanning |
One more thing of many. THANK YOU! DC and ST LOUIS BRAG chapters. Jose,Bob and the rest of you that put so much into making this the best meet of the year. AWESOME, Hillbilly | ||
| Brentx1 |
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| Erick |
My Fall Down story. My wife and also a cart racing buddy, Dave H, picked me up at the U of Tenn Memorial Hosp. Dave patently listened to my story and replied; “Ya got to do better than that!” “How about an Elk or you overtaking a Porsche on an inside curve?” Unfortunately for the reader, there were too many observers, too close to fabricate a great story … so, just the facts. In the post above I wrote about some of the great things of the weekend. Unlike the rides, the FALL was triggered by a series of stupid decisions on my part. My hope is that by sharing some of the disjointed, bad thinking it might save someone else from some real pain. ==== ==== ==== I decided it would be prudent to replace my rear tire before the trip home from The Gap. Mike had one at the shop, only three hundred yards up the road from DGMR, and he had time to put it on. I planed to ride it up there and walk back for breakfast, so the Aerostich would just be a bother. Gloves? Not for such a short ride … and they are wet. (I had two dry pair in the room!) Off we go … (so they say) last ride on that back tire … What the heck crank it in 1 & 2. Oops, there is the entrance. Breaks. Gone. Notice no thought of going past and coming back. No excuse, it was wet … but one can exceed any traction with those breaks. By the time I clawed my way up the cliff, three or four riders were there from DGMR who heard the metal on asphalt. A quick look at my hands I noted more work than what could be done with the three band-aids I had in my shaving kit. My S3T was up against the Garage sign base … no damage to the sign base. The T didn’t fare so well. It was reported to me that the air box sacrificed itself and a foot peg was gone from the other side. With a flip-flop, I’m expecting some more fix-up. I want to thank John for the two-up ride back to DGMR. I owe you personally. There were several good decisions made by others for me in the next half hour. Impressive … maybe I could stage something like this as a management workshop. The ride to the hospital was on the Dragon, interesting conversation with the medic. He was keeping track of a increasing size bruise on my tummy by drawing circles on it with a Bic. Once we were out of the mountains, I got a cell phone call off to Dave and my wife, it is a 4 hour drive to Knoxville for them. By the end of the hour ambulance drive, the bruise had stabilized. The last time I was in a hospital was about 30 years ago for a broken color bone, this was different! Fist thing they did was cut ALL my clothes off, watch, ring. Than they started another IV, shot of morphine, Oxygen monitor on a good finger, six sensors on my torso, Oxygen up my nose, did a finger wave, auto blood pressure, and then they brought in a student to put in a catheter. No fun for me other than the multiple directions she was getting, I also had some advice on the procedure. No one was paying any attention to me. X-rays, CT scans, poking, probing … finally Genell is given the task of cleaning me up and putting bandages on the scrapes. Now remember, no gloves … not a scratch on my palms. Three finger tips are missing all layers of skin but no meat missing. Other road rash at all the hard spots on an Aerostich. Had I been in my suit, I would have been only bruised. Poor Genell went through as much pain as me cleaning out the asphalt. She made several offers of more morphine ... finally I suggested I buy one for her. Someplace about that time announcements were made about a train crash with sulfuric acid and the pace picked up around the hospital. The emergency service I came through was closed and preparations were being made for detox of people and isolation for the procedures. This meant they needed to get Roger out of there ASAP. The X-ray, CT scan pictures were read, I was pronounced releasable. “Hay Genell, how about the catheter?” DE-CATHETERING (what a thrill that was!) And the bandages got sympathy from all but my wife. I took today off and made a visit to my GP, only to find that he, Bill, is out recuperating from knee surgery. The stand-in said my missing skin would all grow back. I was almost glad Bill wasn’t there … he fell off a MC a few years ago. He would have beat me up for being so dumb as to ride without protective clothing. ERICK | ||
| Reepicheep |
José... Thanks as always for the great writeup. My 2kM2 broke a similar stud. The studs are an interference fit, so I can't imagine that an easy out will ever work, and it will more likely break a tip of hardened steel off in the middle of the bolt. It will then take $30 worth of diamond tipped dremel bits and about 5 hours to get that broken tip out. Don't ask me how I know this. The "right" way to fix the stud would be to pull the head and have it done at a machine shop. The "almost right" way to fix it involves a $75 jig you can buy through custom chrome catalogs that will bolt on to the surviving stud, and guide a hand drill for a straight and true path to drill out the old stud. The "wrong way but it worked out fine for me" way involves gritting of teeth, a hand drill, a tap, and some nerve and patience. I just drilled the stupid stud out by hand with no jig. By the time I was to the full depth of the stud, I was only off by about half a bolt width, and had not appeared to pierce anything vital. I then tapped out the hole, and installed a new stud. The steel stud is probably at least as hard as the head, so even though the new stud is anchored half in the old stud, and half in the head, it should be just as strong (if not stronger). Has held well for 7k miles since, though I treat it gently when I pull the headers and keep a close eye on it. My logic was that a whole new head from Buell is only $300 or so, and that I doubted I could get a machine shop to extract the old stud for less then $150, so it was not that big a gamble to just drill out the old stud by hand, as if it worked I did not have to take apart anything or take anything anywhere, and the whole job could be done in an hour. If it went badly, well, I still had to pull the head and take it to a machine shop anyway, where they could clean up my mess. If it went REALLY badly, I just order a new head, bolt it on, and I'm done with it. The updated front exhaust hanger made a world of difference in the overall durability of my exhaust setup. Somebody here ought to buy the custom chrome (Jims?) jig and we should just pass it around via Fed Ex as it is needed. Thanks for the posting! Great report! | ||
| X1glider |
Excellent stories and pics. I always enjoy the stories from that part of the USA. Even more so since you guys seem to have plenty to tell. I wish there was so much enthusiasm down here and even fewer miles to actually get somewhere pretty. Erick: get some damn gloves man! Most people don't know that skin grafts are mostly less than stellar in success on the open faces of your hand. And believe me scar tissue on your finger tips would suck because you would never be able to enjoy the softness of a woman's skin again. How's that for something to consider? Brent: Where's your headlight? JQ: since those studs are in there so tight, if you can't drill it out, you might have to re-tap to the next nominal size, or in worst case, remove the head and have it EDM'd out from a machine shop. Just when I thought you got over your Buell reliability funk, something else happens.  |
