Triumph675.Net Forums - Trip reports

Triumph675.Net Forums - Trip reports http://www.triumph675.net/forum Been on tour? Tell everyone about it here. Old threads may later be moved to the regional forums. en Fri, 10 Sep 2010 02:15:30 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.triumph675.net/forum/Triumph675.Net/misc/rss.jpg Triumph675.Net Forums - Trip reports http://www.triumph675.net/forum On the way to the dragon http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45736&goto=newpost Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:43:26 GMT If anyone's down there, I'll be seeing you. Heading down to Walhalla, SC and be camping there tonight to start the Moonshiner in the morning and then on to the Cherohala and Deals Gap. Heading back on the blue ridge on the way back to DC area. I'm on a 2009 Black Daytona. Have fun and ride safe. ]]> Trip reports nitemask http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45736 Visited States and Provinces Map http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45401&goto=newpost Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:43:03 GMT I see this a lot on some of the other forums, most have it attached to their sig, but I thought a thread would be fitting here. Specifically,... I see this a lot on some of the other forums, most have it attached to their sig, but I thought a thread would be fitting here. Specifically, motorcycle visited of course.

Here's the link

Here's Mine...

]]> Trip reports doublen675 http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45401 Tail of the Dragon Slayer http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45219&goto=newpost Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:11:26 GMT I finally did it! My BF and I trailered the bikes down to The Tail of the Dragon - TN/NC. We stayed at an AMAZING campground (Cheoah Point... I finally did it! My BF and I trailered the bikes down to The Tail of the Dragon - TN/NC.

We stayed at an AMAZING campground (Cheoah Point Campground) right on the lake for a week! I highly reccomend going to this campground...we checked out all the local ones any NONE compared to this one.

We got to ride the Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, and many other amazing roads!!! We got caught in the rain many times...of which I would not continue on the Tail (I totalled my last bike 2 months ago in the rain) so I made my poor BF wait with me there for hours for the roads to dried up! haha. Check out some pics...I included some funny ones :raspberry:

I highly suggest everyone makes a trip out there at least once...I plan on going back every summer from now on.

:curtsey:

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]]> Trip reports missunique http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45219 Long Trip Ideas http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45019&goto=newpost Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:26:36 GMT So, Next year I get an additional 3 weeks of vacation time and I have to take all three at the same time. Rough...I know. I am considering several... So, Next year I get an additional 3 weeks of vacation time and I have to take all three at the same time. Rough...I know. I am considering several trip options and wondering what other people who might have done them think. Right now I am considering:

-Alaska Trip
-BC/Alberta Canada Tour
-Ride to the Dragon and back
-Other...

Starting here in Idaho of course.

Proposed Canada Route
Proposed Alaska Route
Proposed Dragon Route
Hookers n' Blow Route :whistle: ]]> Trip reports doublen675 http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45019 Spontaneous Deals Gap Trip: Part Deux http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44791&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:18:26 GMT Well, I got bored again so you know what that means, kids? Road Trip!

I hadn't been doing much riding other than for work lately(delivery driver on the bike) and it was upsetting me. The heat was just getting unbearable to be putting leathers on and doing the same loops over and over again. Plus, I hadn't been having much fun lately since I got my reckless driving ticket, so everything came together and was making for a crappy portion of the summer. I finally managed to get my rear seat fixed up on Monday afternoon which meant that the bike could finally be made presentable again. Went into work, and said "You know what? I have the next 2 days off so screw it. I'm going on a trip."

Decided to go to Deals gap since it's only 300 miles away, got awesome roads, and it's somewhat familiar since I had been there before. Got off of work at about 10pm and packed everything up. Got up around 6:45am Tuesday morning, and started loading up the bike.

Beginning odometer shot:

Hit the road and managed to get on I-81 right at 8am. Pretty uneventful, just listening to music that Cessara had recommended for me. It was overcast, misting rain, and only about 70 degrees. It was actually pretty good weather for traveling since I didn't bake in my leathers. At one point I came up behind a car that had the rock and roll hand gesture sticker on the back and said "school of rock" on it, so I got even with the rear bumper, threw up the symbol and headbanged my way past him accelerating to non-politically correct speeds. I laughed in my helmet for a good 5 minutes from that. Weather cleared up a bit from there.

Made it to Tennessee:

Then got on 26 which is a pretty awesome road if you have to slab since you're way in the mountains. Was overcast and cool again on here, which was welcome.

Hit North Carolina:

Came out of the mountains and into Asheville and it felt like someone turned on the oven. Went from like 70 degrees immediately to 95. I was dying. The rest of the trip was uneventful and I pulled into the motorcycle resort around 1:30 pm. All in all, I was feeling good. Wasn't sore at all. Took the seat pad and tankbag off, strapped them down to the tail and had some fun:

I ended up getting stuck behind these two cruisers from Quebec (Damn Canadians) who were going so slow I was nearly stalling out in first. Yelled at them, waved my arms to move out of the way, etc. but they wouldn't budge. Assholes. It's always the Canadians who don't understand the local rules and who always hold everyone up. There was plenty of traffic going in the same direction, so I pulled off right next to where US129 was taking photos and shut it down to cool off. While I was waiting around, I tried my hand at doing the panning shots. I think I'll leave it to the professionals.

This guy was scraping pegs/exhaust on his bagger every single turn.

Yeah. Lots of cruisers and lots of squids. Not very many sportbikes and not too many people geared up. It was at this point that I realized my battery died. Damn it. So I pushed my bike over to US129 and got a jump off of him. Nice guy. I'm gonna have to buy a photo solely to thank him for giving me a jump.

Ended up just playing around on the Dragon all day. After about 2 or 3pm, the entire place just cleared out. It was amazing. The hundreds of cruisers all just up and left. There were no cops the entire first day, so it left the dragon pretty much open. I may have let myself get a little more aggressive than I should have on that road. I ended up meeting 2 other guys at the restaurant when I was getting a drink and we decided to go hit it up again. As soon as we left, 2 other guys pulled out in front of us. The 5 of us were all running it at a very brisk pace (they were all enjoying themselves, I was trying to keep up). Killboy was there waiting, but only managed to get 4 of the 5 of us in a shot. I was disappointed.

One was on a first gen 636, the other was on a 650R. Both bikes were drool-worthy.

The 2 guys that were in front are in that last picture as well. A zzr1200 (which the guy can really throw around) and a FZ1 (hidden behind my bike and the 636).

After doing one last run up, I headed out towards Maryville, TN to get some food. Stopped in at a TGI Fridays and got a 3-for-all. It's been a long time since I've ate there. Awesome food.

Didn't last long

By this time, it was getting dark. Headed back towards the resort where I was camping and got all the way back to the dragon before I realized I forgot to make a call. No cell service anywhere around. Damn it. Ride the dragon at night, which in itself, is scary as fuck. Add in the fact that I got run off the road by a Semi Truck not once, but twice on the way back in and I'm surprised I don't need new leathers. Get out towards Robbinsville, make the call and get back to set up camp in the dark. Day 1 was long, but very fun.

Woke up at 7:20 am the next morning. I wanted to get up and hit the dragon early before all the cruisers came back. My setup for the night was exactly the same as last trip. Even put it under the same tree. Opposite side this time though:

Apparently I didn't learn from last trip because I used the same air mattress and once again, I woke up on the ground with the mattress deflated about 5:30 am. Blew it back up and when my alarm went off, it was already half deflated again. It was early enough that there was only 2 people awake at the resort and no one else around, so I left everything set up and did a run without the bags. I did not see a single car or bike out and back. US129 was there already, but they haven't posted their pictures up from yesterday. I'll toss them up when they do. Killboy wasn't there at all yesterday which was odd.

Classic Dragon shot that everyone has to get:

Made another run with all the bags on this time and decided to go explore for a bit. I had been hearing great things about 28 south so off I went. 28 north into the dragon is a pretty good ride, but 28 south of 74 really is a fun piece of road. The pavement quality isn't as good as 28 north or the dragon, but it makes up for it with the turns. Didn't really run into any traffic going either direction.

I had originally wanted to ride 28 all the way down into Georgia and South Carolina, but decided I wouldn't have much time so I turned around. I had plans for dinner and didn't want to be late. Ended up hitting the Skyway, which was gorgeous and a decent ride at that. It's basically the same as the Blue Ridge Parkway where you're up in the 4k-5k feet range and you can see forever. Really cool.

Did the whole length and started to pull off into this little diner to turn around when I see two bikes. It was the same 2 guys from yesterday that I ran 129 with. We ended up leaving together and were gonna do a loop back onto 129 heading south towards the resort. Well we took off at a very spirited pace onto all of the sweepers. I looked down and noticed I was doing 30 over and they were pulling away. Since I had just gotten a reckless ticket (which was BS, btw), I let off and went to my usual 10 over. No sooner had I gotten to my comfortable pace than I come around a corner, see those two disappear behind the next one, and a police cruiser is about to pull out and light those two up. Saw me coming, slammed on the brakes, bashed the steering wheel, and gave up on trying to chase them. Those two owe me big time for getting rid of the cop.

They ended up getting gas as soon as 360 meets 411, so I kept going. Didn't want to get pulled because those two were riding like idiots. I had been seriously pushing my luck all Tuesday and earlier in the day and I didn't want another ticket. Finally made it back to the resort got a drink, rested up, etc. Decided I needed to get that one last run in even though I should have been leaving then. Got stuck in some traffic and it took longer than expected. Oh well.

Time to leave. I had texted thirdgenlxi on Monday night about meeting up when I was down there, and we decided to meet up for dinner. Got back onto the boring roads and started hauling towards Asheville. At this point, I was thinking to myself about how great the weather had been. The forecast was calling for scattered thunderstorms and rain both days and I hadn't really gotten wet much. As soon as I thought of that, I started getting that fresh spring rain smell. Uh Oh. Came around a corner and the sky suddenly got dark. Come around another corner and there was a very distinct line where it went from dry to soaked. Only thing I could do was tuck in and punch through. Pretty much took a wall of water right when I crossed the line and rode for about 10 miles in that. Finally got dried off and the sky was clear and blue again like nothing happened.

Met up with him about 45min late and he took me to a pizza place called the Mellow Mushroom. Apparently it's a chain, but I've never heard of it. Meat lovers pizza was excellent. Very filling and very good after a long couple days of riding. Forgot to get a picture of it. Oh well. Strapped the box of leftovers to the back of the bike and headed to his place to crash for the night.

He wasn't kidding when he said he lives in the middle of nowhere. And we rode there at night when it was pitch black. Make it to his place and we have to get up his driveway. Normally not an issue, but you have to go up hill, and it's loose gravel. And it's night. And I'm loaded down with bags. Got the bike sideways more times than I could count, but I made it up without dropping. Parked the bikes, he unhooked his dog from her outside lead, and she immediately attacked me. Medium sized dog, about 70 pounds, jumps all over me and is licking me to death. Great dog, but very forceful about wanting you to pet her. Took her quite a bit to settle down. I'm a dog person though, so it's not like I minded much.

Jared and Miss Piggy, the happy couple:

Home for the night:

At this point, I was very thankful that he had an extra bed and a shower. Felt much better after cleaning myself and laying down. I had put on just a hair under 1k miles in the first 2 days. Slept very well that night.

Woke up about 7am this morning and said the goodbyes to Jared as he had to go off to work. Took my time putting everything back on the bike and getting changed, played with miss piggy a bit, and chowed on some leftover pizza. Cold pizza is one of the best breakfast foods:

His driveway was real fun last night. I wasn't looking forward to going down on it.

Finally got all loaded up and headed out. Miss piggy was very sad that her new friend was leaving. Look how upset she is:

Had to take some country roads to get to I-40 and then it was slabbing the rest of the way. Pretty uneventful, no one in cars that I passed wanted to have any fun. Just before I hopped on 81, I decided that I wasn't quite done yet so I hopped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. Ended up stopping at Mabry Mill to get a stretch break, tried to take a few pictures. Not sure how well they turned out. I still have to edit them.

Got off the parkway onto Route 8 which is my local playground, Tuggles Gap. Did a run out and back and finally headed towards home. Stopped by my local Honda/Triumph dealer, signed up for the demo truck bikes tomorrow and finally made it back to my apartment around 1:30ish.

Finally home:

Ending mileage:

Total:
1201 miles over 2 1/2 days. Not too shabby considering probably close to half of that was on twisty back roads.

Casualties:
Lost a license plate bolt somewhere. Gotta replace that.
Lost the elastic strap and buckles to my seat pad when I jumped the battery. Found the strap, but the buckles had been run over and were all broken.
Dead dinosaurs that made all the gas I had to buy.

Things learned:
-I need a new air mattress
-That seat pad continues to be one of the best investments I made for long distances
-My form still blows
-No matter if you are one of the fastest riders in your area, you will get shamed by someone else.
-My Pilot Road 2s have been great tires. Over 8k on them now and they are still gripping great.
-The bike wheelies very easy when loaded down with bags. Makes it much more fun to take off fast.
-Riding at night continues to suck
-Plans usually work out for the best, but doing things unplanned often leads to great results. I had a blast and I wasn't planning on going to the gap till September.
-Forgetting my cramp buster was a mistake. My wrists hurt.
-I need to make a throttle lock so I can rest my right hand.

Moral of the story, if you have any interest in doing a road trip, just do it. Every time I go out it's a hell of a good time.

*I wrote this up for Sportbikes.net, and thirdgenlxi is a member on there ]]> Trip reports Hokie http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44791 Heres my challange for the Gap http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44756&goto=newpost Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:43:43 GMT http://www.georgiasportbike.com/show...6651#post46651 ]]> Trip reports tryzbiak http://www.triumph675.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44756