heading east

[Nails]

Okay, http://www.huntslodge.com/ is totally awesome and belongs on every biker's bucket list. Teeny cabins, two single beds, a fridge and freezer, microwave, hand-gun safe, AC, boot/glove drier, and that's about it. Covered bike parking, with shower and shitter nearby. I'd send pictures if I had a camera, but just look on their website.

I'm there (here) as I type -- bedraggled, road weary, but open minded. I think they'll let me sleep in. Was major stormy recently, so I got a cabin plus two night's camping. Don't know my neighbors, but they ride Harleys and Africa Twin, left and right, respectively. "By motorcyclists, for motorcyclists", indeed.

And there are at least a month's worth of road rides and/or dual-sport rides (take your pick) in the immediate vicinity. Look at their rates, and then tell me if you can think of a better place to spend your vacation.

On the phone. Me: "Do you know Dave Morrow? He directed me to introduce myself as an honorary maggot."
Lori: "Okay. We'll treat you right."
PRECISELY as you said. We popped open a map, and now my life is totally resolved for at least the next three days.

History: Yes, Jack posed as some Magna wonk, and Lori took the bait. The ORIGINAL bait-and-switch. They sure seem happy -- nice to know that still works.

Right now, it's the rest of my tequila/triple sec/lime juice mix (what's left from the ride here), and then transition from superslab pounding to vacation mode. Tomorrow, let's see whether the Dragon and Skyway are worthy of all the hype.

[cranky]

.. make it a great trip!!! Enjoy!!!

[Nails]

Okay, I figured out how to attach photos from my phone. Even without my daughter here, to roll her eyes and just do it too fast.
After 1500 miles I'm taking a break. This is a nice, dry place to do nuthin.
(Apologies for the blurry image -- I couldn't even tell on my phone, before seeing it here. But you get the idea.)

[cbrfxr67]

wish we had a thumbs up button or something like that! That is kick a@@ nails!

[Nails]

Given the wet forecast and cheap rates, I just upgraded to the cabin for the next two nights. (Wonder if I'll use at all the camping crap I'm toting around.)

And right on queue, a phenomenal downpour -- I'm expecting the power to go out. Even with rain gear, I'd be pulling off the road. And it's been going on for more than 30 minutes already.

A really good day to do nuthin. Tequila and me.

[Nails]

Man, that was a lot of water. But finally a break.

Five cabins like this.

(I'd reduce the size of these images if I could on my phone.)

[Nails]

I got a break in the weather and just did the loop: Tellico Plains on the Cherohala Skyway (east), back on the Dragon (US-129 north), and the final leg on TN-72, US 411, and TN-360. It was a blast. This is for folks who haven't been here. You should come.

For folks who aren't comfortable hustling through corners and making adjustments mid-corner, I don't think this is the best place to start. The harsh reviews all over the web are for you. If you run off the road at all, you'll surely crash.

I was riding solo with only rain gear for luggage. Most of the road surface was wet, but the puddles I was concerned about this morning had mostly drained. There wasn't much debris on the road either.

I had the place practically to myself. Nobody held me up, and nobody ran up my tail pipe. A couple sportbikes zipped past; the first one caught me by surprise, but the second more orderly waited for a foot-wave. I saw an SM going the other way -- wish I knew the dude so I could take out a life insurance policy on him, myself as beneficiary. But otherwise, all was quite peaceful.

The locals seemed to stay within 5 of the speed limits, if not slower. But the only enforcement I saw was on the short stretch of US-411, 4 lanes and straight. No unhappy surprises.

I found myself running 5-10 over the speed limits, whether recommended or posted. I had no pucker moments, but I did have to trail-brake a few times to stand the bike up and otherwise avoid running wide. Besides these mistakes, I rarely felt that my braking distance over-ran the vanishing point. There were several reducing-radius curves, some fairly far past the curve sign. What I'm trying to say is that all of this was fun, but not too much fun.

The Skyway was moderate technical difficulty: lots of swell sweepers and a wide roadway in good condition. I spent a lot of time in 4th or 5th gear, generally riding a 2500 RPM torque wave. It was a great warm-up.

The Dragon had tighter curves, and the road was narrower and in only fair condition. It allowed exercising the XII suspension in a most pleasing way. Many curves were slower than 30 MPH; and I was careful to stay below 35 MPH otherwise -- that is, until those sportbikes zipped by (providing speed trap insurance). I remember one curve in particular. It had a nice dip, deep but not harsh, that gave a wonderful 3D element to the curve. Almost all these curves had steep hills and 3D elements -- very fun!

Tomorrow I'm thinking of getting an earlier start (weather permitting) to go east through the Park and back west on the Skyway. And then on Thursday, maybe I'll do the Dragon in the opposite direction too, this time with my luggage (and probably some sadness about leaving). Then a couple days on the Blue Ridge Parkway, to meet my family in DC.

That's my impression after only one ride.

[Nails]

Part of the reason I decided to go for it this afternoon was a reward for fixing a bike problem. In another thread, I talked about fussing with the pilot jets. On this trip, my bike developed a nasty crusty idle. It also seemed to need more choke than normal. I'm carrying a pilot-jet screw-driver that I made (another thread), as well as a dentist mirror. I'm glad I did, because after turning out the jets 1/2 turn, it's back to the non-bitchy idle. This helped immensely given all the low-RPM riding I did today. I plan to go yet another quarter-turn tomorrow morning.

The next time you have the carbs off, I highly recommend that you (gently) bottom-out the pilot jets and then mark that position with a Sharpy. (You should check that all four pilot jets are the same number of turns out -- count them.)Then you can change the jets in quarter-turn increments without getting things all out of synch -- you just have to be careful to turn all four the same direction. This is where the dentist mirror comes in: all four should end up the same position relative to your Sharpy marks. Note that normal pilot-jet screw-drivers won't work on XII because the middle two carbs have way too little clearance. This is where the fabricated screw-driver comes in (find that earlier post with photos). I mean, it's hard enough to get a quarter-turn, without trying to reliably bottom and then count all the way out.

And picking up a much earlier discussion, these Keihin carburetors really are at least a little sensitive to elevation changes. My pilot jets were great at home, 7800 feet elevation. It ran like crap here at 900 feet elevation. I normally adjust them too lean, and then richen up (in quarter-turn increments) until not lean anymore. I mean, it's easier to detect lean conditions than rich conditions; and I bet you flat-landers routinely run too rich in the mountains. I'll know more after I see how it runs with another quarter-turn, but I'm thinking that if your bike is great at sea-level, the pilot jets could use a quarter-turn in for every 2500 feet elevation gain. (But those middle two are a bitch to adjust.)

[Nails]

I picked up Foothills Parkway at the Little Tennessee River, and I just got off the Blue Ridge Parkway at Waynesboro. That's more than 600 miles, all but a handful within National Parks. The plan is to ride the Skyline (Shenandoah Natl Park) this weekend -- more than 700 miles. Then to DC.

Apologies if you already know this: most of these miles had a 45 MPH speed limit, and none greater than that. I got on Foothills and BRP on Wed, making the trip in 3 days. With a little more attention, I bet I could knock it out in two weeks. With some care, I could stretch that to three weeks or more. I'm working on it.

The roads are good and easy, even for RVs. But lots of curves; and I wouldn't go much more than 45 anyway. Especially in the Smokies, lots of curves slowed me to 30 or less. The roads were almost always wet. The XII performed great ... the few times I actually exercised the suspension or motor (it was a leisure pace). I got 60 MPG on two tanks in a row.

Before I left on this trip, I expected to bake in 80's humidity, maybe all night. The wet part was right, but I also got cold and wind -- lots of wet, cold wind. I'm in a motel tonight, mostly to catch up on sleep lost to freezing my butt off at night. Not sure when I'll get a chance to dry out my tent. But amazingly while riding, I only got rained on a couple times.

Also, my phone is screwing up. I ran it to 4%, then hooked it to a new USB port I put on the bike. Twelve minutes later, the phone is hot and 67%. I think that was the last straw: it doesn't hold a charge. This 10 y/o phone bites it.

Until this morning (near the middle of BRP), I was on vacation. But I ran out of time (gotta be in DC by late afternoon Sun). So today and this weekend are recon for a future trip -- I've had to roll past all the "attractions". But it's still a fine ride.

Apologies if you already know this: These NP roads are like swell country roads ... except they're super long and no stop signs, nobody pulling out of a driveway in front of you, and (in my case) almost no traffic at all. Of course, they're located in pretty nice country, too. I never knew all this was here -- don't remember driving it as a kid.

Skyline Drive is 35 MPH max for 107 miles. (A guy at the campground saw 4 bears earlier this week, from his Concourse.) Then I need to jump into downtown DC traffic. Joy.

Anyway, I'll be back. Maybe even next year.

[Nails]

Skyline was a bust just because it's the weekend. Things became very suddenly urban, ironically right where the NP arguably becomes the wildest. Definitely no bears, but Good Lord what a bunch of cars. Campgrounds full. Maybe another time. It was a swell drive just the same.

Front Royal tonight -- already found a great brewery. DC tomorrow, so help me St Christopher. A week without even seeing the XII.

And my tent is still damp.

[Nails]

This week in DC has been an adventure, completely without riding. Spent much of it fussing with the bike, though (viewtopic.php?f=15&t=12087). Lots of walking, lots of people, lots of good (expensive) food. Much to see and do.

Deanna's detail ends today, and the three of us will rent a car and buzz to the ocean (Williamsburg) this weekend. Then another night in DC, they'll fly home, and I'll ride.

I'm planning to cut across VA and WV on US-50, take in some twisty loops in SE Ohio (including OH-536, "Ohio's Dragon"), and then hook up with family in SW Ohio.

[Nails]

I got my bike out of hock -- after ten days in a DC parking garage, it was unmolested. Then west on US-50, which was very nice beyond the urban madness. I took WV-20 up to Ohio. Lots of 15MPH curves sprinkled over more than a hundred miles.

These roads I saw in WV were awful. Even US-50 could use some routine maintenance. Also at one point it was completely blocked with concrete Jersey barriers, apparently due to flooding that damaged a bridge; but they blew off the part about detour signs. I found my own, after more than 10 miles of narrow chip-seal with flood-debris gravel ... and more than 200 miles on that tank of gas. I camped at Tygart Lake State Park, which was okay.

WV-20 was especially heinous. It had lots of asphalt features shaped like the leading edge of a lava flow in Hawaii, 3-4" tall with a rounded lip. Going off them was like driving off a curb ... at 55MPH (the speed limit). Fun enough. Going up them was like slamming onto a curb, and I'm honestly amazed I didn't blow a fork seal. They weren't square to the road. I mean, once my front tire was knocked into the air and sideways, in a curve, with opposing traffic. It was slow, rough going, hard on the hardware.

OH-536 was indeed much like the Dragon except the road is much wider and better condition, and in hills rather than mountains (easier to see and less 3D). It also suffered a lot of recent flood damage, but Ohio was actively fixing it. I ran on at least three of those automated stop-light sections of single lane, just on 536.

That was the last thing on my list this trip, and now it's back to pounding out miles. Another incident: I was cruising at 63 in a 60 zone on a 4-lane divided highway and got passed by a state trooper. He pulled in front of me and slowed down. I got into the left lane, and he sped up. I resumed the cruise to complete my pass, and halfway around he pulled into my lane! He left me less than three feet to the white line as I was even with his back axle, stomping on my brakes! He had to see me in his mirror, zigging back to the right lane right off his back bumper. He pulled off to park on the median, and I went on my merry way. In the future, I do hope he looks over his shoulder now and again. That was my closest call this trip.

I ended up at my mom's house in SW Ohio -- shower, load of laundry, and a good night's sleep. Huge BBQ tomorrow. Not really looking forward to the ride to NM, but maybe I'll find something interesting on the map.

[cranky]

.. always thought about 50 as far as I could take it.. a friend
once thought about 6 ... but one suggestion was flip a coin! GBG

[Nails]

I've taken almost all of US-50 by now, mostly in a cage. Now thinking of superslab to Mammoth cave, spend a couple nights (thank you, Senior Pass), and then US-60 into TX. Can't say I'm terribly excited about it, but slim pickings.

[Nails]

Looking over my bike, I found that those WV roads shattered my front fender, one small piece missing. I'm opening the cracks with my new little Dremel to get the ABS cement down in there right. It should stop the wobbling play and get me home. Would hate to have the fender removed at 70MPH. You might say I'm working bugs out on this first long trip.

[cranky]

believe it was Gene K, the master fabricator, that sells SS inserts to keep that from happening, Best to Ya for a safe rest of the trip!!!!

[VoyKimmer]

You might need a new front fender. When that happened on my 96 I never could get it to stop cracking. They would continue to open up once cracked. Almost lost the front fender on a trip. Had to tie it up then I replaced it when I got home and used Genes inserts. Never a problem since.

[Nails]

You might need a new front fender. When that happened on my 96 I never could get it to stop cracking. They would continue to open up once cracked. Almost lost the front fender on a trip. Had to tie it up then I replaced it when I got home and used Genes inserts. Never a problem since.

Yep, I'm looking for a replacement. It would fall off for sure if I didn't glue it now. I'm about half-finished and it's looking strong -- should make it home. I've been pretty impressed by how well this ABS glue works. I'll add some tape "shims" under the front and back edges of the brace to keep the fender fast. This fender had been smashed by a PO bolting it up without any shims at all. This damage isn't a complete surprise -- but I'm still blaming it on those WV roads. Glad I painted the whole bike white. (And I had a bothersome paint drip on this fender anyway.)

[Nails]

Thanks. I didn't realize that the front fender issue was so common and glad to hear the solution is tried and true. Mine was pretty shattered, but I think it'll get me home. I bet you guys run rich at elevation and don't know it. But running lean is sure noticeable, especially since I tune a little lean anyway. I went 3/4 turn out to get a decent idle. Above 2500 RPM I noticed no issues -- and I wasn't going to re-jet anyway. Hope to camp at Mammoth Cave tomorrow ... unless it's just insanely hot. I broke down and took Cranky's advice: bought an Airhawk. It's stuffed under a sheepskin, under beads. Cadillac.

[cranky]

just enough air to keep from bottoming out... NOT too much!!! Like they say, less is more!!!