Smoky Mountains Motorcycles Heaven!

[Offroad]

I forgot just how amazing the Smoky Mountains are for motorcycle riding.

Even crossing them on I-40 was enjoyable.

I bet I saw 100+ motorcycles today...99 Harleys, 1 BMW....No Hondas :-(

I'm based in Cherokee, NC this Tue, Wed, Thu....tomorrow I'm meeting The A-Man near Asheville then riding to Mt. Mitchell....can't wait!

If anyone wants to join or ride Wed or Thu, just let me know...I can meet anywhere within a couple of hours of Cherokee.

 

[the Ferret]

Special place to ride, that's for sure. Wow riding in the Rockies and the Smokies in the same year. Got to love that!

Have fun and ride safe with the A Man, offroad.

 

[Houtman_imp]

I meet you and Amos at the folk center at around 11.30

Ride carefully on the BRP , they re putting gravel on the top before and after Asheville.

john houtman

 

[Offroad]

Great Houtman!

I talked to a couple of guys from Montreal, Canada last night who came down to ride the Dragon talk about it....I thought I saw some tar on one of theirs...so this must be a chip and seal job? The gravel I can handle but don't want any tar LOL. Maybe they just picked a bad lane....I'll try to stay in the gravel...haha

Btw I forgot I'm not in Kansas anymore....60 degrees here this morning Lol

 

[jedd_imp]

I forgot just how amazing the Smoky Mountains are for motorcycle riding.

Even crossing them on I-40 was enjoyable.

I bet I saw 100+ motorcycles today...99 Harleys, 1 BMW....No Hondas :-(

I'm based in Cherokee, NC this Tue, Wed, Thu....tomorrow I'm meeting The A-Man near Asheville then riding to Mt. Mitchell....can't wait!

If anyone wants to join or ride Wed or Thu, just let me know...I can meet anywhere within a couple of hours of Cherokee.

I can see the high volume on a sunday, but was this on a Monday?

 

[Offroad]

I forgot just how amazing the Smoky Mountains are for motorcycle riding.

Even crossing them on I-40 was enjoyable.

I bet I saw 100+ motorcycles today...99 Harleys, 1 BMW....No Hondas :-(

I'm based in Cherokee, NC this Tue, Wed, Thu....tomorrow I'm meeting The A-Man near Asheville then riding to Mt. Mitchell....can't wait!

If anyone wants to join or ride Wed or Thu, just let me know...I can meet anywhere within a couple of hours of Cherokee.

I can see the high volume on a sunday, but was this on a Monday?

I can see the high volume on a sunday, but was this on a Monday?
Yes! A lot of 'trikes.' It may help this is the lower entrance of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

 

[misterprofessionality]

oop, i missed out. my trip to that area isn't till September. Hopefully the gravel and all that jazz is cleared up in a couple months time.

 

[jedd_imp]

I'll be staying & riding in Asheville Aug 9-12 and then Robbinsville 12-16
im having difficulty with which bike, cb or vstrom, to take.

 

[Houtman_imp]

When in Asheville do visit the Sierra Nevada brewery , even if you do not drink beer .
One of the best places to visit in the area and of course Biltmore Estate as well .

 

[Offroad]

Park employee said there were many miles of chip and seal (why don't they just blacktop it....chip and seal..yuk).

Said he saw a white Mercedes come through covered in tar.

Told me to get off at 74 to avoid it....taking 74 alt to Mt. Mitchell instead of 40.

 

[riggies_imp]

40 is also a mess right now east of Asheville past Marion, they had it grounded down to slab a couple weeks ago but haven’t been on it since.

If I was retired I would meet you boys. In 24 years though, I’ll be there.

Don’t miss NC80 and 226A when you head to Mt Mitchell, they are just a short ride past it. I would recommend riding 226A south to 226 to 221 to to Toms Creek Rd then north on 80 Going downhill on 80 the first time on it probably isn’t recommended, it’s a very technical road, so this is a great route that lets you experience a couple of the best motorcycling roads in the country. You can get to 226A directly from the parkway, it’s where little Switzerland is. Just follow the motorcycles.

 

[jedd_imp]

That 226a starts at Little Switzerland and it loops back up. it's on my (ever expanding) ride itenerary when I get there:

 

[misterprofessionality]

edit: crud, same advice has already been given, let me try again:

Try Double Island Rd. from 19E up to 1308 as well!

 

[riggies_imp]

That 226a starts at Little Switzerland and it loops back up. it's on my (ever expanding) ride itenerary when I get there:

The section of 80 south of the parkway is some of the best part, but yeah, all those roads are great. Watch for trucks, tourists etc. some knucklehead riders out there treat this area as their personal race track. It drives me nuts and makes us all look bad.

 

[the Ferret]

226A (the Diamondback), Murder Mountain Run, all good loops near Lil Switzerland.

Got to feel better in the mountains than it does in Cincy right now. Although not in Flyn's AZ heat index territory, it has been miserable for us. 90 degrees and 56% humidity today. We normally have about twenty 90 degree days a year. We are in early July and already had 18 of them and 4 more coming Thurs-Sunday. geezalou what is August going to be like lol

 

[The A-man]

You know the area well, riggies! If offroad and I can meet up tomorrow, that's pretty much the itinerary that I had in mind.

PS - There's some re-paving going on on the Parkway, so if anyone is coming this way, check the website (even though it's not very informative). At least it tells you what stretches. There are big warning signs up for bicycles and motorcycles to avoid, but the stretch we were on today south of Asheville was fine. Signs say "Loose Gravel", but it was packed down.

 

[Stichill]

How are the temperatures and humidity, offroad? I'm going to be based in Maggie Valley with some buddies first week / weekend in August. Then I'm heading to Pipestem, WV on my bike to attend a family reunion. Looking forward to some southern WV exploration while I'm there.

NC 215 and NC 276 north and south of the BRP are some of my favorites. Also [url=https://goo.gl/maps/vxydS7oXAjR2]Wayah Road.

 

[Offroad]

Stichell Maggie valley is about 3000 ft, 1000 higher than Cherokee so temps are 3-5 degrees cooler....60-80 right now.
Not bad considering 75-95 back home Lol. That's the best part of going up the mountains, shade and cooler temps.
I sure enjoyed riding in the 60s for a couple of hours this morning.
215 and 276 are on my list...I could spent my entire summer down here Lol. My wife says I better find me some $25/night hotels haha.
She got on 28 (moonshiners) today in the SUV and was amazed how many curves.
Looking forward to riding 80 & 226A tomorrow with The A-Man.
Today we ate at Mt.Pisgah ( Thanks Houtman!)
What a great restaurant and what a view. They have a small hotel there with balconies facing an amazing panoramic view of the mountains. That would be a perfect place to take the wife.
The A-Man suggested we take 151 north....it was a great road!

 

[Offroad]

Just got in.....400 miles today...a record for me and mostly on curvy roads!
Thanks The A-Man for being the tour guide! He figured out how to get to Mt Mitchell from the north to avoid the rock and tar on the BRP!

I'm getting better at those curves....
it reminded me of something a golf pro once said...
If you want to be good at golf go out hit 10,000 golf balls and you'll be good ......same with curves... go out and do 10,000 curves and you will be good ....now we know why ferret and many others on this forum are so good

 

[the Ferret]

Look at you offroad. Last year in Ark you wondered if you could do 200 miles in a day, and now you are doing double that. Very cool.

Sounds like you and A-man had a great day. Mt Mitchell is great isn't it. On a clear day you can see forever, wave after wave of blue mountains. Yet only half as high as a couple of the peaks we hit in Colorado last year.

Sounds like you and the big Beemer are bonding nicely.