Full Throttle Touring - 150 through the Rocket City

[klaviator]

Originally Posted by Yankee Dog

Tachedoutoffroad


I know that guy. Be sure to bring extra gas when you ride with him.

Those SMs dont do so well in the mileage department.

One of the first things he asked me was "how far to the nearest gas station?"

[Tachedoutoffroad]

Thansk to Yankee Dog, I know EXACTLY how far I can go before I run out that way I knew I was good to head back over the mtn.

I had a blast that day! The Dragon is unreal and the scenery is amazing too. I liked the foothills pky headed to Townsend too.

I'm going to do my 30th birthday ride report here in the next couple of days.


You were straight hauling ass on that scooter!!! It took me two more curves to pass that car that you did and then you were gone! Me making 3 passes for the photo guy didn't help me cath up to the aviator either

[klaviator]

Originally Posted by Tachedoutoffroad

Thansk to Yankee Dog, I know EXACTLY how far I can go before I run out that way I knew I was good to head back over the mtn.

I had a blast that day! The Dragon is unreal and the scenery is amazing too. I liked the foothills pky headed to Townsend too.

I'm going to do my 30th birthday ride report here in the next couple of days.


You were straight hauling ass on that scooter!!! It took me two more curves to pass that car that you did and then you were gone! Me making 3 passes for the photo guy didn't help me cath up to the aviator either

I'll be looking for your ride report.

Riding Deal's Gap is an absolute blast when the traffic is light like it was that day. No LEO's either I was starting to get in the groove and had a great ride down to the overlook. When I haven't ridden a lot of twisties for a while I tend to get rusty. That pass through the Gap was when things started to click for me. After that first car, I passed another car a few minutes later then had a clear run until a little before the over look where I stopped and saw you go by. There were two photographers out in two different locations. Both were US129 Photos. They got quite a few pics of both of us. The link is here: http://www.photoreflect.com/store/Th...6&g=0QAK013Z03

I got a pic of one of them too:



Then I took a break at the overlook before heading back up to the Deal's Gap resort.

[klaviator]

So I made another pass through Deal's Gap

Some may question my choice of riding a scooter instead of a sport bike since i love riding curves so much. I would certainly be going faster on a sport bike but I don't know that it would be more fun. At a slower speed it takes longer to catch up to slower traffic but it is also harder to pass when you do catch up. There is also less chance of getting a ticket on the scooter and the cost of riding it is much lower. It's also much more comfortable. Anyway, it works for me.

I took a break at the Deal's Gap resort. A number of bikes and cars stopped by even though it was not open. Some were looking for gas. Many people don't realize that a lot of places around here depend on tourism and shut down off season.



In this pic there were two concours from GA and a FZ1, FZ8, and Harley from Fla.

This next pic is of the rider of one of the yamaha's:



Sport bike jacket and chaps

I headed back towards the overlook and stopped at Parson's Branch road thinking I'd hang out a bit and see If I could get a few pics. I just missed getting a good shot of four sports cars including Killboy ( or at least his car ) screaming by with Go Pros mounted to at least some of the cars. Here's the best I could do.



I didn't hang out too long since not much traffic was coming by and headed down past the photographers one more time and back to the overlook. The weather was really getting nice and it felt downright warm at the overlook. I wasn't the only one enjoying the nice weather.



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[klaviator]

I had enough time and gas for one more round trip through the Gap so that's what I did. I could probably run back and forth dozens of times without getting tired of it. Also, this may be my last chance to ride it when the conditions are this good.....clear weather and light traffic. Eventually I did catch up to some slow moving traffic so I pulled over and took a pic.



I went most of the way to the TN/NC line and turned around. On the way back this caught my eye:



Looking from another angle these tracks looked fresh



of course this sort of thing is common on this road.

I made one more stop at the overlook. There was still a small crowd there.



Sports cars outnumbered sport bikes today.



I talked for a while with a woman from Grant, Al which isn't far from Huntsville who was up here on a KTM 250 supermoto. Then I talked with this guy who was local and riding a Wee Strom.



Then it was around 4 PM and I decided it was time to head off.

I took 129 north to 72 to 411 south. I took my last pic of the trip shortly after getting on 411.



My original plan was to head down to around Cleveland, TN and get a motel room then take the scenic route back to Huntsville on Monday. I really didn't feel like spending another night in a motel so I changed my plan and decided to just take the boring route back to Huntsville. Although my Aprilia will run all day at Highway speeds I prefer to avoid the interstate as much as possible. I continued on 411 to 40 west to 64 around Cleveland. Then it was 75 to Chattanooga, 24 west to 72 west to Huntsville. It ended up being a 330 mile day.

Total mileage for the trip was around 775 miles. Not bad for a little 250c scooter. I'm glad I took the trip but really would have liked to spend another day riding Deal's Gap. I'm sure I'll make it back again this year but will go to watch the show at Deal's Gap and do my riding on other roads in the area.

[klaviator]

Despite still officially being Winter, Spring has sprung here in the southeast. Actually, it almost feels like we skipped spring and went straight to summer with 80 degree temperatures.

Things are starting to bloom and winter grey is being replaced by many colors.



And of course i have been out riding every day


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[klaviator]

theTook my Super 8 back to Deals Gap a couple of weekends ago. Drove to Deals Gap on Friday and camped.

It's actually a pretty good place to camp.



Decided to take one short ride before dark and did so "inadvertant adventure rideing



The Super 8 has proven to be a tough little scooter. Besides withstanding lots of full throttle riding by me, it handled a 40 or so MPH "adventure' with little damage. I went back and found the missing turn signal lens the next morning.

Saturday morning the Gap had little traffic. Did a couple of runs and met another inmate at the overlook. came back to the resort, had lunch and hung out awhile.

The place was briefly invaded by cages



Then it was time to get away fom the Gap, it was to crowded. As soon as I headed down 28, the traffic and crowds disappeared.

I was a little concerned about holding up traffic on 28 with it's 55MPH speed limit. It turned out to be a non issue although I did get stuck behind these guys for a little while

[klaviator]

I took 28 to 19 and went up the Nantahalla Gorge.



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Stopped to watch some real dare devils. I feel safer on two wheels.



And warmer.



I continued on. It's a pretty ride.



Turned on to winding Stair Road.



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This has always been one of my favorites.

Went about a hundred yards and.....

[klaviator]

Time for plan "B"

I decided to try from the other end.



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The road was close at the end of this lake.

I decided to head up to Tellicho Gap



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Then I turned around and went back down Otter creek road.



Saw this sign and couldn't resist stopping for a pic.



Time for more adventure scooting.



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anyone recognize where this is going?

[klaviator]

Tatham Gap:



Then I headed back to Robinsville for dinner.

This road is often refered to as the "gravel dragon"



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Having eaten my last 2 meals at Deals Gap I wanted something more than a burger or sandwich so I stopped here:



My dinner was good but nothing to write home about.

129 between Robbinsville and deals Gap.



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Like the night before, it was pretty chilly with lows in the low 40s so there was a good crowd around the campfire.



What can I say about this next one?



I had given some route suggestions to some of this crowd the night before. Because of my detailed knowledge of the local roads, they decided to call me "Atlas"

[klaviator]

Was planning an early start the next morning but "trashcan" and some of his riding buddies showed up so I had breakfast with them. We hung out a bit after breakfast and I took some pics.



Followed this trike through Deals Gap. They were actually going a respectable pace. From my experience, most trike go at a snail's pace on twisty roads.



Turned on to Happy Valley road just before the Foothills Parkway.



There is some nice riding around here just minutes from Deals Gap but without all the crowds and traffic.



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[scrappyscooter]

Awesome thread!!! Have you ever gone to the Florida beaches with your scooters yet? You have inspired me to plan my ultimate adventure ride with my scooter. I'm thinking about taking my scooter from Mn to FL taking US 61 to US 98 and some detours along the way. My wife thinks I'm really crazy for even riding my scooter around town. I'm just started riding after 17 year break from scooters and motorcycles.

[klaviator]

Originally Posted by scrappyscooter

Awesome thread!!! Have you ever gone to the Florida beaches with your scooters yet? You have inspired me to plan my ultimate adventure ride with my scooter. I'm thinking about taking my scooter from Mn to FL taking US 61 to US 98 and some detours along the way. My wife thinks I'm really crazy for even riding my scooter around town. I'm just started riding after 17 year break from scooters and motorcycles.

I lived in Florida a couple of times. Imo Florida is one of the worst states on the country to ride in. It's hot and humid much of the year. The roads are flat, straight and boring. When I lived in Florida I would ride up to the mountains of North Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The roads there were, and still are full of bikes with Florida Tags. Even the beaches are much nicer up in the mountains. Here is a beach I recently went to in the VA Mountains:



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But that's just me. If your dream is to ride to Florida, then go for it. I'm sure you'll have a great time.

I recently took my first long scooter trip. I rode from Huntsville to Cleveland, OH. Northern Ohio is not exactly the best place to ride either but I choose a route that made it a great trip. In case you haven't seen it the link to that ride report is here; http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=803404

[scrappyscooter]

I have condo on 30A... in the panhandle and that's the reason for the ride to FL. I do have really good friends in NC, TN and GA:

[klaviator]

Originally Posted by scrappyscooter

I have condo on 30A... in the panhandle and that's the reason for the ride to FL. I do have really good friends in NC, TN and GA:

Then you have a good excuse to route your trip through those states