Yup, one more TAT'le tale folks....

Or how two Flatistaner's try to conquer the TAT while it proofs to have a bite as well........
The Flatistaner dudes are Sanjoh and myself, Rider1150Gsadv.
I left my parent's house (Ft. Likkertail) on June 26Th at 10 AM for my trip to (B)Orlando to meet up with Sanjoh.
Due to a ABS warning light coming on, I had to detour to the BMW dealer to get that fixed... Yeah right....
I ended up at Sanjoh's digs and crashed for the night. The next day while John was at work, I installed some extra lights on his bike and fixed the dented ABS sensor ring causing the ABS warning light to come on.. Dealer had the bike hooked up to the computer and I happen to see the issue while on the phone with parental units... So much for computers.

Tiger unit...



GS unit...



We left B-orlando at about 2:30 PM as Sanjoh's bike needed a caliper pin replaced that proved to be more stuborn than anticipated...
The weather at that point was horrible as we ran into a downdraft, hail, lightning, rain and bad traffic around Gainsville FL.
Somehow we stopped under an overpass while bolts of lightning were all around us..and I believe that Sanjoh has pics of this. We had a convertible BMW between us who had the top down in all this....

Quick note here; John will hopefully chime in on this thread with his POV on our trip..



Somehow we managed to make it to Fluxcapacitor's digs in North GA at an ungodly hour of the early AM on the 28th....
Flux dude your rock!!!

Somehow this story will continue.......

Yes it will continue!

It all started inoccently enough. Over an early morning beer in the Everglades, someone mentioned the TAT.

It was the first time I met rider1150gsadv.

This was to be my first long ride! Everything was in top shape ready to hit the road as soon as the front brake pads were replaced.

Ol Murphy reared his head and said whoa. The PO had stripped the allen head on the pin that holds the brake pads in. Vice grips, a few choice words, wd40, nothing was budging that thing.



Oscar junps in and the pads are done!


Ready


I brought too much chit

Well it was 3 AM when we met up with Fluxcapacitor and his pets . Honestly I don't know if I had stayed up that late for some inmates to show up...
We did ride 600 miles that day/night however.
Beds were waiting and the next AM we had coffee and met up with Flux's better half....
Really great to meet people like them!!

Flux's garage



We said our goodbye's and left for Jellico TN, the start of the TAT...
First stop was the area where the Olympic Whitewater canoeing was done right at the TN/GA border. What a great place that was!!

Bike parking for lunch....



Parking at the rafting scene...











After this little interlude we ended up in Jellico TN for the night where we were treated to another rain storm....

John and rain.....



Room 'explosion'... Although not the worst one of the trip.....



Next installment a little later....

We cruise thru Ocala Natl Forest, hit I75 makin time... We hit some rain. Then I feel something sharp hit my legs, just learned what hail feels like at 70mph!

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This yahoo was in flipflops and a muscle shirt


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Good to see you chime in John!!

Damn this camera

Professor Flux. Thanks for the suthern hospitality.

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Funny thing is that John and I never had ridden together before and had met through a mutual friend in what is known as 'the park' here in S Florida.
We did a short ride in the 'glades and TAT words were dropped and before either of us realized we were riding this trail.
It was my first non solo ride in 5 years and I had a blast doing so. It is amazing to experience a trip with someone else and seeing it from a different perspective.
Some people take it for granted doing things their way, solo or otherwise. It doesn't always work out but in our case it did.

The saga continues......

June 29th. The rain had let up enough that we didn't need rain gear, although it was kept handy just in case.... The Tennessee part in retrospect was beautiful, but we felt we could have skipped it, as most is paved road with enough detours to make you dizzy. Always on a detour just to ride a few miles, or less, of dirt didn't make sense to us and by the next day in the PM we bolted out of TN and headed toward MS.
This is not meant to be negative but both John and I felt that it was too much of a quest for dirt than there would be available within reason.



"killer attack" butterflies
These things were a riot as the male was aggressive toward us, as if we could get to his 'girl'....












Camping at a former KOA on June the 30th

A trend we would see all over he country was that campgrounds and motels were only half full. We never made any reservations anywhere to camp or get a room.....






The last night in TN we spent in the town of Hohenwald. It looked like a copy of a German town without the Teutonic efficiency though... we had no waterpressure to speak of in motel "Goodenough", nor did the A/C work untill John used some persuasion....



Back on the road....



To be con't..

Great start to the report!

Keep in mind that when TN was mapped for the TAT it was mostly all gravel. In the last 7 years TN has spent alot of tax dollars to start paveing every road in the state.

And that's why we will be starting in Arkansas.

Both John and I still enjoyed the scenery and hospitality of the people there, and my comment was in no way meant as a negative toward Sam or the state of TN...
If you have a limited time, Arkansas is the place to start the TAT. Just beware of the rivergravel at the start of AR and of Warloop road....

I am definitely tuned in although I will be leaving for my TAT trip next Saturday (8/16) but I'll catch up when I return.

Some random pics of TN...



People having fun in the creek..



Really nice scenery...





The spot John placed a cache. We had to find one that was cool and secure at the same time....
The spot underneath a bridge.....
The rest of the cache story is John's to tell though.



July 1st was the day that I needed to do something about my vibrating front wheel and I removed the excess dynabeads from the tire. There was an issue with seating the bead but that was resolved the next morning after a good night's rest and a fresh view on things. John had a similar issue but it seemed less than what I went through. I have no pics as I was too aggravated by this. John probably does...........
We did do a water crossing today and it was neat to do.
John checking out where to cross. It is best to walk ahead and see what the situation is before plunging a 500+ pound bike into a watershed...





_________________________________________

July 2nd, was the day I took a dive with the bike at 30 MPH+... Fortunately I was fine due to the fact I look like the blue Power-ranger
ATGATT pays off . The bike went down in river gravel and it was slicker than snot. It was also a foot deep and the front wheel just washed out...
I have no pics from the scene and I know John does as I was banging my right hand Zega case back into shape as well as getting rid of the adrenaline rush. I had never gone down like that before.
That and a PIAA light was the only 'major' damage sustained. The character scratches on the hand guard and beak don't count IMHO..

Later I found out why the bike handled like crap. The rebound on my suspension was set too high (streethandling) and after loosening this up, I gained more speed and thus stability as well.
Last year in Alaska I had no such problems and I guess when my shocks were rebuilt, the valving changed enough to alter the ride even though the settings were the same. Live and learn..

After this interlude the trip went on and we crossed yet another bridge...



We stopped for the day and got a motel room.
A room explosion This was a 'bad' one as John needed to keep the battery charged and it was easier to put the bike in the room than to take out the battery....





To be Con't

First real dirt in TN
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Typical TAT TN gravel


Lot of forests being cut down



TN lawnmower, very effective


Trash day


FYYFF


Oscar's big nuff 4 bowling xped tent

Yours days are running together Oscar! Wheres that diary?

Friggin condos!


Random old building shot (somebody start a thread)


We found some nice church yards for lunch. I brought enough food for the both of US for several days. Doods gotta eat!


Met up with this gentleman who was doing the MS, AK tat. I don't remeber his name. He had enough tools and spares to rebuild his bike.




Caney Fork River Damn - It is closed for renovations


Bypass