Left out Saturday at 9am from Athens, GA going north on 106. Made my way thru the winding roads and rolling hills of north Georgia. Running all back roads I eventually crossed over the Georgia/SC border and rode along the banks of the Chatooga River for some nice scenes.
After a 50 or 60 mile run I finally made it up to Walhalla, SC for the fun to begin. SC Hwy 28 "Moonshiner 28" as it is affectionatly known is so much damn fun!!! After riding it I see why it was used by 'Shiners. Gotta be crazy as hell and damn good and with a strong car to run it like the stories tell. If only the road could talk about it's history I could listen to it all day.
Click on pic for bigger view.
Hit the link;
http://www.moonshiner28.com/
Not my pics, so I dont deserve the credit for them.
Along the way I stopped and powered up my GPS and low and behold a WR approaches. In fact a WR-X
Waved at him and tried to get him to stop and BS and see if they were a member to the forum. They crossed the bridge behind me and off they went. Oh well mystery rider maybe another day. Damn bike was nice!! Now I want a black frame.
So 107 miles later I make it to Deals Gap. Good day too as there was a 2 stroke ralley/gathering at the Dragon this weekend. Man those things are loud as hell and you can almost know which curve they are on by the sound thru the woods.
Many dual sports there too, MANY. KLR's, me (the only WR-R I could find), Triumph Tigers, BMW Dakars, KTM's of all types, Husqvarnas and I believe a Gas Gas - unless it was a Ducati- with the black bodywork both of their motards look similar with the small headlamp and short, chopped front fender.
After BSing and going to the Grill and Gift Shop I left out to ride the curves. Left in a low point so there was nobody in front of me and nobody trailing me. The first pass was sort of like some heavy petting. Feeling the curves, learning when and where to get some speed, when and where to take it easy-and knowing where the Tennessee Highway Patrol was set up. The second pass was really fun as the tires were plenty warm. The Avon Distanza was very nice to have on the back as it was soft and grippy while hot. The stock front knobbie had me a bit nervous as I seemed to push farther and farther to the limit but I kept my head about me and remembered I am about 107 miles from home and dont need to go down or want any speeding tickets.
Crossed back into North Carolina and went past Deals Gap to circle around and run it again. Hitting the "S" curves are so much fun. As you hit the banking and dive into the turn the suspension compresses, you roll the throttle and the banking comes back up and pitches the other way, the suspension pops you back up and on the rebound you dive into the other corner compressing again. Grinning like a jack ass eating briar all the while Killboy the local photographer is snapping you pictures. Awesome!! The ride back sucked as 1/2 way back up the mountain the clouds formed and it rained like hell. Damn, left my Frogg Toggs at home. Good reason to get that tailbag now. I already had other things in the Wolfman tank bag and the weather reports said other wise. Oh well. Next time I will have my gear.
So I had 3 good passes and 1 easy, but wet thru 1/2, trip back to the resort. Got there, grabbed a burger and Coke, bought a shirt and of course the Dragon silohette(?) sticker than can only be bought at the store. (if you order online it is a generic decal, will not be the same one that is actually there). So right there in the parking lot I stuck them-one on each side-to the WR-R, like I was giving it a promotion to a new rank. Hell why not right? Knocked out the Moonshiner (107 miles), 4 runs on the Dragon (44 miles with 1272 turns (one way is 11 miles and 318 turns) plus the 56 miles to get to Hwy 28 and finally the 110 miles home. Dang, that was 424 miles in one day. (by GPS and not the odometer). I know when I got home at 7:45 last nite my tail bone was sore and my inner thighs were hurting. I really need to do the seat modification or something, damn.
Will change the oil and do some servicing. Got a 4 day gathering in Helen Georgia starting Thursday. I may make the ride back to the Dragon again and hopefully the Cherohalla Skyway.
Check it out;
http://www.cherohala.com/
or the Devils Triangle
http://www.devilstriangletn.com/
I will post my pics later. Not many, sorry, but hopefully I will get some more next time.
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