Tennessee Motorcycle Adventure

[hijacker]

Six friends and I spent last week in Townsend, TN doing nothing but riding some of the fantastic roads in the area. We rode the Tail of the Dragon, Cherohala Skyway, Foothils Parkway, Little River Road and just generally explored the area.

If you've never ridden some of these roads or visited the area I strongly recommend it. The Smoky Mountains are beautiful and the roads are awesome.

I have hours of GoPro footage to go through, we had a total of 3 GoPros running and another action camera called a DBcam.


Overlook on the Foothills Parkway




Fugitive Dam




At Deal's Gap, North Carolina




Fontana Dam




Riding the Dragon









One of my good friends had a little trouble on the Dragon. He was riding a Street Glide and his footboard dragged through a corner, the footboard failed to fold at the hinge which resulted in lifting his front wheel off the ground.

Long story short, his bike went over a 30 foot drop off, crashed end over end a few times before coming to rest vertically against a tree. My buddy saw what was going to happen and bailed off the bike. Fortunately, he didn't follow the bike over the cliff and was fine other than some torn jeans and a couple bruises.

Some pics...
if you look carefully you can see the bike way down there in the very center of the picture. It is black and dark orange so it is difficult to see in this crappy picture...









Here is the groove his floorboard cut into the roadway. The guy in the orange is the owner of the dead bike. Lucky to be alive!





Despite the obvious bad parts of the trip, it was a great time. Even my buddy who totalled his bike on the first day of the vacation still had a good time hanging out at the cabin and lounging in the hot tub. The rest of us altered our plans somewhat to do other touristy things with him in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.


Here's a video I made from footage we took of or runs up and down the Tail of the Dragon...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUpFWAzIYz8

 

[donnelly317]

Man that really sucks!!! Makes me remember to check my pegs for free movement every now and then!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[VMax-Mike]

As always Chad great video. Sucks for your friend but he lives to ride again. Maybe take him gen2 shopping. How about you putting a vmax dragon ride togather.

 

[hijacker]

How about you putting a vmax dragon ride togather.

I've thought about that as I put this trip together. It took me several months to find a suitable cabin, plan routes, etc. It was worth it though, we had a blast. unk:

 

[CaptainKyle]

Fun place ! I will be out that way again next week trying to help family out but I will take time to go ride the Moonshiner 28 & a few other roads while I am there.

 

[95spfldmax]

This has been on my bucket list for years.....now it's "strongly" penciled-in for next spring.....I hope I can pull it off....Great video BTW........glad your bud's alright.....

 

[m-cman]

I rode the Dragon on my first Max in 2000 with two other friends on a trip from Dallas to the Outer Banks. It was 3500 miles in 7 days. Too old to handle that now. :biglaugh:

The roads in the eastern middle of the country are awesome. From Tennessee east it is beautiful. Seems we crossed a river several times a day and the back roads through the mountains are out of this world. We spend some time on the Blue Ridge Parkway before going back to our eastern route. It isn't as intense as the Dragon but is amazing on its own. There is much more than just the Dragon to enjoy. :worthy:

 

[hijacker]

I rode the Dragon on my first Max in 2000 with two other friends on a trip from Dallas to the Outer Banks. It was 3500 miles in 7 days. Too old to handle that now. :biglaugh:

The roads in the eastern middle of the country are awesome. From Tennessee east it is beautiful. Seems we crossed a river several times a day and the back roads through the mountains are out of this world. We spend some time on the Blue Ridge Parkway before going back to our eastern route. It isn't as intense as the Dragon but is amazing on its own. There is much more than just the Dragon to enjoy. :worthy:

Yep, all the roads in that area are great. We also rode the Cherohala Skyway, Little River Road (most beautiful road I've ever seen), Foothill Parkway, Cade's Cove, part of the Moonshine 28 and a bunch of just cruising around and exploring the area.

 

[DMAN999]

Yep, all the roads in that area are great. We also rode the Cherohala Skyway, Little River Road (most beautiful road I've ever seen), Foothill Parkway, Cade's Cove, part of the Moonshine 28 and a bunch of just cruising around and exploring the area.

A friend of mine owned land near Banner Elk (Boone area) and we camped there every year for 9-10 years and always brought the bikes so we could enjoy the roads in that area.
They are definitely beautiful to ride.

 

[jfeagins]

Great video Chad.

Tell your HD buddy "that'll buff right out".

Moonshiner Highway 28 = great fun too.

Near the far west end of the Cherohala Skyway there's another back road (don't remember the hwy #) that takes you along a winding creek and to some falls. Well worth the time to ride as well. It deadends not too far past those falls past a couple small homes and a campground, then you have to back track all the way back out and onto the Cherohala again.

There's a hwy 107 down there that ties into the Moonshiner 28 that I highly recomment riding while there too.

TOO MANY good curvy roads in that area to mention.

Shala & I were based out of Maggie Valley NC for nearly a week last summer. I wish we could go there every year, and still have time/money to go all the other places on our bucket list. This year: Thunder in the Valley. Next year, I want to ride up to Glacier Nat'l Park and across the hwy to the Sun into Canada.

 

[Redbone]

Great video Chad.

Tell your HD buddy "that'll buff right out".

Moonshiner Highway 28 = great fun too.

Near the far west end of the Cherohala Skyway there's another back road (don't remember the hwy #) that takes you along a winding creek and to some falls. Well worth the time to ride as well. It deadends not too far past those falls past a couple small homes and a campground, then you have to back track all the way back out and onto the Cherohala again.

There's a hwy 107 down there that ties into the Moonshiner 28 that I highly recomment riding while there too.

TOO MANY good curvy roads in that area to mention.

Shala & I were based out of Maggie Valley NC for nearly a week last summer. I wish we could go there every year, and still have time/money to go all the other places on our bucket list. This year: Thunder in the Valley. Next year, I want to ride up to Glacier Nat'l Park and across the hwy to the Sun into Canada.

Nice pictures and video Chad, you really make it hard for a guy not to want to go on those curvy roads. I'll have to join you on your next trip or Mike there next year. Bucket list added to!
I'm taking notes Jim, sounds like a week there could revive one's soul! I've been across Glacier Park, E to W in a cage and it is beautiful! I want to go again on 2 wheels for sure. I also want to ride the Cascades, Whidbey Island, and the Olympic Peninsula.

 

[Traumahawk]

I would love to ride the dragon sometime this summer.

 

[Tex85]

Ouch that is a rough crash, glad he escaped harms way. I've wanted to ride the Dragon since I first hear about it many years ago. If everything goes to plan I'll be there in September on the Vmax for a few days. I think I should invest in a helmet cam before then so I have some footage to post here.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

Thanks for sharing the pics and vid! Glad to hear your bud walked away from that one!

 

[timscues]

Great vid, hope you had a chance to stop in wheels through time in Maggie Valley
http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com/

 

[hijacker]

Great vid, hope you had a chance to stop in wheels through time in Maggie Valley
http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com/

No, we didn't. Too bad, that would have been pretty cool.:sad2: