'The Dragon' in May..Now with pictures!!!

[spectre]

This will be great! Just watch for the yellow Mohawk lol!

[Tiger]

We dropped the engine out of my brothers Vision last night  :o !!! FUBAR'd!!!

Spent most of today prepping and installing another motor...nearly there ::) 

We will be down in Charlotte NC late afternoon/early evening on Thursday 17th May and will be staying somewere around Deals Gap on Friday night (18th May)...(I'll let you know as soon as I do were we will be staying).

Looking forward to coming south and meeting up/riding with some of you... 8)

               8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

[Lucky]

A most honerable death. Better than being parted out. keep us updated

[Tiger]

 8) We're leaving here in around 30 minutes...See ya soon ('ish) boys ;D :D :D :D :D :D... 8)

         8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

[vadasz1]

Good luck guys...................

Break a cam shaft or two.....LOL

[AdvRich]

Thumbs Up!

[YellowJacket!]

Wow!  How'd I miss this?!?!?  I need to get around the "gone riding" section more often!  Anyway, I'd love to meet up with y'all.  I will PM you my contact info.

Friday I'll be in Peds Clinic until around 6pm, Saturday I'm supposed to help my daughter and her husband move....again, and Sunday my son will be graduating from college.  I will do my best to make some time in there for you.

David

[Tiger]

 8) WOW!!! What a SUUUPERB long weekend that turned out to be... 8)

Thursday: Peter and I hauled ass down to Charlotte N C via Ontario Canada, New York State, P A, V A and N C... 14 hours and 1,300 kms (813 miles) in one hop :o  :P The two Vision's were rolled off of the trailer and garaged for the night...A couple of beers or three and a wee dram of single malt and good night one and all ;D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Friday: Up, showered, coffee and out by 8 a.m. First things first...BREAKFAST!!!... and then up to a hotel to pick up Art and his wife Bonnie and his trailered Hahaharley Glide...and oft we went in to the wild Blue yonder!!! Now Charlotte is a few hours ride from the 'fun' area, so fast forward a wee bit!!! Up on to the 'Southern end' of the Blue Ridge Parkway for a few hours of great sweeping right and left handers and some greeeeat scenery 8)...just to get the juices flowing for the main event!! ;)...eventually leading up to...(drum roll folks!!!)...The Tail of The Dragon!!! 318 twists and curves on 11 miles of great pavement...and a wee bit of wet pavement at that!! Not happy with one pass, we did it back the other way...just for the hell of it and why not one may ask ::) if your going to slay 'The Dragon' you may as well do it both ways ;D :D :D :D :D :D :D..... 8)

We eventually headed for 'home'...getting to The Best Western MountainBrook Inn in Maggie Valley just as day light was fading out. $71.00 for a double room with continental breakfast thrown in!! Clean & cheap...would stay there again (& we did ;) ). At some point, we lost Art/Bonnie and the Harley :o ::)...eventually finding out that they had a rear wheel puncture about four miles out of town. With the aid of a local boy and his truck & trailer we were all reunited for the night 8) A few beers and  three 22" pizzas and good night all.... 8)

More to come... ;)

8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

[Tiger]

Saturday: Due to the Harley having a puncture and no where in Maggie Valley open early to help out, we eventually got a 'Harley specialist' from 6 - 7 miles away to come out at 9.30 ('ish), pick up the 'Glide', Art/Bonnie and whisk them away to their shop for attention...while Watson (our host for the weekend), Peter and I headed out for some much needed breakfast!!! We found a Waffle House and loaded up ready for a full day of riding before heading back to Charlotte for a BBQ/beers/bed and make ready for the return journey home on the Sunday...

The best laid plans of mice and men then came in to play!!!!!

After loading up on carbs and cholesterol we headed out to find our Harley crew.

Turned out that the Glide needed a new tire, which the shop had in stock, superb, no problem.

We eventually headed out of the shop at 1.15 p m!!! Bugger, more than half of our last day wasted ::)

Time for some decisions to be made...

          8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

[Cdnlouie]

And the adventure continues....  ;) we are tuned in.  As the world turned my trailor deal did not work out and I had to cancel this year's adventure, another story.

Glad to hear you are all in one piece!

[Lucky]

We (sorely) missed Tiger on his visit. I haven't gotten the complete story form him, but it seems that he had little control ofer the itnerary. he contacted us Friday morning to let us know he was in North Carolina (i didn't recognise the name of the town)  and after that, it seemed cell service was spotty at best. (That whole area is mountains & foothills)

We waited till about 9am Sat morning & then headed out to Deals Gap, Kitty & I 2up, Spectre on moms bike with his tank & plastics, & Specters friend Steven on a Ninja 250.


Twisty roads 2up takes a lot of concentration to give the passenger a smooth ride & I was taking it easy. by the time we got to the top of the Dragon, the boys were chomping at the bit to goooo!  I pulled over & had a conference with them. They could go ahead of us but had STRICT orders to not cross the double yellow and not to push it their first time thru. Meet us at the Crossroads. With big grins on their faces we watched them ride off.

As this is my fourth visit to the Dragon, I found it a lot easier, even with a passenger, I've taken Tourer thru once before & would have liked to get more speed & lean in, but not with the Mrs on the back..

Last year LEO was everywhere! (the joke was 318 cops in 11 miles) This year I didn't see one, but the photographers were out in force (318 shutters in 11 miles!) Killboy has been there the longest & was set up in a few spots along with US129.com & Moonshine photography (and maybe another, i forget)  there are literaly thousands of pics online from the 19th, so far i've only found ours on 129, I haven't been able to find Spectre or Tiger (yet)

We got to the bottom & we looked all over for the distinctive orange Vision with the Tiger graphics to no avail :(  We found Steven & my son, had a bite to eat, bought some souveneers & checked out the shops. no signal on the cell.  Not hearing from Tiger, & it getting to be close to 3 o'clock, we decided to head out to Cherahala. Thats another few hours & I didn't want to get back in the dark.

We stopped after about 1/2 hour for a pit stop & i found a text on my cell from Tiger that he would be in robinsville soon, but it was a delayed text because we were out of cell range earlier, Then a voicemail that art had troubles & the town they were in was at least an hour away..  I left tiger a voicemail, & since we couldn't reach him, we continued on.

Once we got to the start of the Skyway we let the boys go on ahead again & they had a blast! Spectre got to the point where he was hanging off the bike, but i didn't get to see it...  They were to meet us at the end at Kats diner & they were not there when we arrived. we waited & texted them & they came back about a half hour later.  they missed the diner & were sitting a half mile further up the road waiting for us.. they rode back & found us. we ate again (ride to eat, eat to ride) & headed home (still another hour or so)

We got home, Kitty's back was sore, she couldn't lean back against the pad because she's small & was afrade to slide off the side, lol, so she was pretty sore the next day (poor kid!) But she told me several times she had a blast & was glad she went, but next time she wanted to be on her own bike! Spectre's already asking when we could go back...

a photo proof (until i find Killboys pics & Tiger & Spectre & pick some to buy)

[Tiger]

Lucky, go to killboy.com 18th May 2012, touring bikes after 4 p.m. There are several pictures of 'The Mistress' and 'Black Jack' (#21). I would appreciate if you could put a couple up on here  8)

Sorry to miss you and the family Lucky...Time restraints and more out than in cell phone availability took its toll I'm afraid  ::)

Your right, not a LEO to be seen at all that day...thankfully ;)

Spectre's motor is awaiting pick up in Charlotte..momma can soon get her ride back me thinks ;D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D... ;)

                      8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

[Tiger]

Prior to leaving the Harley shop we all decided it would be better if we were to re-book rooms at the hotel we had vacated (luggage and all!!) that morning... ::). A phone call got us the last three rooms available, phew!!! ;D

Now, lets go play...but first a meet with Lucky & Co in Robbinsville. Sadly it was not to be :'( However, it did give Peter a chance to correct a carb problem on the fly, on #21. Unfortunately, putting the gas tank on and reconnecting the gas line, the spigot on one end of his in-line gas filter broke off :o bugger.
We were parked at a gas station, across from Smokeymountain Motors M/C shop, which was in the process of closing for the day. I ran over, just as they were closing the doors and got a new one and some extra gas line for $4.00...much appreciated folks 8)

It was decided to go ride Cherohala Skyway...41 miles of more twists and turns than ya can shake a stick at :o ;D :D :D :D :D :D :D Not as 'testing' as The Dragon but a great riding road and more fun than the dragon in my humble opinion.

We eventually headed for 'home', (getting a wee soaking from a freak down pour!!...ah well, it did clean the bugs off of my visor ;D :D :D :D :D ), via the town of Cherokee and on through to Maggie Valley...picked up some cold liquid refreshment (read Guinness :o ).

In to the room went the luggage, downed a Guinness or two, showered up, fresh clothes, another Guinness and out to Legend's Bar & Grill for some much needed sustenance...liquid and solid!!!
This place serves a great pint of draught...yep...Guinness folks ;D :D :D :D :D The burger was one of the best ever too 8)

A wander back to the hotel...all of 100 yards...a couple more liquid beverages with the crew and my bed was softly whispering my name...Good night all :-*

8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

[Rikugun]

Despite missing Lucky and family it sounds like a good trip overall. The tire and filter issues although annoying at the time are what make great stories later.  :) Good eats and drink along with good company and nice roads to ride - can't ask for much more than that!

[vadasz1]

Lucky, go to killboy.com 18th May 2012, touring bikes after 4 p.m. There are several pictures of 'The Mistress' and 'Black Jack' (#21). I would appreciate if you could put a couple up on here  8)

Sorry to miss you and the family Lucky...Time restraints and more out than in cell phone availability took its toll I'm afraid  ::)

Your right, not a LEO to be seen at all that day...thankfully ;)

Spectre's motor is awaiting pick up in Charlotte..momma can soon get her ride back me thinks ;D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D... ;)

                     8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

Looks like there a few pages with you boys on them.  Pete's bike is looking pretty good as well with the new paint scheme.

Maybe next time i can ride along when time and money permits.

[Tiger]

Sunday: After a shower and coffee we headed out for Charlotte, some four hours + away :o Well if yer going to go, go big!!! So, just outside of Maggie Valley, we hopped up on to the Blue Ridge Parkway to while away the hours some 8) This really is a great road with superb pavement, terrific panoramic views and loooooong left and right sweepers. We stopped at the highest point, some 6045 feet above sea level...breath taking!!!

We took time out to go and check out one of the visitor centers...wash room break ;)

Back in the saddle and eventually coming down the mountain to Little Switzerland, for brunch and a partial crack at 226A, known as 'The DiamondBack' 8) Once again, another brilliant piece of roadway fun 8) Sadly, from there, we made our way to the highway and headed for Charlotte. We stopped off at Art & Bonnie's hotel to help him load the Glide on to his trailer, said our goodbyes and headed for Watson's place...with a wee 'steak pick up' along the way 8)
Once back, a couple of 'cold ones' to take away the dry throats, we loaded up the bikes. Time for a shower and change of clothes. Steak, potato's, a bottle of red wine out on Watson's elevated back deck...ahhhhh, a fine way to wind down another great day. A couple more beers, a wee dram or two of a single malt and it was time to call it a day, once more... 8) Monday and the long drive home would soon come around...along with something really annoying :o >:(

               8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)

[vadasz1]

ooooohhhhh .......the suspense is killing me.  Do tell, do tell........

[Lucky]

Wow, we missed you by an entire day, that's why i couldn't find you on Saturdays pics, you were there Friday... We all had to work Friday...

[Lucky]

Ok, Pics of Tiger & Peter! :) BRAVO!!

[Tiger]

Wahooo, caught on camera ;D :D :D :D :D :D Me 'n The Mistress and Peter upon #21 aka BlackJack 8) BlackJack was built purely from spare parts!!! Not a semi complete Vision, not a rolling chassis but from my various parts bins. Peter gave her a respray over the winter and VOILA...one tidy looking, well running Vision 8)

Thanks Lucky... 8)

             8) ....... TIGER ....... 8)