Ride Report: Another rip into the Smoky's
- Thread starter shanekingsley
- Start date
kiley
Well-known member
Great write up Shane as always.
There’s a lot of effort into theses and I for one appreciate you going the extra mile.
I wonder if we should have a thread with zeemaps marking all the POI in the east?
The place you stayed at looked like a great place for someone on a budget or just wants the basics.
The rock beside the road…I found this last year when I visited Grandfather Mt.
There’s a lot of effort into theses and I for one appreciate you going the extra mile.
I wonder if we should have a thread with zeemaps marking all the POI in the east?
The place you stayed at looked like a great place for someone on a budget or just wants the basics.
The rock beside the road…I found this last year when I visited Grandfather Mt.
bikelessontario
Member
Great to see you again Shane!
Wish we had more time to catch up! I ended up having an emergency appendectomy on Sat and spent 5 days in hospital in Sylvan NC lol...
Not even a cool story to go with it...Safe at home now but still cant ride for another couple weeks...
Wish we had more time to catch up! I ended up having an emergency appendectomy on Sat and spent 5 days in hospital in Sylvan NC lol...
Not even a cool story to go with it...Safe at home now but still cant ride for another couple weeks...
Hey Steve!
I'm so sorry to hear that but glad you are safe at home. What a way to end your trip! I'm glad you got to ride down there and get a taste of the area and happy to hear you are ok and can ride another day to go back.
There's going to be a Vstrom thing happening in early October if you are interested based out of Tweed and a bunch of us are going to ride the Frontenac and Calabogie area then.
Heal up!!
Did you get any pics of you two on the dragon? Check US129photos and Killboy for them and maybe you get a nice pic for your garage.
ScorpionT16
Well-known member
Very inspiring 
Im planning a similar trip, just longer at 12-14 days and going to go check out Florida. What do you guys do for travel insurance? and do you take out cash or use visa with currency exchange?
Im planning a similar trip, just longer at 12-14 days and going to go check out Florida. What do you guys do for travel insurance? and do you take out cash or use visa with currency exchange?
Blue Cross is as good as anything else. Bring some US cash, some of the hole in the wall eating spots are cash only, credit card is fine for most stuff. US credit card terminals often ask for a zip code...strip the letters out of your postal code (thus leaving 3 numerals), enter those 3 numerals followed by 00.
For trips less than a couple of weeks, I don't get any additional coverage. I have a Visa Infinite card and it is a travel based Visa which has excellent coverage. All I need to do to activate the coverage is use my card once I cross the border, so right after crossing I get some gas and that's it.
The ZIP code trick at the gas pumps I use for everything down there whenever they ask for it. Saves the time and hassle of explaining the postal code system.
My wife asked me where I wanted to go for me next vacation and I told her I'm fine to just keep going back to Deals Gap and she rolled her eyes
The ZIP code trick at the gas pumps I use for everything down there whenever they ask for it. Saves the time and hassle of explaining the postal code system.
My wife asked me where I wanted to go for me next vacation and I told her I'm fine to just keep going back to Deals Gap and she rolled her eyes
bigpoppa
Well-known member
?ScorpionT16
Well-known member
Ah ok thanks, I don't have that Visa card and just got a new Job so my benefits for Insurance haven't kicked in yet. Visa card will come in Handy for sure. Are there any toll routes, if so how do you go about it with the bike, stop, take gloves off, keep change around?
I've always put 1-0-1-0-1 into the pumps and 99% of the time it works.
Before having this Visa, I used to purchase travel insurance from TD. I can't recall exactly how much it was, but it was around $20-$30 for a two week trip of full coverage. If I should crash on a mountain road and need to get a helicopter ride out or need to stay in a hospital for a period of time, spending this little amount of cash would cover all these costs up to around $2million or so. Or maybe I get sick and need to have an emergency appendectomy or something! Well worth it!
As for toll routes, there are some and it's been my experience that they are always the interstates, not backroads. If you are using a GPS, you can set it to avoid toll routes if you are willing to take longer to get somewhere. One toll route I commonly take when going south is the stretch of I90 leading from Buffalo NY to Erie PA and it costs around $3. As a rule, I ride with a tank bag and always keep some small bills and change in there, totalling less than $20 for these types of things. And yes, stop, take gloves off, and pay toll booth upon exit. If you are a frequent traveler into the states, I would suggest you look up the EZ Pass, which I think can be preloaded from home or online, and then you just ride through and it automatically deducts it from your account - kind of like driving on the 407. A Nexus pass would also be quicker for border crossings, but then I would have nothing to complain about.
Keep a couple of dollar bills and loose change in a zip lock bag within your tank bag, hand the whole thing over to attendant at toll booth, tell him to help himself. Fast, easy, no removal of gloves required.
via Tapatalk
I buy the delorme gazateer mapbooks. Extremely detailed. Hubby wants to hit the gap this September but I don't really want to. There are to many good roads in WV/VA that going down there is unnecessary.
But,you know.....compromise....I am going to take the back way down,no need to touch a interstate all the way down to the gap and beyond.
I have explored several different routes going down through NY and pa to keep me off the interstate.
My last trip down a couple weeks ago I used one of those hotel/motel coupon books. Rate went from 91 to 50 bucks. Although I did have my redverz solo tent with me.
There are a few MC camps on the way down you can check out. I did a really nice road going through pa....that I had to do twice.
Before you head south,take some time to find out where bike shops may be....just in case,and check out their reviews.
I have cultivated many contacts over the years along the popular riding areas so if I get into a pickle of any sort help is just a posting away.
I have to say the road naming is getting tiresome. The snake,the rattler,ect . I get that it brings much needed dollars to areas with high unemployment but it's still irksome.
I think Shane and I should swap some roads..get together for a map-a-thon. My collection is very.....extensive, to put it mildly.
I also have some map collections of Europe's best motorcycle roads. Literally collections,laminated, numbered maps that come in a set. Fantastic stuff.
But,you know.....compromise....I am going to take the back way down,no need to touch a interstate all the way down to the gap and beyond.
I have explored several different routes going down through NY and pa to keep me off the interstate.
My last trip down a couple weeks ago I used one of those hotel/motel coupon books. Rate went from 91 to 50 bucks. Although I did have my redverz solo tent with me.
There are a few MC camps on the way down you can check out. I did a really nice road going through pa....that I had to do twice.
Before you head south,take some time to find out where bike shops may be....just in case,and check out their reviews.
I have cultivated many contacts over the years along the popular riding areas so if I get into a pickle of any sort help is just a posting away.
I have to say the road naming is getting tiresome. The snake,the rattler,ect . I get that it brings much needed dollars to areas with high unemployment but it's still irksome.
I think Shane and I should swap some roads..get together for a map-a-thon. My collection is very.....extensive, to put it mildly.
I also have some map collections of Europe's best motorcycle roads. Literally collections,laminated, numbered maps that come in a set. Fantastic stuff.
Jason Bourne
Well-known member
I'm way late to this thread but just had a chance to read through it and have to say that I'm seriously impressed by the roads you know Shane. 
I live in north GA (Clarkesville) and get to ride the roads in your report all the time and you've pretty much nailed them all. I can't count the number of times that I've ridden backroads between here and the GTA and you've covered most of those roads as well.
If anybody is doing a trip down to the Smoky's they should refer to the maps that Shane has linked to in this thread as he's got 95% of the best riding roads here covered.
p.s. while Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are huge tourist traps they should be experienced by everyone at least once (you'll never want to ride through the traffic there again anyways) just to know that they exist. They're part of why the Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited National Park in the US
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My IG account of riding in the Smoky's @livefastrideharder
I live in north GA (Clarkesville) and get to ride the roads in your report all the time and you've pretty much nailed them all. I can't count the number of times that I've ridden backroads between here and the GTA and you've covered most of those roads as well.
If anybody is doing a trip down to the Smoky's they should refer to the maps that Shane has linked to in this thread as he's got 95% of the best riding roads here covered.
p.s. while Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are huge tourist traps they should be experienced by everyone at least once (you'll never want to ride through the traffic there again anyways) just to know that they exist. They're part of why the Great Smoky Mountains is the most visited National Park in the US
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My IG account of riding in the Smoky's @livefastrideharder
Thanks. I totally forgot about this trip and it was nice to read it again and go down memory lane. I told my wife I was going to go somewhere for a bike trip this summer and she told me to just go to Deals Gap! I miss riding down there and hope to get back this coming summer. Safe riding!I'm way late to this thread but just had a chance to read through it and have to say that I'm seriously impressed by the roads you know Shane.
woobie
Well-known member
Great recap, I've bookmarked this for future trips.
The last few trips down to Deals Gap I've done US219 from start to finish and stay in Pearisburg Virginia overnight, Interstate on both bikes (600 Katana/vfr800) that I've ridden down there kill my knee after a few hours but 219 is enough variety that the VFR would eat up the miles heading south.
Day two either book it straight to Robbinsville if the weather sucks or do a chunk of the blue ridge and plan to arrive late afternoon when it's good..
The last few trips down to Deals Gap I've done US219 from start to finish and stay in Pearisburg Virginia overnight, Interstate on both bikes (600 Katana/vfr800) that I've ridden down there kill my knee after a few hours but 219 is enough variety that the VFR would eat up the miles heading south.
Day two either book it straight to Robbinsville if the weather sucks or do a chunk of the blue ridge and plan to arrive late afternoon when it's good..
