I made it to another National Park. Plenty of them west of Kansas. Not many east.
My Friend, Bo-37, from Colorado and my Brother, Steve-72 met at my house Sept 21. Left for NC on Sunday morning.
Great weather going.
I sold Bo a Suzuki 1250 Bandit in 2017. He has since sold it and got a 2012 BMW K1600, used for $10,000. It only had 36k miles. It cost $28,000 new.
Steve is still clinging to his 1985 900 Ninja he has owned it since 87. I tried to "give" him the Bandit in 2016. He told me he did not anymore Bikes.

Down here in Arkansas it has been so hot and humid I've not ridden more than 150 miles since July. Air conditioning in my car feels sooo-good. Central Arkansas set a record of 23 days above 90 degrees for September.
Back to the trip.
The "Old Guys" decided to stop every 100+ miles for a REAL rest stop and get Gas.
We rode across AR & TN on highway 64. Stopped at the TN Visitors Center at Memphis for a Paper State Map. I still use maps and put them on my Tank bag. Bo had GPS on his Bike, plus his phone. To be 37 again and today's motorcycles-wow! Bo never experienced Federal mandated 55mph speed limits.

I found a neat road off 64 at Winchester, Road 41A which took us to Monteagle our first night. Searching for motels sure are easy now-a-days. Google maps show motels and people leave ratings. The Quality Inn had just finished a remodel June 2019. I got a special rate of $58/1 room-2 queen beds and a hot breakfast.
Traveling with new people brings new challenges. Steve sleeps with a breathing machine and I found out that Bo snores. I never got used to Steve's machine.
Monday was another great day for riding. We worked our way to highway 74 off I-75. Stopped at Ducktown. Took highway 68 to Tellico Plains. And headed south on highway 165 (Cherohala Parkway). A return to REAL mountains.

I lived in Colorado for 38 yrs and took the mountains for granted. We stopped in Robbinsville for lunch. I saw a motorcycle parked outside a diner and stopped there. Just average food.

Cheoah Dam is just down the road on highway 129. You must get your photo taken here.

Another 2 miles put you at Deal's Gap Resort. We stayed 2 nights. The oldest guy got the bed. Bo slept on the top bunk, me on the bottom. No chairs or table in the room. Sitting outside is a must. Met "Tank" from Ohio. Met another guy from India riding the new Royal Enfield twin. It had Wisconsin plates. Tank said only 2 wrecks this summer at the Dragon. The quietest ever. Tank has been coming since 2003. He plus other Riders got TN & NC State Legislators to pass strict length limits on the Dragon-30 feet.


Monday night we ate at Tapoco Lodge. Good food and atmosphere. And checkout the Ferrari and nice motorcycles staying there.

We ran the Dragon by ourselves, no competition.
Tuesday we stopped at Fontana Dam/Lake. Met a hiker traveling the Appalachian Trail. He had hiked 40 miles to the Dam with another 31 miles left.

We continued to Smoky Mtn Nat'l Park. Stopped at the Visitors Center. Bo decided to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville. Steve and I would tackle Clingman's Dome.
Clingman's Dome path is a 13% grade 1/2 mile up to 6643 feet. I spent 38 yrs living at 5300 feet and last 2 years at 500 feet. My lung compacity has dropped considerably. I was short winded and stopped several times. The sign at the base clearly states "not recommended for Seniors nor handicap accessible".


Wednesday we headed back and stopped at Lynchburg-Jack Daniel Distillery/Visitors center. Back tracked the same roads. Highway 41A turns into 50 and it is another neat, very little traffic country road. Brought us to the south end of Lynchburg. Any tour at the Distillery is $15 and up. The town is in a dry county. The distillery is located north in the next county. Bikes only parking area.

I had planned to stop at Frankewing for the night, but Steve hates to waste daylight at a motel. Dark clouds to the west was waiting for us. It dumped rain for 12 miles. I did not put on my rainsuit. My Gore-Tex boots filled with water. We stopped in Pulaski under a canopy and waited for the storm to pass. Another 75 miles got us to Savanah-another Quality Inn. This Inn charged me $109-why? Not recommended. We ate supper at "Hagy Catfish Hotel" restaurant. It has been serving Catfish since 1938. Shiloh Civil War Battlefield and National Cemetery is here.
Thursday Steve decided to ride back to Harrison and took I-55 northwest. Bo and came back to my house. It was 4 PM and Bo decided to keep riding towards his house, too.
It was another great Davis Brothers trip and now we have added an honorary Nephew. Steve nor I had children. Bo's Dad died this year. Now he has 2 new Uncles who ride motorcycles.
Riding south on highway 441 towards Cherokee, NC following other motorcyclists. Timeless. Steve and I commented how much we waved to other Bikers. Like the good ol' days.

* Last updated by: doubleD on 10/2/2019 @ 9:58 AM *

Nice pix and write up. My 85 year old dad and brother from Calif were just out the the Dragon, Cherohala, Moonshiner, and went up to DiamondBack and the Rattler earlier this month. Great stuff.. We do the home base in Alcoa by the Knoxville Airport.

ominousone

Nice write up! I wish I lived closer, once you visit one time it becomes addictive. The place is great, very peaceful and relaxing.

* Last updated by: KoflaOlivieri on 10/1/2019 @ 1:25 PM *

"Tank" is a towering figure. He was sitting on the rock ledge at the Overlook of Calderwood Dam. He stood up and unfolded like an accordion. 6'4" riding a 2016 Versys 1000. He used to ride to the Dragon. Now he trailers his Bike. His Daughter drives her car down; both are from Ohio. He stays for a week. It has turned into a rendezvous for him meeting the same riders at the same time each year.


Tank was a Federal Prison guard for 29 yrs and now has his own business.
Colorful character.

* Last updated by: doubleD on 10/1/2019 @ 3:44 PM *

Great write up. I doubt I'll ever make it that far East but it's nice to be invited along through
trip reports.

Mad

ominousone,
Consider yourself lucky to have your Father.
My Father died at 63 of a heart attack on the Farm putting up the Christmas Tree. The night before he ate with the Neighbors and he seemed fine.
My older Brother (Steve) had his first heart attack at 49. He would have died at home, but he was racing his Ninja at a Race track and the Para-medics saved his life. At 59 he elected for open heart surgery to replace 5 damaged vessels. The Surgeon discovered his Ascending Aorta was 4.3cm. Normal is 2.5. Last month it was checked with ultra sound and read 5.6cm-operate now size! They retested with a Dye and it was 4.8cm. I am not cursed with the Ascending Aorta problem.
I did ride with my Dad in 1972-3. We both had Kawasaki H1's.

Steve had turned his H1 into a Drag Bike. Raced in Chicago and New Jersey. Modded his own engines and built his own exhaust pipes. Vance & Hines came over asked him "what's in that engine?" I say he should have pursued a racing manufacturing career.
1972

1973

Steve's last Race (Daytona) 2008 He competed for fun. He is a small town lawyer in AR for the last 37 yrs.

* Last updated by: doubleD on 10/3/2019 @ 7:01 AM *

Is Steve your brother that had the heart issues? That's rough, but he's still around. Beyond that what a cool story(s) and pix of the H1s. I am very fortunate to be able to ride with the old man at his age. We've been doing sumkinda rides since 1983. And he's still faster than many on the Dragon and beyond. Dad prolly doesn't have many more years left to ride like we do. I joke that I'll have to get a sidecar on my ZX14 to take him along... It'll be a very sad time when he hangs up his leathers.

God bless all y'all!
ominousone

* Last updated by: ominousone on 10/2/2019 @ 1:04 PM *

We did not make the Foothills Pkwy this time. What is the missing link?

ominousone

We did not make the Foothills Pkwy this time. What is the missing link?

ominousone