Tiger & Wing to the Great Smoky Mtns

[Rincewind]

My dad and I did a little trip to the Great Smoky Mountains this past weekend.  We did 1,859 miles overall leaving last Thursday and returning before dinner Sunday.  We had a really great time together and hit a lot of exciting and challenging roads including famous ones such as the Snake, the Tail of the Dragon, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We were also on many fun, curvy, and mountainous secondary roads.

My new ride: Triumph Tiger 800 ABS.  I had just picked up this bike Wednesday of the week prior to us leaving, so I had to prep it rapidly.



My "office" for the days ahead.



New roll bag in lieu of tank bag or panniers



Dad's ride: 2012 Gold Wing & trailer



Dad's office



Ready to leave Thursday at 6am

[Rincewind]

We booked it to MD.  Here is Sideling Hill, MD



Deep Creek Lake, MD



WV Backroad



WV Mining operation



New River Gorge Bridge, WV













We stayed the night in Beckley WV.

[Rincewind]

Friday Morning we did WV Rt 16 first.

Virginia Route 16 Panoramas just North of Hungry Mother Park.

Click panos for full size.





Backbone Rock Tunnel on TN 133.  We hiked to the top, too.







No suicidal tendencies allowed.





The Snake in Tennessee





Watauga Reservoir Overlook in TN



The Tale of the Dragon

[Rincewind]

Friday night we stayed in Cherokee NC so that we could start at the beginning of the historic Blue Ridge Parkway first thing Saturday.  



Click the pano for full size.





We are Masts, so we had to stop at the Mast General Store in Waynesville.  This is not the original one from the 1800's - we visited that one later.

[Rincewind]

On to the original Mast General Store in Valle Crucis NC









Dad showed me Mast Gap Road, and the very small town of Mast NC



Here is the first page of a writing by my great grandfather on the Masts and other SE Pennsylvania Dutch folk who moved to NC in the colonial days.



And back to the BRP















On Sunday we headed back to WV by way of VA Rt 33.  Here is Germany Valley, WV.





Seneca Rocks, WV





Smoke Hole Road, WV - we found a fallen Emerald Ash Borer trap.  There are not nearly as many of these traps here as there are up in New England.





That's about it for the pics, except for the Dragon photographers' pics and I may add a few from dad as I'm sure he has some good ones.

Zero performance awards, though I did get a warning "light up" at the Dragon.

Zero crashes, but I think my Tiger killed a squirrel.

Zero problems with my Tiger other than extreme heat off of the frame and engine while stuck in traffic in Maryville TN - avoid this town unless you like tourist traps (though they have a neat upside down museum, titanic replica, and large king kong).  It was +90° F and the Tiger became painfully hot.

Some of my route planning was overly ambitious and I had to redo some routes on the fly.  We did more than 500 miles a few days, which on East Coast mountain roads can mean 12-14hrs days.  I was glad that the Tiger was comfortable, and as a bonus it also returned +50mpg on three tanks.  

[canban]

Great write-up. What a great way to spend Father's Day week-end. Ancestral history a real bonus.

Is your Dad's rig a rolling "General Store", because of the family history?

[Rincewind]

Great write-up. What a great way to spend Father's Day week-end. Ancestral history a real bonus.

Is your Dad's rig a rolling "General Store", because of the family history?

I give him a hard time about using a trailer, too.  We could have dug up and brought home a few ancestral bodies in that thing.  He just loves it, and for long touring 2-up they use it thoroughly.  

[canban]

I give him a hard time about using a trailer, too.  We could have dug up and brought home a few ancestral bodies in that thing.  He just loves it, and for long touring 2-up they use it thoroughly.  

We can make fun all we want, but hey he is out there....

Also on principle I object to kids giving their Dad's a hard time

[MrsCablebandit]

Great report, Rince! I just LOVE that pan shot above the Seneca Rocks picture...the one with the shadow. Awesome!!!

[Rincewind]

Thanks, MrsCB.  Not all of the panographics came out as good as that one, especially if I don't line up the stitch exact or if the lighting levels change a lot between shots.  

I use a $1.99 iPhone app called Pano to make them - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pano/id293709029?mt=8

[dan88z]

looks like you guys had a great trip! My wife and I are following a similar path in July, though we're starting from the south end and coming north. She's doing TN/NC/Dragon area with 2 girlfriends then heading to Charleston SC where her family lives. I'm riding down to Charleston to meet her, spending a couple days there, then back into the NC mountains and taking 4-5 days winding our way north. Rt 28, Dragon, Cherahola, BRP then some slab to WV where we'll hit a lot of the roads you posted pics of.

Where did you stay in Beckley? That'll be one of our overnight stops.

[Rincewind]

Where did you stay in Beckley? That'll be one of our overnight stops.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn.  That was the only night we got to our hotel by dinner, so we ate at the adjacent Texas Steakhouse and then had time to see the New River Gorge Bridge.  

Have a good time in July.  It's such a beautiful area with the mountains and twisty roads.  Most of the people in the South, particularly NC, are very friendly.  Many times we had courteous pull-overs to allow us to zoom by.  This was contrasted heavily for me when I was riding back home yesterday and got stuck behind a small ass pirate parade in PA that was traveling 5-10mph below the speed limit for many miles, with cars and trucks bunching up behind them.  I got unnecessarily pissed at them.  

[MrsCablebandit]

I got unnecessarily pissed at them, and rightfully so!  

FTFY.  

[DosEquis00]

Excellent report Alex! What was your impression of Route 16? I missed it last visit and will do my best to see it this year.

[ConPilot1]

Nice pics. Your Dad's luxo-land-barge rig is pretty impressive.

Looks like a good time.  

[Rincewind]

Excellent report Alex! What was your impression of Route 16? I missed it last visit and will do my best to see it this year.

Hey Gary - too bad this is not a big cross-country report like your last one.  I wish!

You should do WV/VA Route 16 someday.  The WV part is very fun and mountainous.  It is a fairly well frequented local road - it's not that traffic is bad at all, and most of those WV'ers know how to drive and hold corner speeds, but it's a big surprise to find a coal semi-truck grill coming at you after one of the blind corners.  It seems like so many of the corners are blind, but that's the East Coast for you.  The route cuts through many WV towns and this part of Southern WV is having a hard time economically, so many buildings are in poor condition while others are abandoned or half-burned to the ground.  There are lots of old mining operations, as well as still functioning ones as pictured above.  It gives you a real taste of WV.

Once you get into VA south of Tazewell, Route 16 again becomes quite twisty and the road tightly weaves up and down over a handful of mountains in the Hungry Mother Park area.  The one thing that I did not like about this part of Rt 16 is that the side of the road was usually finished in gravel, which means that cars/trucks that cut the corner bring that gravel onto the road creating occasional hazards.  On most of the other roads that we traveled, the road sides were only grass or other plants, which meant very nice and clean corners.

We continued on Route 16 into the Cherokee National Forest, where it continues to be a fun though less tight road (also less traveled).  From there we connected with Route 58 West, AKA: Daniel Boone Trail, Jeb Stuart Highway, 'The Mighty Python'.  This is also a fun road.  

[1moreroad]

Thanks for the photos

[R Doug]

Great photos.  I've never run across Mast General Store in my travels.  I love the fact you and your dad get together for a Father's Day ride.  I'm glad it was a good one.

I see where your love of sport touring gadgets comes from.  

[garry]

Very nice trip report Alex. I've been all over those same roads. No doubt you had a great ride.

[garry]

What was your impression of Route 16? I missed it last visit and will do my best to see it this year.

16 is one of the best long roads in WV. It starts out a bit mellow at the Ohio River, but gets good once you cross route 50 at Ellenboro. 16 rocks hard all the way south to I-79 and it is still pleasant to Gauley Bridge (jct 60). I would take 60 past Hawks Nest to 19 rather than 16 at that point. Then it sucks through Beckley. Things get going again south of Pineville with the Welch to War section being a standout (after suffering through downtown Welch). Soon you hit the famous Tazewell to Marion section ("Back of the Dragon). Then it mellows to sweepers as Alex notes over Mt Rogers.

Because of the suckage around Beckley, I ride either the part north of Gauley Bridge or south of Pineville. I haven't found a nice/fast way to connect the two sections, but you could do worse than take 60 to (almost) Rainelle, turn around hit the awesome mtn section again, then take SR-41 into Beckley. Then aim for Twin Oaks State Park en route to Pineville.

[Rincewind]

Very nice trip report Alex. I've been all over those same roads. No doubt you had a great ride.

Thanks, Garry.  I used some of the GPS route info that you had emailed to me a few months ago.  However, for some reason the Day 1 South thru WV did not hold to the route completely.  I'm not sure what had happened that some of the route was recalculated to interstate after awhile.  Next time I will hard-input more waypoints to avoid that from happening.

[Orson]

Beautiful pictures and a nice lookin' Triumph  


"Dad's office"   holy kwap!  

[Rincewind]

Some additional pics are trickling in from my dad.  

Route 16



Mural in WV or VA



Riding thru Backbone Rock Tunnel in TN

[Cablebandit]

Mural in WV or VA

That mural is in Welch, WV.

[sammyseaman]

Nice! You and your pops are very fortunate to be able to share a love of bikes

[nnjhawk02]

Nice RR, great pics.  Was ur Dad an Astronaut?  Dude that Wing has so many buttons & whistles.  Hell I still write out my routes, LOL

And thanks for the road report as I'm planning on hitting WVa in a few weeks, looking like 16 to 60 is part of my plan.

[ConPilot1]

Pops looks like he's good for a few clams judging from the pics of the digs and the '12 farkled up Wing-rig.  

[1000lbs]

Nice ride report   the Tiger sounds like its working out great.  I was hoping to hit some of the same roads on my east coast visit, but our annual road trip has transformed into a golf trip

Thanks for the pics, at least now I can show the rabid golfers what they gave up while they bitch about their swings lol.

[Kneescrubber]

 






I miss riding with my Dad.    Enjoy it a relish for as long as you and your Dad can.  

[Smoker]

Great trip Alex. Thanks for sharing.  

[DosEquis00]

Alex and Garry.

Mega thanks for the information and pictures on Route 16 as it has been on my to visit list for too long.

[scottzilla]

Nice!

[Rincewind]

I'm glad to see the pics are back up after they had been put offline for exceeding bandwidth.  Sorry about that, I don't have a Photobucket Pro account.  Here are some more pics from the Dragon and some from my dad.

Our run on the Tail of the Dragon was late on a Friday.  Unfortunately we didn't have anything near a clean run of it.  Fortunately, our runs on the Snake and many other roads were clear and unhindered.  The BRP at 6am was very clear of traffic.









And some more riding pics...





The Tiger 800 is a hot bike and I found myself standing to air things out often.















Dad said - NO! - to this gravel shortcut.    He is usually more game to that, but I guess not in WV.





Old pics of the Mast General Store

[Mastros2]

Great report Rincewind!  

The killboy photo of your dad is priceless. Check out that smile!

[nevinfs327]

Nice report and pics of great roads.  And congrats on the new bike    There's one in my neighborhood and my wife often comments on the passenger accommodations.  I prefer the more nimble Striple myself, but suppose I could give the T800 a try.

[Rincewind]

Nice report and pics of great roads.  And congrats on the new bike    There's one in my neighborhood and my wife often comments on the passenger accommodations.  I prefer the more nimble Striple myself, but suppose I could give the T800 a try.

Thanks, Nevin.  I would still have my Street Triple R if it had passed the 24k service without issue.  As it was I had a torn piece of rubber in the secondary air injection system.  Because Triumph is shifting supply warehouses, it was going to be at least 2-weeks lead time for Hermy's to get that part, which would have prevented this trip or caused me to borrow a bike.  Rather than that, I was able to swing a trade for this 2012 Tiger 800 ABS. 

I looked briefly at the new 2012 StripleR in red, and the Striple in Imperial Purple , but didn't really make a move on those.  While I really appreciate the engine and handling of the Street Triple, I'm even more pleased with all the practical features of the T800 which make it a better fit for me.  Even though my wife has her own bike to ride, the Tiger has tempted her back to riding 2-up with me on occasion and she likes it loads more than the Striple.

[Eric308]

Great report and fantastic Dad/son adventure. I went to school in Banner Elk just down the road from Valle Crucis....(just slightly after those old pics were taken) When I was there there was virtually no development and we used to hike to the top of Beech Mountain when it was still a virgin.

[Jay S.]

It's funny to me that you posted some of the most beautiful riding scenes out there yet the photo that stands out in my mind is "Dad's Office."

Love it!

Excellent report and pics, thanks for sharing!

[lcon2]

I was wondering, do you still have problems with excessive heat coming off the frame? Very interested in the tiger, but i too felt the bike ran hot when i demoed it last week. Surprisingly the street did not seem to run as "hot", harder working engine and all...go figure. Have you found a solution to the tiger's frame getting hot, or are you just learning to live with it?

Thanks

[Rincewind]

I was wondering, do you still have problems with excessive heat coming off the frame? Very interested in the tiger, but i too felt the bike ran hot when i demoed it last week. Surprisingly the street did not seem to run as "hot", harder working engine and all...go figure. Have you found a solution to the tiger's frame getting hot, or are you just learning to live with it?

Thanks

Hi Icon2.  The Tiger 800 remains a hot bike when the weather is above 85-90 degrees F.  I have around 4000 miles on the bike now and the heat may have lessened, but I suspect I'm just more used to it.  I have not been stuck in traffic as badly as I was once on this trip, when the frame felt searing through my riding jeans as I had my foot down.   For my riding and commuting when in hot weather, I find it rather tolerable.  

The Street Triple does not trap as much heat, you are right; however, in slow traffic conditions on very hot days it can become a hot potato as well.  They both produce plenty of heat.  My wife test rode my Tiger on a hot day and was also really turned off by the hot air as compared to her Gladius.  If I lived in a consistently hot climate the T800's heat might be bothersome, but I don't think it's that bad and likely better than a great many bikes.