Dual-Sport Man Trip Photo Journal

[valkchik]

It's without any envy or hard feelings whatsoever that I bring to you the daily photo journal of the man trip to North Carolina.  The boys--Todd, Todd's brother Glenn, and Bob Mallory--started out on their annual man trip yesterday.  They took the same route that some of you took to Inzane:  Hwy. 301 to 441, then up through eastern GA and then NC. I hope to post some new pics every day.  Enjoy the ride!

DAY 1

Starting out at 6 am.  Look at all that gear!




Coffee relief break.




Lunch break.  Are we seeing a pattern here?




DAY 2

Breakfast at Fergusons Supply




With dual sports, they were able to sneak up the back way to Cataloochee Ski Resort at Maggie Valley. Definitely not a route for Valks.




Todd wanted to rub elbows with a celebrity, so they stopped by Cheyenne's Trading Post near Waynesville, NC. Cheyenne and his store are frequently featured on a cable show on the Destination America network, called Hillbilly Blood--A Hardscrabble Life (www.destinationamerica.com/tv-shows/hillbilly-blood). Too bad they weren't filming today.



.....More to come!

[billyboy]

Nice

[Thunderbolt]

Good job with the pics and the titles,labels.  We stopped at that store once ,for the same reason. But they weren't open.  I bet the guys had to put on extra long underwear yesterday.

[valkchik]

They ran into the cold front north of Brooksville and yes, it was cooler than they thought it would be. Todd donned his rain gear to keep warm.  They did get to talk to Cheyenne who told them some funny stories about the show. He said they just missed seeing Eugene by 5 mins. If you watch the show then you've seen the guy they call Cowboy, who has the pet squirrel that runs around on his shoulder. Cheyenne said that guy played one of the predatory hillbillies in the movie "Deliverance." So when Mast General Store sells tshirts that say "Paddle faster, I hear banjo music!" ... they're not kidding!

[flsix]

What a great way to spend a week or so in cool fall weather.

[Flrider]

Great pics ! 

Thanks for sharing their trip with the rest of us who wish we would be doing the same thing 

Keep those pics coming

[Pappy!]

Cant wait to get back up there!!

[HayHauler]

Thanks for taking us along for the ride.  Looking forward to updates.
Looks like 2 are on Kawasakis and one is on a Honda?  Just curious as I am looking for a Dual Sport bike myself.

Hay 
Jimmyt

[valkchik]

Hey, Hay. All 3 bikes are Kawasaki KLR 650's, just different years. From a passenger's point of view, I can't say enough good things about that bike. We bought ours in 2007 and for the couple years we lived in NC, it took us on hundreds of miles of gravel/paved back roads and never left us stranded. You'll have to talk to the menfolk about its other attributes, but I know they would never part with those bikes.  

[larue]

 Thanks for sharing

[IamGCW]

Nice. 

Why not join us in Brooksville Saturday? 

Gil

[Tundra]

Looks like a blast, Thanks for sharing Penny.
 I know Todd doesn't do computers, could you ask him if he knows anything about this bike?

Its a "Suzuki DRZ 400 SM"

 I'm leaning real hard in this direction, I like the single cylinder 4 valve engine (same as his) except his is 650cc. I like the Super Moto with the inverted forks and road tires. I think this would be the best of both worlds for me. All those back roads I want to explore and won't take my Valk, no problem and no polishing.
  Anyone else know something about these bikes feel free to jump in.
Several guys I work with in our maintenance shop ride these and I think I'm getting the bug.

[valkchik]

Sadly I'll have nothing more to post until the boys arrive home later today because, as you know, Todd has a hate-hate relationship with all things electronic and sending trip photos on his phone was causing too much frustration. *sigh* So will post more pics later.

Doug, I will ask him about that bike. Those three guys spend endless hours talking about the "adventure" bikes and staring at photos in mags. But at least if he's doing that he's not checking out any Victoria's Secret catalogs that arrive.  Hmmm ... or is he merely hiding them behind moto mag?  

[Pappy!]

Tundra - To sum that bike up in one word..........excellent!
They are lightweight, powerful, maneuverable, reliable as the day is long, and will cruise at highway speeds all day long if needed.
If I go that route it is on the very short list.

[Bronxboy]

I like them as well, but this one looks a bit small

[valkchik]

Still haven't mined the remainder of the trip photos from Todd's phone so the rest of the photo journal is a fail, but I do have a response to Tundra's question about the bike in the photo:

Todd's response:  That bike is a super motard. Big difference between that and the KLR. The motard shown in that pic is made for street riding only. Would be great on the Parkway in the mountains but not on the gravel roads and hill-climbing we were doing on our trip.  The seat would be very uncomfortable for anything more than short rides. But the motard would be very fast and nimble. If you are looking for a true dual-sport that can be used on- or off-road, I recommend the KLR of course or the Suzuki DR 650.

[Tundra]

 Thanks for your replies.
The one I was looking at has two sets of wheels/tires, street and dirt. I believe the only other difference between the DRZ and the DRZ SM is the inverted forks for better road handling and signals/lighting to make street legal.