Wimp and Hubcap's ride to middle Tennessee

[hubcapsc]

I headed off yesterday morning to meet Wimp at Tellico Plains. I brought him
a final drive to use next time he changes tires.

A way I like to get to Tellico Plains involves heading over to Clayton Georgia on 76, then
up to Hayesville NC on 64 and then through Coker Creek in Tennessee. A few years ago
I realized there was an easy way to bypass Hiawassee on the way to Hayesville...



Today I bypassed Murphy too... 



So... instead of heavy traffic through the walmart section of Murphy, I got...









I got to Tellico Plains around noon:fifteen and Wimp and I headed out on 30 towards
McMinnville TN. A bug gave up his life on the lens cover of my GoPro, so I didn't
get many pictures of that...



We got to McMinnville and scoped out a few motels. In real life we ranked them
oppositely from how I ranked them when I looked at them on line, and we
got a park-at-your-door room at the Scottish Inn. Bill and Trish from (near)
Murfreesboro came over and we all ate a block or two away at Fouches restaurant.
Bill's Valkyrie is looking pretty good, I hope Allan doesn't find out Bill has
Cobra Radiator Sidecovers    ...

The weather told us it was going to be sketchy today (Sunday), 100% chance
of rain. And I left my rain gear in the red bike's saddlebags... We grabbed
breakfast at Fouches and headed off to see Rock Island falls... they come
right out of the side of the mountain...



You have to ride several miles down the road to get to the overlook on the other
side... from there you can hear that a ton of water is gooshing out below you
somewhere, but you can't see it... weird...

The Tennessee cops are behind the times...



We never had rain. We left Rock Island and headed down 70 to Crossville. We passed
a CVS and I went in and got a thin disposable plastic parka with a hoodie, the
kind that will fit in a shirt pocket before you unfold it. It did start
raining on us right after that, but we just ducked under a covered sidewalk since
we were still in town. We picked up 68 back toward Tellico Plains and split
up near the Watts Bar nuke plant. I headed back through Coker Creek and back
the way I'd come the previous day. Finally, ten miles or so from Clayton on 76
I hit big rain. As it came on, I put on my "rain gear", under my jacket. I used
the hoodie under my helmet, too. It was surprisingly effective. Cars
were pulling off the road with their flashers on. I kept on going, and my entire
upper body stayed dry, I never got cold or miserable. My gloves and arms got soaked
of course, and the tops of my legs, but I had my shins tucked in behind the
Valkyrie's minimal tupperware...

When I got home Carolyn had fried chicken and tea and salad  ...

-Mike

[Bigwolf]

Thanks for the ride report and photos.  Looks like you found some nice roads to bypass the towns.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Most excellent ! 

[mark81]

Always enjoy reading your ride reports. Don't think I've ever seen you post where pictures weren't involved.

[Thunderbolt]

Thanks Mike for the report and pics.  That light at the Walmart intersection sometimes takes forever doesn't it?  We have stayed at the RV park across from the Casino a couple of times.  Nice area. 
One thing worse than rain is hail.  I was headed back to Maggie Valley from Erwin Tn. on 26 and saw this very dark looking cloud on top of the next hill.  Well it turned out to be hail....I didn't know if I should stop or keep going.  But there was nothing to shield me from it as it began to bang off my helmet and arms/shoulders so I just kept going and in about a half mile as I crested the hill I ran out of it. 

[hubcapsc]

Don't think I've ever seen you post where pictures weren't involved.

... otherwise... it didn't happen!



-Mike

[hubcapsc]

Well it turned out to be hail....I didn't know if I should stop or keep going.

Sometimes the weather is too much to keep going and too much to stop.
I'm glad I kept going yesterday, a wet rat on the side of the road is already
whipped...

I gave out sets of O-Rings this weekend  I meant to
bring them to InZane, I got enough for about 75 tires...

-Mike

[robin]

Nice report Mike sorry i missed ya this year so far but the fall color is coming up :cooldude:thanks for the report

[msb]

Great report...those lonely open roads sure look inviting.  Thanks for posting   

[henry 008]

 

[Binkie]

So close....Tellico Plains is 12 miles from my place. Next time you should try 30 off of 64 and take to Reliance and take 315 up to 39 and into Tellico Plains. I love that route.

[..]

 

[hubcapsc]

So close....Tellico Plains is 12 miles from my place. Next time you should try 30 off of 64 and take to Reliance and take 315 up to 39 and into Tellico Plains. I love that route.

Its hard for me to remember you've moved out there... coordinating a ride
would fix that :-) ... you live down 360 now? I want to
go to Reliance, Wimp and I talked about it this trip...

-Mike

[..]

So close....Tellico Plains is 12 miles from my place. Next time you should try 30 off of 64 and take to Reliance and take 315 up to 39 and into Tellico Plains. I love that route.

Greasy Creek Rd. 

[Binkie]

Steer creek is another good one...  I always think of Santa when I go by Santa’s berry farm.

[Binkie]

Mike....maybe at the fall color ride we can ride over to reliance and return via Happy Valley.

[Savago]

Nice report!
 

[bill-jr]

Great to see ya’ll again . . .
Whips looking good in that Tennessee garb . . .
Thanks again for the Orings . . .
I was hoping ya’ll would stay dry . . .
Looks like rock island worked out and ya’ll had a good trip back . . .
Spent my sunday pulling my pumpkin out new orings and regreasing everything . .
Ya’lls talkin had me woried but they looked fine . . No rust no shavings and plenty of grease still in there

Oh . . How was breakfast at fouches ?!? The steak was pretty darn good . . .

[hubcapsc]

How was breakfast at fouches ?!?

They had grits. I'd go again. According to the daily
menu, Sunday's lunch was the fried chicken I'd hoped for...

-Mike

[Mr Whiskey]

Outstanding! 'Preciate the short cuts!
Rock Island Falls, one of our favs.
Great to see y'all havin' fun

[hubcapsc]

I was reading Mark81's post about messing with people by hitting their
kill switches at a red light... As I was chugging up 76 in the rain and
noticing that oncoming cars has their emergency flashers on, I remembered
the 1800 has an "emergency flashers" button. So I hit it. Oops. That was
the kill switch. Going uphill in fourth gear in the rain on a turned-off
motorcycle, even just for a second or two, was kind of exciting  ...

-Mike

[The emperor has no clothes]

I was reading Mark81's post about messing with people by hitting their
kill switches at a red light... As I was chugging up 76 in the rain and
noticing that oncoming cars has their emergency flashers on, I remembered
the 1800 has an "emergency flashers" button. So I hit it. Oops. That was
the kill switch. Going uphill in fourth gear in the rain on a turned-off
motorcycle, even just for a second or two, was kind of exciting  ...

-Mike

I bet it was !

[Jess from VA]

I was reading Mark81's post about messing with people by hitting their
kill switches at a red light... As I was chugging up 76 in the rain and
noticing that oncoming cars has their emergency flashers on, I remembered
the 1800 has an "emergency flashers" button. So I hit it. Oops. That was
the kill switch. Going uphill in fourth gear in the rain on a turned-off
motorcycle, even just for a second or two, was kind of exciting  ...

-Mike

When you reversed the kill switch, did you get a big backfire?

That's almost more exciting than the loss of power (especially to those close to you who may think you've opened fire).

I've done that a number of times (mostly with my wrist, when adjusting the right mirror).  I've learned it's a good idea to release the throttle before reversing the kill switch.  It cuts down on the POW!!.

I also think that is how I blew off (or in-two) a couple vacuum caps off my intake nipples (after a desmog).   

[msb]

I was reading Mark81's post about messing with people by hitting their
kill switches at a red light... As I was chugging up 76 in the rain and
noticing that oncoming cars has their emergency flashers on, I remembered
the 1800 has an "emergency flashers" button. So I hit it. Oops. That was
the kill switch. Going uphill in fourth gear in the rain on a turned-off
motorcycle, even just for a second or two, was kind of exciting  ...

-Mike

Had a similar experience although due to different circumstances a couple of years ago during a ride at Morgantown Inzane. Glue on my throttle grip melted and the grip came off in my hand just a I was torquing to go up a steep hill on a sharp 90+ degree turn. As you described, an "exciting" moment for sure  Somehow I was able to just react and grab the throttle tube itself (without dropping the grip), and maintain enough momentum to complete the turn and find a spot to pull over while still upright. As I recall I was getting a little tired as we headed back to the hotel after a long, hot run that day...wasn't an issue for the rest of the return ride after that...

[Flrider]

Great ride report and pics, you 1800 Valkyrie should be a great bike for those twisty roads.

It is great that you get to share some of the roads you find, been visiting the NC area for the last 8-9 years and I been getting to know some of the road most traveled, I need to start taking notes on this other roads so I can shake things up a bit.

Thanks for sharing