Virginia Run: Squirrel Hunting!

So with the Avons being fitting on Saturday in Winston, I figured I might as well take advantage of the weather and get some riding in. Being close to VA, I decided to do some research on roads up that way and plan a route.

I had been hearing alot of good stuff on a road called "Squirrel Spur." Many riders have mentioned its tight corners, great scenery and wide shoulders. So I spent a couple hours on Friday night, waiting on paint to dry, playing on S&T planning a route. Keeping in mind that I wouldn't be on the road till lunch time at best, I kept the route short. I found another road online called, Willis Mountain Rd, that looked to be alot of fun as well so I did what I could to tie it in.

Here is what I came up with. This is a copy of my tank map.


So before I headed up to Va, I made a run down to Salisbury and back to pick up a kick stand for one of the mechanics there at the shop. This gave me an opportunity to get some miles and heat in the tires to get rid of those dreaded oils and release agents.
The trip took me up Hwy 66, which one of my old roommates had told me about. He warned me that it was a bit rough but still a nice road. He was correct, it was beat up in many places, but with a resurfacing and some shoulder work, this road could be a hoot. It wound its way up to Hwy 89 which turned out to be a great road. Full of twists of varying degree, some sweepers some tight, a bit of everything really. I wouldn't mind finding my way on to that road again.
From 89 I ended up on 103 and I decided to pull over at a gas station for a soda to perk up a bit. I stopped at a "Neighbors" gas station inside this small town. Went inside looking for a Cheerwine, and to my surprise they had it in glass bottles! Went up to the register and handed the lady my card. She quickly ran it through and the machine beeped at her. She complained about the "antique" equipment and said she needed to slow down for it. I laughed and then said said that the computer was running Windows 95 and their Internet was still on dial-up! No sooner than she got that out, I heard the machine dialing out! I haven't heard that sound in years. Then she told me that the two islands (4 pumps), credit card machine and phone line in the store are all on the same line! That store desperately needs an update.
I took my glass bottled Cheerwine outside, checked my bags and cleaned my visor and windshield. One of the locals was looking at the bike and commented about something. Hard to understand a 80 year old man with a mouth full of chew. I laughed and smiled, having no idea what he said. Finished my Cheerwine and headed on.
Off of 103, I made a left onto Unity Church Rd. which led to Squirrel Spur. Unity was a small farm road back in the rolling hills of Mt. Airy. It was a rather nice ride, and I wish I would have stopped for some pictures. Off in the distance you could see the mountain range coming up. A few miles later I came up to the intersection at Squirrel Spur. The road was narrow, the shoulder was busted up and the road was rough. I was bit confused. I eased my way up and to my surprise the pavement changed, there was a fresh asphalt and new guard rails and the corners got tight! It turned out to be one heck of a road. I was really enjoying it and I would love to get back there soon.
The road went back to crap again and the shoulder disappeared. A few more miles of this and I was up to the parkway. I rode the parkway up to hwy 58, which was all too familiar from a ride earlier this year. From 58 I took Hwy 8 north to Tuggle's Gap. I pushed the bike a bit in the corners here to see how the Avons felt. I was honestly too darn worried about the slick stuff and didn't get a good judgement of the tire condition to make an honest call on them. But they did well, and the bike never slid. Transition from corner to corner felt a bit different from M3's but other than that, they did well. A quick stop at Tuggle's to clean my visor again, the bugs were out in full force, and I was off back down the parkway to 58 again. This time I headed west on 58 to catch 52 South. I stopped for a quick picture, as the sun was not as harsh any more.
58 west to 52 south was rather uneventful. I was watching the skies closely as looked as though I might be getting wet. Which would be perfect since I didn't pack the rain gear... Once on 52 I was found my way back to the parkway to head north looking for Willis Mtn Rd. Several miles in I was starting to think I might have missed it so I found a wide spot at an intersection to turn around. Turns out that was the intersection was for Willis! The lighting was rather dark, but the woods looked pretty cool, so I stopped to get some more pictures.


Jordan's response to the last picture. "Would it kill you to smile or were you trying to be tough?"
I am sure I was rather amusing to the people that passed by as I was stacking rocks to set the camera on. I had to get the camera up about 6 inches so that the road was not half of the shot.

Willis Road was nice, it was a bit rough and too populated to really feel comfortable on, in my opinion. Some nice small houses off this road with a good sized trucking company at the end. The road didn't put me out where I thought I would be, so I 'winged it' and just went right. Some how I got lucky and went the right direction which put me on 104 which led to 103 and 52. There at the intersection of 104 and 103 there was some huge play ground. I mean this thing was massive! I am sure if Jordan was with me, we would have stopped, lol.


I found my way back to 52 and set a path home. It was getting late and I was hungry. ~360 miles later I was back in Lexington. This included the ride from Lexington to Winston, and then from Winston to Salisbury and back to Winston. I am planning on getting back up that way soon to do some more exploring.


-bryan

New Tires: A Comparison

When I first got the FZ6, Dad put a set of Metzler M3's on. The bike has a 5.5 inch wide rear wheel, which calls for a 180. The previous owner had a 160 on there when he traded it in, so in order to fill up the rear end of the bike, a 190 was put on. While there seems to be a big issue on one of the forums about running the 190 vs. the 180, I didn't feel that the handling was slow or sluggish. However with that peaky tire that the M3's seem to be it was hard to get that last half inch of the tire on the pavement.

I have gone through one rear M3, which was replaced this past summer and one front M3 which was replaced in October. I am coming up on needing a new rear which currently has roughly 5500 miles on it. The first rear M3 got roughly 6600 miles out of it and the front M3 I think I had around 10,000 miles on it. However, it was really low on tread, chords were not showing though.

At first I was planning on putting a new 180 M3 on the rear so that I could get the "goody" out of the front as well. However, judging by the previous tires, it looks as though I will need new front and rear tires in late summer/early fall. Seeing that could be a bad time, Dad and I decided to go ahead and put new rubber on all the way around. This time, a set of Avon Storms will fitted onto the FZ.

Some info on the M3's:

The M3's were really good tires and I have nothing really to complain about them. They had awesome wet weather traction and really moved the water. One day on the way home from class, a large thunderstorm had moved in and put down alot of water. So much so that a few local streets were underwater. When making my way through the pools on one particular street, I could feel the sheets of water being thrown up on my legs as the tread moved it away from the contact patch! As for the traction, it was outstanding for my slightly aggressive riding. In one case, which I mentioned on another blog entry. [See "Labor Day Ride"] The roads were wet heading up 181, and I decided to see at what point the tires would let go in the rain. It wasn't the smartest idea, but I found out where the tires let go, which was well past where I was comfortable in the rain! The only down fall I can point about the tires was that when they were cold, they really did not work well. In that they would dart off uneven pavement, such as repair patches in the road. Those slight edges would make the front end dart around. My only reason for switching is that I want to get some more miles of a set of tires... I would love to see 10,000 miles, but we shall see.

On Saturday I will be taking the bike up to Winston to Forsyth Motosports to have the new tires fitted. From there I plan on taking a nice little ride up into Virginia to put some miles on them. While these roads are mostly twisty, I do not plan on pushing it at all as the tires will be slick. I just want to get some heat in them and get some miles on the bike while the sun is out this weekend. Sunday looks to be a wash out...

Ok, so with the help of the mechanics at the shop I was able to mount the Avons on Saturday. Once this was completed I rode the bike from Winston to Salisbury to pick up an adjustable kick stand for a customers bike, and then rode back to Winston. This was a good a way to get some heat in the tires and get them scuffed a bit.

Side note: Those Avons were some kinda slick from the factory! I mean extreamly shinny!

Once I got back to Winston, I headed north into Virgina to put some miles on the tires. I never really pushed the bike hard because I was too worried about the slick edges and such on the tires. So subconsiously I felt as though the tires werent holding as well as the M3's did, but that really isnt a fair statement. I will wait an make the final call on that on my next ride.

I put a little over 300 miles on the tires Saturday and they rode really well. They rode well, and under an emergency stopping situation they seemed to do very well. I am impressed at this point with them . We will see how they hold up for the long haul as the summer goes on.

A great looking rear tire! It seems to be just as wide as my 190 M3 was, but not near as tall. This picture was taken at the shopafter I came back from Salisbury.

-bryan

RTE Asheville, NC.

This past February I joined a forum in which I have browsed from time to time, the MTF. (Motorcycle Tourer's Forum) http://www.mctourer.com/ Since I joined I have come to realize that I am pretty much a panzie when it comes to putting miles on the bike. My typical 350 mile days are nothing compared to some of the riders on this forum.

There is one particular section within this forum that is called the "MTF Lunch Bunch" which is where a member will host a lunch ride some where. Riders will come from near and far depending on who all will be there just for lunch! One night when I was browsing the pages before bed, I noticed that someone was hosting a RTE (Ride to Eat) in Asheville, NC. We'll that isn't too far away, so I marked it on my calendar and posted that I would likely be able to make this. Unfortunately, this was scheduled for a Saturday so Dad would not be able to make it. In addition to this he would be leaving that afternoon to head to Florida to my grandfather.

I had asked Jordan if she would like to ride with me up there to experience this. Jordan, always up for an adventure, unless she has plans to go to the beach, was game. I spent the weekend before the ride working on the bike and in particular the luggage rack. I added an aluminum plate with a few notches in the back of it so that it would offer a more secure mounting setup for my large Nelson Rigg tail bag. In addition to this I replaced the clutch cable since on the last ride, it was starting to pop alot and it was about at the end of its adjustment.

On this forum I had noticed that one of the members happens to live right down the road from me, roughly a mile or so. I shot him an email asking if he was planning on attending and if he would like to ride together. In addition to this, Grizz, another member in Shelby was up in the air if he would be able to go or not. Fortunately at the last minute, seriously the night before, he had a change of plans and was able to make it. My roommate, Josh, and Jon who has rode with us before, decided to come along as well.

Now let me just say that at this point I wasn't too sure about the whole sport bike and Gold Wing thing, seeing as how most of all the other bikes we would be riding with were Wings'. Boy was I ever surprised....

8:00 am Saturday April 4th, the Sun came up a bit quick for all of us in the house and we were a bit late meeting up with the group at a local fuel stop. We dismounted, shook hands along with introductions and headed off. Due to traffic, we had got split up on 49 before we got on 85. However I just purchased a longer CB antenna for my bike. Boy was I glad I did that! The range of my radio more than doubled! I was able to talk to Mike when he was on 85 and we were still a mile or so out! After a quick hustle down 85 were back together and headed towards Shelby, NC to meet up with Grizz and a few other riders for breakfast.

We stopped at a nice little hole in the wall restaurant just inside Shelby and sat down for a nice warm breakfast. At this point, Jordan was freezing, I didn't realize it was going to be so cold that morning. Well, after breakfast, she still hadn't warmed up and some of the Wing guys had noticed this. Several of the riders were asking Jordan if she wanted to ride on the back with them. Each guy, had a different and funny way of trying to get her on the bike of their bike. It was rather amusing. She kindly declined, but we laughed about it for the rest of the day.

After some miles we ended up in Lake Lure. Knowing this road pretty well, and since we were in the rear of the group I got on the radio and told Mike that we would hang back there beside the lake and then take off up the road to catch them. He informed me they would be stopped up at the top, just look for them. Jon had recently got a camera for his bike, so he took a couple minutes to get it ready and then we took off. Josh took point with Jon following and Jordan and I bringing up the rear. Some how this turned out to be the best pass up this road we have ever had. The only car came after we had been through the best section.

I will be sure to try and get Jon's footage and post it up when I get it.

The group had pulled off in a nice store front/hotel area there next to the lake. Mike was standing by the road waving at us, yet Josh still missed it...




Mike Brown took some time telling Jordan about some of the history of Lake Lour which included some filming locations for movies such as "The Last of The Mohican's" and "Dirty Dancing." Grizz, and I spent some time chatting about various things including the Florida trip we all took last spring. Mike decided it would be best to put miles on the bike rather B.S. in the air and we got moving again. However, no stop would be complete with out someone asking Jordan if she want to ride with them. This time it was Mike, his response was great. "You wanna ride on the back of the heated barka lounger?" I couldn't stop laughing. Jordan smiled, laughed and declined, to which I informed her that at some point she should take a ride on a Wing. Josh and Jon took point, with Kieth, the deputy sheriff right behind, lol. However the didn't get very far, my pokey magnet had apparently kicked in and in full force. It held up the entire group, and I was in the back. Jordan kept giving me crap about it...

A bit later we pulled into the Ruby Tuesday in Asheville, NC. There was about 17 of us in total there that afternoon and an 18th rolled in a bit later. The staff there was very nice and did a great job handling our large group. Hats off to them.

Josh, Jon, Jordan and I sat with Jim. He had rode up from Atlanta to have lunch with the group. Josh and Jon couldn't get over the fact that he rode all that way just to have lunch and then go back home. Turns out that Jim and his wife were professors at Virgina Tech, however after the tragic shooting to which a couple of their students were killed they had moved down to Atlanta. We talked briefly about this subject as it was interesting hearing about someones first hand experience versus what the media portrays. We talked about other things from bikes, mad cow disease and a few drunk college jokes. We all had a good time.

After lunch Grizz let me throw a leg over his ST 1300. It was a nice bike, however with my long legs I didn't fit to well. Jordan and I then moved on to Mike's wing. Jordan fell in love with the "Barka Lounger" and felt that she would probably fall asleep on the back of that thing. Mike tried his hardest to get her to ride with him, but with no luck. Maybe next time.

We headed out, working our way home. Kevinwanted to head down Black Mountain, which was a rather interesting choice. We all got a bit split up as we headed down. Father like Son, once I got rolling I didn't want to touch the brakes so Josh and Jon followed suit and we headed on down around the others. Kevin, the one with the badge, set sail from the get go so we met him at the bottom and the rest of the group gathered up about a mile out and we stopped for fuel just inside Marion.

Kevin forgot to turn on his radio after we fueled so he kept missing the roads we thought we should be heading down off I-40. Josh and Jon couldn't take too much more of the highway stuff, so they pulled off and went twisty hunting and Grizz had pulled off on 226 to head on home as well. Kevin, Mike, Bill, Greg, Jordan and I continued on and got off 40 on Hwy 18. This was a nice little road and after a bit we pulled off a cool country store to get a soda and sit on the porch.

I couldn't get a picture of the store front and the sun was directly behind it. I am sure I will be back by there sometime especially with Jordan. She really like that store, it was full of random stuff that she likes. We sat on the porch for a bit joking around and laughing before we headed back to the bikes and headed home.

Once we got back to 74 and 85, Jordan and I separated from the group and headed home. We all waved bye as we crossed over each other on the overpass. When Jordan and I pulled into the driveway we had 303 miles on the clock. It was a beautiful day with some great riding and we met some really nice people who I hope to ride with again soon. They made us "young kids" feel extremely welcome. We will be sure to participate again in the next "local" RTE and even have plans of hosting an RTE ourselves. Jordan really likes downtown Asheville, so she has a couple places in mind...

Thanks again for the wonderful ride, we look forward to seeing you all soon!

(Sorry for forgetting names and if I got your name wrong. I am horrible with names, so please let me know if I messed up.)

Aunt Chris Goes For A Ride

The week after spring break, my Aunt Chris, (Mom's Sister) came down for a visit from Wisconsin. Yes, there was still snow on the ground up there, and from the sounds of it, they are about to get more! [It is for this reason that I enjoy living in the south.]

Mom took some time off work and took her to Myrtle Beach for a day and to the Biltmore house on another to visit their cousin. In addition to this we had planned on taking Aunt Chris on a bike ride to show her some more of the great NC/TN mountains that we really enjoy.

I came home early Saturday afternoon with all the needed gear and such from my house to ensure that Aunt Chris had the proper riding attire. In addition to this we needed to swap headsets around in a couple helmets. Dad and I have become pretty good at this in the past year or two, so that was just a 10 minute job.

We started out Sunday morning at a fairly low temperature, Aunt Chris was comfortable. We headed up 52 to Hwy 64 to make our way west. After spending some time making our way down 64 we pulled into a Bojangles for some coffee to warm up and to put some extra layers on. It was still rather cold. We decided to ditch our original plan to head west towards 421 to ride, "The Snake" but rather go further north to VA up old 52 and then back road around.

Well at this point, Mom and Aunt Chris had switch bikes so this time Mom was on the back with me. Little was she aware that the next stop would atop old 52... We pulled off once we got close to make the cameras were ready and working. I took the point leading out, I warned mom about moving around the back and to be sure she kept here self rigid, as small movements would not be a good thing on this bike and that road. Granted she already knew this from riding with Dad for several thousand miles, but I wanted to make sure she knew.

Traffic cleared out nicely before we got to the run, the second lane opened up so I took the left lane and headed up. The road was nice and clean and traffic was minimal, a few cars here and there, but with the double lane set up it was not a problem at all.

Mom never said a word up the mtn, she just sat back there not moving at all. At one point we had to dodge a hose or something in the road which through off my line a bit, but no worries. Once at the top where it straightened out, I said, "Now that wasn't so bad." There was no response. I looked back, she was still on the back... Finally she said something to the effect of, "I was just trying to keep still."

I pulled into the gas station at the top, Dad had pulled around to the front so that he could record Mom's reaction as she got the bike. It was great. (Video Link Below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6eg2TbMPEs

She said she was fine, but I dunno. We ate at the Lake View Restaurant, which I swear does not over look a lake...

Aunt Chris climbed back on the FZ after lunch and we got up on the parkway. We rode the parkway for a good bit and stopped at a couple overlooks.

We talked with another rider for a few minutes that that particular overlook. He was riding a V-strom 650, which is rather cool bike. He talked about riding on dirt roads with in and it was his daily commuter as well. Which was surprising because the bike was in amazing shape to the miles he had on it and to be a commuter. He had his young daughter with him, they were just out enjoying the day and the mountains. Dad took a few pictures for him and they headed back down the mountain.

We saddled up again, continuing our ride down the parkway towards Station's Inn. We stopped there so the cameras could be adjusted. While Station's Inn wasn't open for the season yet there were still a few riders there. We chatted for a few minutes with them and then set a path home down the mountain.

Back down 21 to Mocksville, then back across Hwy 64 and home. It was a great ride, a bit cold but nice to get out. Aunt Chris had a great time as well and has had a taste of the Appalachian, Street Bike Style.