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- Week Alabama, it's not like they said!
- Thread starter klaviator
- Start date
A little way down the road I turned off again to check out another gravel road and found this little waterfalls.
I came to a gate and turned around.
Also cruising around:
Fontana Resort:
There are other twisty roads in the area besides the dragon.
I came to a gate and turned around.
Also cruising around:
Fontana Resort:
There are other twisty roads in the area besides the dragon.
I headed through the Joyce Kilmer Forest and pulled over when I saw three guys on KTMs stopped by the lake. They were from tampa and were riding the Smokey Mountain 500.
We talked a bit and I took their pic.
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I continued on and rode the "Gravohala"
I explored a side road I hadn't ridden before. I wasn't surprised when I came to a closed gate.
We talked a bit and I took their pic.
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I continued on and rode the "Gravohala"
I explored a side road I hadn't ridden before. I wasn't surprised when I came to a closed gate.
FLrider
Well-known member
Are those gated roads private or forest? And what would happen if you took that obvious ride around the gate? 
It's National Forest. I have heard the fines are hefty. I don't plan on finding out. I'm pretty sure If I went around the gate I would come to a dead end and not find anything exciting.Are those gated roads private or forest? And what would happen if you took that obvious ride around the gate?
NFS. And, nevermind the Feds. They’s some locals who defend the access rules also. You don’t even want to…. Deliverance could look like a church picnic.Are those gated roads private or forest? And what would happen if you took that obvious ride around the gate?
I continued my ride on the gravohala. Since I was by myself I could stop whenever I felt like taking some pics.
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Even though I have taken hundreds of pics of Bald River Falls I had to stop and take one more.
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Even though I have taken hundreds of pics of Bald River Falls I had to stop and take one more.
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I stopped at subway and picked up a sandwich for dinner and took it back to the campground. I ate dinner and then wandered around talking to people. I set up a ride for the next day. I met a lot of folks and I wish I could remember all their names but.....at least I remember a few.
Here's a few.
Michael on the left is a Canadian who had been on the road riding around the US for 5 months. His ride report is here: https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/...d-cowboy-stadium-what-could-go-wrong.1527233/
On the right is Jack who had been into iron butt riding but had recently downsized to smaller bikes.
The next morning we met at the Exxon in Tellico. We had 8 riders and a mix of bikes.
From the left: Kenny, Michael, Doug, Dave, Doug, Jack and Garrett.
As you can see we had a mic of bikes. In the pic above are 2 CRF300 rallies, Buell Ulysses, XT250 (hidden) and V Strom 1000.
The rest of the bikes are here:
We had bikes ranging from 250 to 1200cc. The only one in this group I had ever ridden with before was Dave. We headed down Rafter Road. Since the riding skills of this group was an unknown I ran a slower than normal pace but fast enough to be fun.
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Here's a few.
Michael on the left is a Canadian who had been on the road riding around the US for 5 months. His ride report is here: https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/...d-cowboy-stadium-what-could-go-wrong.1527233/
On the right is Jack who had been into iron butt riding but had recently downsized to smaller bikes.
The next morning we met at the Exxon in Tellico. We had 8 riders and a mix of bikes.
From the left: Kenny, Michael, Doug, Dave, Doug, Jack and Garrett.
As you can see we had a mic of bikes. In the pic above are 2 CRF300 rallies, Buell Ulysses, XT250 (hidden) and V Strom 1000.
The rest of the bikes are here:
We had bikes ranging from 250 to 1200cc. The only one in this group I had ever ridden with before was Dave. We headed down Rafter Road. Since the riding skills of this group was an unknown I ran a slower than normal pace but fast enough to be fun.
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We stopped in Rafter. From there we would ride a loop that came back to Rafter. Part of that loop had some mud and was rutted out and might prove a bit much for some of the riders on big bikes. As I mentioned earlier I had never ridden with most of these riders and didn't know their skill level. I told them if it got too rough just turn around and wait for us in rafter.
We rode the loop and all but one rode it. The one guy who turned around did it after having ridden the hardest part so he ended up riding the hard part twice!
I was too busy riding so I didn't get any pics until we were back on easy riding.
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Back in Rafter.
We headed towards Farr Gap.
We took a break to re group. It was warming up so some of us took off some layers.
We rode the loop and all but one rode it. The one guy who turned around did it after having ridden the hardest part so he ended up riding the hard part twice!
I was too busy riding so I didn't get any pics until we were back on easy riding.
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Back in Rafter.
We headed towards Farr Gap.
We took a break to re group. It was warming up so some of us took off some layers.
More riding after the break.
Jack was right behind me on his XT250 for the whole ride and Dave on his Ulysses then Doug on his R1150GS. I don't know the order behind that as we tended to get spread out and then regrouped at turns.
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Jack was right behind me on his XT250 for the whole ride and Dave on his Ulysses then Doug on his R1150GS. I don't know the order behind that as we tended to get spread out and then regrouped at turns.
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We got on the Skyway for a while. We rode past the US129Photos.com photographer and he took our pics. If anyone is interested here is the link:
https://xtremesportsphotography.pho....aspx?e=11154799&g=0QAK049L04&gf=false&page=0 We rode by at 1144AM.
We got off and rode Shaw Mountain Rd. It's paved but a fun dual sport road.
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https://xtremesportsphotography.pho....aspx?e=11154799&g=0QAK049L04&gf=false&page=0 We rode by at 1144AM.
We got off and rode Shaw Mountain Rd. It's paved but a fun dual sport road.
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We turned left on Rafter Rd. We were almost to the lunch stop.
We got to the end of Rafter Road and stopped to regroup. Three riders were right behind me. This is a really twisty road so I expected to get strung out. I consider it a much more challenging road than the dragon. Since we were less than a mile from our lunch stop in Tellico I told everyone else to go on and I'd wait for the others. When they didn't show I headed back to see what was up. Having this happen is pretty common on my rides. I always fear the worst but most of the time it's something really minor like someone stopped to adjust their mirror or maybe they dropped something. Sometimes it's a flat tire.
I kept riding. I was almost all the way back to where we turned on this road. Did they make a wrong turn??
I came around a curve and saw a bunch of bikes parked on the side of the road. Michael had crashed but thankfully didn't seem to have any serious injuries other than being shaken up. By the time I got there the bike was upright but earlier it wasn't. These pics were taken by someone else on the ride I copied them and cropped them.
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So what happened? I think it was just a moment of inattention or distraction combined with target fixation. He had successfully ridden many much more challenging curves so it wasn't lack of skill or experience. We have all done it but most of the time we get away with it.
This is a pic of the curve.
The bike wouldn't start. It had been upside down and we figured oil had run into the cylinder and hydro locked it. Kenny and I rode back to Tellico and he went to the campground to get his trailer. I went to the Exxon and told the other riders there what had happened.
We got to the end of Rafter Road and stopped to regroup. Three riders were right behind me. This is a really twisty road so I expected to get strung out. I consider it a much more challenging road than the dragon. Since we were less than a mile from our lunch stop in Tellico I told everyone else to go on and I'd wait for the others. When they didn't show I headed back to see what was up. Having this happen is pretty common on my rides. I always fear the worst but most of the time it's something really minor like someone stopped to adjust their mirror or maybe they dropped something. Sometimes it's a flat tire.
I kept riding. I was almost all the way back to where we turned on this road. Did they make a wrong turn??
I came around a curve and saw a bunch of bikes parked on the side of the road. Michael had crashed but thankfully didn't seem to have any serious injuries other than being shaken up. By the time I got there the bike was upright but earlier it wasn't. These pics were taken by someone else on the ride I copied them and cropped them.
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So what happened? I think it was just a moment of inattention or distraction combined with target fixation. He had successfully ridden many much more challenging curves so it wasn't lack of skill or experience. We have all done it but most of the time we get away with it.
This is a pic of the curve.
The bike wouldn't start. It had been upside down and we figured oil had run into the cylinder and hydro locked it. Kenny and I rode back to Tellico and he went to the campground to get his trailer. I went to the Exxon and told the other riders there what had happened.
FLrider
Well-known member
That cable could have been a guillotine ! 
Glad that the rider wasn't worse off then some bruises. The bike is easier to fix...
Glad that the rider wasn't worse off then some bruises. The bike is easier to fix...The thought by others there was that if the bike hadn't got snagged by the cable it would have rolled many times and had much more damage. There is more about the bike and rider coming up.That cable could have been a guillotine !
After lunch there were just two of us for the afternoon ride. I didn't see any point to going back to the campground as there were already plenty of people to work on the bike. I shortened the route from what I originally planned. It was just Dave on his Ulysses and I. We passed a big group of KTM's but I don't think they were from our rally. I think there were a lot of other rallies going on in the area. I didn't take many pics. Towards the end of the ride we were on River Road and a ranger coming the other way flashed his lights at us but didn't stop. We weren't speeding.......that much
We stopped at Bald River Falls.
Photo Bomb!
When we got back to the campground we found some people working on the AT and Michael sitting with some ice on his shoulder.
Eventually they got to the point were they wanted to see if the AT would start but first they needed some oil. There was none on the dipstick. Someone had over half a gallon of Rotella T4 and I had a very small amount of 5W30 and a half quart of 5W40. They added it all and just barely got enough to get to the bottom of the dipstick.
How many people does it take to add oil to a motorcycle?
Time to see if it would start.
It's Alive!!!
Test pilot taking it for a spin.
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We stopped at Bald River Falls.
Photo Bomb!
When we got back to the campground we found some people working on the AT and Michael sitting with some ice on his shoulder.
Eventually they got to the point were they wanted to see if the AT would start but first they needed some oil. There was none on the dipstick. Someone had over half a gallon of Rotella T4 and I had a very small amount of 5W30 and a half quart of 5W40. They added it all and just barely got enough to get to the bottom of the dipstick.
How many people does it take to add oil to a motorcycle?
Time to see if it would start.
It's Alive!!!
Test pilot taking it for a spin.
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Some one brought this diesel Royal Enfield.
There were some kids riding through the campground on dirtbikes.
And there were some big kids riding mini bikes through the campground.
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I ended up hanging out with this group until pretty late.
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There were some kids riding through the campground on dirtbikes.
And there were some big kids riding mini bikes through the campground.
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I ended up hanging out with this group until pretty late.
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FLrider
Well-known member
Tough bike for sure! I have always liked the AT , it’s a shame the dealer here is so bad… Glad it’s running again! 
Saturday morning. The guy camped next to me was packing up and would be riding back to Michigan.
Dave and his camping setup.
I had a ride plan for the day but I think the word got out that it was too dangerous to ride with me so I had to find some new suckers....er I mean riders to ride with. KTM riders are pretty fearless so these guys decided to join me:
I know you are thinking I should be a professional photographer because I really know how to get people to pose for the camera
So it would be Dave on his Ulysses, Tab, Van and Doolan (I think
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We rode the area between the Campground and Reliance. We started on paved roads.
Soon we were on gravel roads. It seems that I often don't take many pics early in a ride. It just takes me a while to get warmed up. We finally came to a spot that got my shutter finger warmed up.
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Dave and his camping setup.
I had a ride plan for the day but I think the word got out that it was too dangerous to ride with me so I had to find some new suckers....er I mean riders to ride with. KTM riders are pretty fearless so these guys decided to join me:
I know you are thinking I should be a professional photographer because I really know how to get people to pose for the camera
So it would be Dave on his Ulysses, Tab, Van and Doolan (I think
We rode the area between the Campground and Reliance. We started on paved roads.
Soon we were on gravel roads. It seems that I often don't take many pics early in a ride. It just takes me a while to get warmed up. We finally came to a spot that got my shutter finger warmed up.
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