Two Wheels of Suches
Suches, Georgia
Cherohala Mountain Trails Campgrounds
Tellico Plains, Tennessee
Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge
Stechoah, North Carolina
Our track ran from Two Wheels of Suches to Tellico Plains to Stechoah and then back to Suches.
DAY 1 (Green Track)
Here's a quick video at the starting point.
...and a few photos.
I drove up to Georgia on Saturday, but stayed at a hotel in Dawson. I would have liked to stay in one of the 2WS cabins, but they have a weekend requirement that two nights need to be reserved. I took my camping gear, but the weather was really rough...a condition that continued throughout the ride. Some of the riders had breakfast at 2WS over our preride meeting. Kickstands were supposed to be up by 8:30 but we weren't rolling until around 9:30. We started off with eight riders. Only two riders, including me, had the track on our GPSs.
This dog was just a pup two years ago when I rode the Hooch.
Right out of the gate, a rider encountered suspension problems resulting from the improper installation of lowering links. Fortunately they were adjustable dog bones so we were able to lift the rear of the bike back up. That cost us the better part of an hour.
It wasn't too much longer before one of the riders lost control and went down the steep embankment of the Chatahoochee Forest, just before crossing from Georgia into Tennessee. He had a leg injury, but we were able to get the bike up and out and we rushed to Tellico Plains on the highway so he could have it attended to.
I was first at the crash site and turned my video on...and left it on until we got the bike out. Following are the three video pieces showing the initial minutes after the wreck through when we got it out.
That was pretty much the whole story behind day one of the SM500. The rider that crashed had his wife come pick him up at the Cherohala Mountain Trails Campground. He suffered some fairly significant leg injuries but is going to be fine.
That brings us to the Campground. I've spent a lot of time in the area, but usually stay in Robbinsville so I've never been there before. Nice place. Here's a quick video on the Cherohala Mountain Trails:
DAY 2 (Yellow Track)
Day 2 was the Yellow Track from CMTC over to Ironhorse. Unfortunately, I snapped my clutch cable six miles into the track. Snap!
Here is a quick video leading up to my decision to leave the track and ride back to Tellico Plains to find a new cable.
While there were motorcycle shops in Tellico Plains, they were all closed on Monday. Even the Kawasaki dealer that was 20 miles out from Tellico was closed.
Fortunately, I found a shop in Robbinsville called Wheelers Performance that was open. That was over 50 from Tellico, although much of that was on the enjoyable Cherohala Skyway. By the time I got there, I'd clocked over 70 miles...without a clutch! They only had a cable for a KLR650, but we were able to fit it fine.
At that point, there was no way I would find the other riders so I spent the rest of the day riding some of the local tracks including the Tail of the Dragon and part of Moonshiner 28.
Ultimately, I met back up with the mates at Ironhorse Motorcycle Lodge.
Day 3 (Red Track)
We had rain every single day on this ride, but Day 3 (Robbinsville to Suches) was by far the wettest. Good grief!
This is a photo of two KLRs that rode...a 2016 and my 1985...also the only guys who loaded the track in their GPS.
This was my first trip using a chest pack. It was a little over $20 on Amazon and worked great! I got it because none of my tank bag fit that well on the KLR. You don't even know it's there!
Here is some video of one of the longer water crossings:
Here is some video of some rocky forest road:
We ended the day back at Two Wheels of Suches.
Being a weekday I was able to have a single-night cabin reserved for me when I rolled in. That was nice. I had the first one in the picture and it was right next to the bath house, so I took a shower and went straight to bed.
Unfortunately, the crash situation on Sunday and my cable problemo on Monday left me a little unsatisfied about the ride. The other KLR rider felt the same and we had preliminary planned to actually just start it over Wednesday morning....but going the other way. That didn't work out because, when I called my wife to tell the plan, she advised that we had a hurricane bearing down on us and the family would prefer if I came home and got to work on our hurricane plan. So much for that plan.
However, the KLR Forum Group is running the Smokey Mountain 500 next month so I'm now thinking that I could join their group.
Stay tuned....
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