I attended the 2018 Vintage Yamaha Rally September 28th-30th at the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge in Stecoah, North Carolina. A great time was had. I met an actual member from here, chrism40 from Florida who attended. We also met Mario, who is not a member, but was given information that he needs to become one. :yes:
The accommodations were very nice and inexpensive. The 4 bed bunkhouse that I stayed in was $29.95 a night. It was actually better than your average KOA Kamper Cabin, as there were shelving units for each person to use for their riding gear. Breakfast and dinners were served on site with pricing being similar to a typical Applebee's restaurant. The Prime Rib Saturday night was very good.
Mentioned in another post, I planned on doing an Official Iron Butt Association Saddle Sore 1000 ride to get to the Rally. Google Maps gave me a route that would cover 1056 miles. Wednesday morning, September 26th I left my house and gassed up with the required signature of my witness at 5:14am Central Daylight Savings Time. I made a quick stop 16 miles down the turnpike at the service center to get a bit of cash for the expected tolls for the Kansas Turnpike, Cimarron Turnpike and the Muskogee Turnpike.
Game on.... Stay in the saddle and keep the throttle in the 80-85mph range. Arrived in Tulsa, OK without much issues with morning rush hour traffic. Stopped in Broken Arrow, OK for gas and the required receipt from a direction change. Once back on the turnpike, I had 2 motorcycles behind me. I got caught behind some traffic and they got ahead of me. After a short while, some of the pesky, anti-motorcycle friendly wet stuff started falling from the sky. The 3 of us pulled up under an overpass to donn our rain gear. One bike was an old Yamaha (XS1100 Special) with Oklahoma tags and the other a new Harley with California tags. I asked where they were headed and they responded, "North Carolina". I commented back that I too was headed to North Carolina. They mentioned that they were headed to the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge. I told them "Wow, that is where I am staying". Then it clicked.... 1980 XS1100 Special being ridden to the Vintage Yamaha Rally. Back under way in our rubber suits, we made good time to I-40. Within a mile or so, I peeled off to get another change of direction receipt as they continued on. The rest of the way was pretty uneventful and I didn't encounter any more riding partners. I made it through Little Rock Arkansas and Memphis Tennessee easily with no traffic back ups. Coming up to Nashville, TN I took the I-840 bypass South East to Murfreesboro, TN and picked up I-26. I had to stop for another direction change. By this time, it is beginning to get dark. Rolled into Chattanooga, TN full on dark about 10:00PM. I stopped for my final traveling fuel stop and direction change receipt. A bit of excitement is creeping in as I am now a bit over 100 miles from my destination. Also, the fact that even though the rain had stopped way back in Oklahoma, I had chased rain showers all day long and was now riding on a single lane, wet road, through strange mountains at night and trying to maintain a reasonable amount of speed. The first 20 minutes or so was ok...... Then the FOG set in. I will ride in the rain and wind without complaining that much..... But I hate riding in the fog. :ireful: I wear glasses, so riding with my face shield open doesn't work so well for me. :dash1:. My solution is to put my glasses in the tank bag, ride with the face shield open and slow down a bit because now the road is a bit blurry. :wacko2: Luckily, I don't encounter any critters along the way and make it into Robbinsville, North Carolina at 1:11AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time. The trip meter reads 1044 miles with a total time of 18 hours, 57 minutes. I fill the bike and get my final receipt. The girl at the counter is willing to be my destination witness and my Saddle Sore 1000 ride is complete. The fog is gone and I still have another 15 miles or so to the Bunk House.
Fred
Not much time for photos during the ride to North Carolina... I did get one at the service station on the Kansas Turnpike. I don't do selfies, but got one at my last fuel stop. A shot of my night time critter detection devices, a view of the wet mountain road with a hazy moon over the mountain peaks and one at my final destination.
Fred
Nice! We have passed Stecoah and eaten at that diner many times during our various Fall Rallies, back when we used to do them in the Cherohala / Deal's Gap area.
Sounds like a great trip, including a long day in the saddle with a worthwhile goal at the end!
As mentioned in the opening of the post. I was very impressed with the facilities.
Fred
Well done Fred, that's a mammoth effort. :good2:
Noel
Some more of the grounds
Quote from: ribbert on October 03, 2018, 04:55:03 AM
Well done Fred, that's a mammoth effort. :good2:
Noel
Thank you Noel,
I am going to do a product plug here. I can't vouch for the Day Long comfort seats, but using an OEM seat or a Corbin seat. I normally have about a 600 mile a day riding limit. Usually the last 200 miles is done in about 60 mile legs. Mike (Skymaster) let me borrow his Air Hawk seat cushion a few years ago for my return trip from Ouray, Colorado to Wichita. I have since bought my own. The Air Hawk is an amazing piece of gear that does not care which seat you have. It works well either way. If you ride over 200 miles at a time on a regular basis. I highly recommend getting one.
https://airhawk.net/
Fred
Thursday was a casual day as the Rally didn't officially start until Friday. There were a few people already there. We had some spotty showers. Right before lunch there seemed about a 2 hour window of no rain and I joined another rider for a quick ride to the Dragon. Not knowing my way around, I followed him up Moonshiner 28 to Deals Gap. He was riding a Seca 650. The roads were still wet and he had brand new period correct tires on the Seca. We ran pretty sane speeds. I enjoyed the ride on the Dragon, but didn't get a real feel for the road due to the wet pavement.
Fred
Quote from: aviationfred on October 03, 2018, 05:46:55 AM
Quote from: ribbert on October 03, 2018, 04:55:03 AM
Well done Fred, that's a mammoth effort. :good2:
Noel
Thank you Noel,
I am going to do a product plug here. I can't vouch for the Day Long comfort seats, but using an OEM seat or a Corbin seat. I normally have about a 600 mile a day riding limit. Usually the last 200 miles is done in about 60 mile legs. Mike (Skymaster) let me borrow his Air Hawk seat cushion a few years ago for my return trip from Ouray, Colorado to Wichita. I have since bought my own. The Air Hawk is an amazing piece of gear that does not care which seat you have. It works well either way. If you ride over 200 miles at a time on a regular basis. I highly recommend getting one.
https://airhawk.net/
Fred
Quite right Fred, there is nothing like an Airhawk (once folks learn
not to over inflate them) and as you say, it cares not what seat is underneath. It's the arse that suffers most on a long ride.
Noel
Quote from: aviationfred on October 03, 2018, 06:34:05 AM
Thursday was a casual day as the Rally didn't officially start until Friday. There were a few people already there. We had some spotty showers. Right before lunch there seemed about a 2 hour window of no rain and I joined another rider for a quick ride to the Dragon. Not knowing my way around, I followed him up Moonshiner 28 to Deals Gap. He was riding a Seca 650. The roads were still wet and he had brand new period correct tires on the Seca. We ran pretty sane speeds. I enjoyed the rode on the Dragon, but didn't get a real feel for the road due to the wet pavement.
Fred
Really miss my aol 650 Seca - traded my first car for it in high school - a left over 82 for $1550 still new in 85.
I was really hoping that this would be the one rally I would make this year. But still doing battle with the house build. Do they have a vintage Yamaha rally every year?
Glad you got to go Fred. Looks like a great time.
Jeez Fred, over 1000mi and 20 hrs in one shot. You truly are an Iron Butt. That's some endurance right there! :good2:
That's awesome how you have converted your turn signals into road lights. Have you written a tech piece about it? You have a link?
Joe
Quote from: Tuned forks on October 03, 2018, 05:03:02 PM
Jeez Fred, over 1000mi and 20 hrs in one shot. You truly are an Iron Butt. That's some endurance right there! :good2:
That's awesome how you have converted your turn signals into road lights. Have you written a tech piece about it? You have a link?
Joe
Joe,
PM sent
Fred
Friday the weather was much nicer. I had been contacted by a Marine that I served with that lived about 2 hours away in Tennessee. We had arranged to meet at Deals Gap. He messaged me and stated that he was running late. I decided instead of waiting around for a few hours, that I would head out for a solo ride up to the Dragon. Once I got to Deals Gap, I saw a group of Classic Porsches. I talked to a couple of the owners and found out, they were ALL replicas. I still think they looked awesome. I also met a couple who were on vacation from Queensland Australia. They took a photo of me in front of the Tree of Shame. On the way back, i decided to ride Moonshiner 28. I took a wrong turn and ended up at the Fontana dam. Riding across it is when i figured out that this is not the way to go. I stopped and took a few photos. Once I got back, many more people showed up for the Rally. There were bikes everywhere. A lot of XS models. My friend Wally showed up on his 2018 Harley Fatboy.
Fred
Fred, looks a really awesome event; a bit of a haul, but totally worth it.
Rain must be a feature of that area. I was nearby two summers ago and didn't even visit the dragon due to damp conditions.
Did that tank bra not work out for you?
Andy
Quote from: andyoutandabout on October 03, 2018, 10:29:04 PM
Did that tank bra not work out for you?
Andy
The tank bra works great and looks very good. I had planned to use it, but the Bagster tank bag that I have is too large and interferes with my handle bars. I decided to use my medium magnetic tank bag for the trip.
Fred
Photos of bikes that showed up to the Rally.
Fred
Saturday was a perfect day for riding. 3 FJ's an XS750 and a Harley Fatboy. We rode through Robbinsville to pick up Cherahola Skyway, We rode that to 360 and rode north, A nice road and a pleasant ride. We connected with US129 and rode it to Deals Gap. I had heard about avoiding The Tail of the Dragon on the weekends, but it was not really that congested. I did get a chuckle when I saw a Harley pulled over by a Tennessee Highway Patrol on the Dragon. My thoughts were..... No way did he get stopped for speeding..... :crazy: Once at Deals Gap, we took some more photos and rode Moonshiner 28 back to the Iron Horse. No performance awards handed out and all 5 bikes returned unscathed. The last photo is of myself and my friend Wally. We served together in the Marine Corps 1989-1991.
Fred
Photos while riding the Dragon
Frsd
Wow, FJ's, Secas and Porsches in one thread... I can't even! :yahoo:
Holy chit, there was a RD 400 Daytona Special? That musta been a unique ride to the event. As I was scrolling down the bike pics, I was wondering if any RD 350's or 400's might have been there.
Joe
Quote from: Tuned forks on October 04, 2018, 09:48:02 PM
Holy chit, there was a RD 400 Daytona Special? That musta been a unique ride to the event. As I was scrolling down the bike pics, I was wondering if any RD 350's or 400's might have been there.
Joe
I took a photo of the odometer on the Daytona Special.
Fred
There was a bike show that was put on by the VJMC (Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club) during the rally. Congratulations to Chris (crism40) for winning the 900cc and over category with his near flawless 1986 FJ1200.
Fred
As always, the Rally has to end. I left after breakfast, Sunday morning to head back to Wichita. No plans for another Iron Butt Ride. A more leisurely 2 day trip was planned. I retraced my path riding through the mountains to Cleveland, TN. What I didn't see on my way in because of the fog was that a river/creek ran along the route almost the entire way. Once back on the interstate, I rode until lunch time and decided to stop at a place that we don't have in Wichita. The always dependable Waffle House.
I called it a day at a bit over 500 miles and about 90 miles east of Little Rock Arkansas. Headed out the next morning for the final leg of the trip, a bout of heavy rain going through Little Rock slowed my time up a bit, but the rain gear kept me dry. As I was getting closer to the Arkansas/Oklahoma border, I decided to get an added bonus of some more twisty mountain roads. I exited the interstate in Ozark Arkansas on AR23 and headed north to Fayetteville. This stretch of 23 is known as The Pig Trail. Cap'n Ron, The General, Country Joe and myself were there back in June at the Central FJ Rally. Picked up US412 in Springdale and headed West towards Tulsa Oklahoma. Decided to stop at another restaurant that we don't have in Wichita. A fast food Chicken place called Zaxby's.
I made it back to Wichita shortly after dark for a total round trip of 2485 miles.
I rode the bike into work yesterday and on the way home noticed that the handling felt a bit off. Later in the afternoon I got on the bike to run an errand and noticed that it was not rolling well as I backed out of the driveway. This is what I found. Thankfully this happened after I got home from my trip
Fred
Wow Fred, you really got screwed. :rofl:
It was a great time at the rally. I enjoyed meeting you and Mario and riding with two other FJs. Three FJs out and about is pretty rare in my part of the world. I spent the next weekend at the Barber Vintage Fest and I had the only FJs that I saw out in the wild. There was a very nice FJ1100 for sale in the swap meet area. I put the 86 in the VJMC show, but there were too many really nice Yamahas, so I didn't win anything.
Took me awhile to get the paperwork sent off. My official certs arrived today. A good showing for the Speed Hut GPS Speedometer. My mileage showed 1044 miles and the IBA certified the ride at 1046.
The Mile Eater Club is a classification within the IBA for multiple certified Iron Butt rides.
Fred
How many hours did you actually ride Fred?
Joe
Quote from: Tuned forks on April 13, 2019, 09:49:49 PM
How many hours did you actually ride Fred?
Joe
18 hours and 57 minutes
Fred