2018 Vintage Yamaha Rally

[aviationfred]

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.  

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.   I wear glasses, so riding with my face shield open doesn't work so well for me.  . 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.   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

[aviationfred]

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

[Bill_Rockoff]

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!

[aviationfred]

As mentioned in the opening of the post. I was very impressed with the facilities.



Fred

[ribbert]

Well done Fred, that's a mammoth effort.  

Noel

[aviationfred]

Some more of the grounds

[aviationfred]

Well done Fred, that's a mammoth effort.  

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

[aviationfred]

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

[ribbert]

Well done Fred, that's a mammoth effort.  

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

[fj1289]

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.   

[giantkiller]

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.

[Tuned forks]

Jeez Fred, over 1000mi and 20 hrs in one shot.  You truly are an Iron Butt.  That's some endurance right there!

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

[aviationfred]

Jeez Fred, over 1000mi and 20 hrs in one shot.  You truly are an Iron Butt.  That's some endurance right there!

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

[aviationfred]

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

[andyoutandabout]

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