Skyline, Blueridge and Dragonstail

[voyager rider 1700]

The wife and I are planning to go Memorial day week, I'm looking for any information that would make the trip easier and fun.

[David (N. Alabama)]

Here is a thread on that same topic.

http://amervoyassoc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5937

Welcome to the forum and you will love riding in the smokies. If you are heading south the road will get progressively more scenic, hilly, and curvy. Once you get to the "tail of the dragon" area, plan a day to ride the 120 mile loop that includes the "Tail of the Dragon", 129 into Robbinsville, Cherohala Skyway into Tellico Plains, TN (great cafe for lunch on your right if you take the cherohala all the way into town.
Then take 360 north

Check out http://www.tailofthedragon.com

The AVA has a great membership and at least one regional and one national rally every year.

[voyager rider 1700]

Here is a thread on that same topic.

http://amervoyassoc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5937

Welcome to the forum and you will love riding in the smokies. If you are heading south the road will get progressively more scenic, hilly, and curvy. Once you get to the "tail of the dragon" area, plan a day to ride the 120 mile loop that includes the "Tail of the Dragon", 129 into Robbinsville, Cherohala Skyway into Tellico Plains, TN (great cafe for lunch on your right if you take the cherohala all the way into town.
Then take 360 north

Check out http://www.tailofthedragon.com

The AVA has a great membership and at least one regional and one national rally every year.

Thanks for the info...

[gearheadfla]

And from what I hear and see, the TN. police don't play, watch your speed, it is easy to get "into the moment"

[2 for the road]

In July of 2010 we rented a house for a week in Gatlinburg with two other couples. We spent each day riding different roads in the area. There are lots of great twisty and scenic roads. The Tail gets tons of raves and it is a lot of fun but the Cherohala Skyway if a blast to ride and very scenic. The Devils Triangle is a good ride, too. We also rode about 50 miles of the Blue Ridge, coming out of Cherokee. If this is your first time in this area I would really recommend buying the "MadMaps" map available for that area. If you haven't seen one before, it's a really high quality map. It is made of a material much more durable than regular paper. Almost a plastic feel to it. The awesome feature of the map is that it actually provides a bunch of different routes to ride. They are all color coded with detailed info about each route with ride times, mileage, points of interest, etc. I can't address all of the maps that they offer but this one is really great for someone not familiar with the area.
Additionally, if possible, ride the Dragon on a weekday. It really does get crowded on the weekends. You may also want to check the Deal's Gap website. They have a calendar of events and groups coming to the Dragon. It may help you avoid a crowd. But, as mentioned, heavy police presence on the Dragon so watch your speed.
Have fun! It's a great area and lots of nice folks.
We're going to do the Blue Ridge and Skyline in October. Let us know what you think!

[voyager rider 1700]

Thanks everone for all the info, it's going to be a big help!!

[1stSgtT]

By now you are back and I hope you enjoyed the trip. My work buddy and I went down during the first week in July, he on his HD Softtail and me on my Vulcan 900 LT. We had been down the Skyline and Blue Ridge a few times so we hot footed it for TN/NC and that was maybe a mistake. The whole trip in one shot AND we hit a wolloping set of thunderstorms in the last eight miles of mountain road! Worst I've been in and thats a lot. It was rough! We rolle din to our Motorcycle Motel around 1 am, beat! But the riding was awesome. I love my 900 but after 2000 miles, my butt was worn like a Calvarymans. Pertially why I decided to go with the 2012 Voyager.

Headed down the Skyline during Labor Day.

I look forward to hearing about rides and rally's

Joe in NJ